Matthew 马太福音 14:22-36 — Faith in the Son of God 对神之子的信心

  1. The Cause for Faith 信心的需要 (v.22-24)

To prevent people from taking Him by force to be king, Jesus dismissed the crowd, got His disciples into a boat, while He went to the mountain by Himself to pray. While praying, His disciples were rowing “painfully” (cf. Mark 6:48) towards Capernaum in high winds and tossing waves in the Sea of Galilee.

为了避免人强行立祂做王,耶稣解散了人群并让门徒上船,自己就到山上去祷告。在祷告的当儿,祂的门徒正在加利利海中,因风不顺被浪摇撼,“辛苦”地向迦百农划去(参:可6:48)。

 

  1. The Subject of Faith 信心的考验 (v.25-27)

It was only after battling the windstorm all night long (probably nine hours from 6pm to 3am) when Jesus came to His disciples who were fishermen themselves. The darkness without and the fatigue within had prevented them from recognizing Jesus when He appeared. Although Jesus was testing their faith, He understood their frailty. He calmed their fear by simply saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

众门徒原本就是渔夫;而耶稣是在他们历经整夜的风暴后(从下午6时至凌晨3时,约9个小时)才到他们那里。因着四周的黑暗和自身的疲惫,门徒并没有在耶稣出现的时候认出祂。虽然耶稣正在试验他们的信心,但祂也明白门徒的软弱。耶稣仅用了一句话平息他们心中的恐惧:“你们放心!是我,不要怕!”

 

  1. The Object of Faith 信心的对象 (v.28-36)

Peter’s joy was obvious – he wanted to get to His Lord immediately, prompting him to ask Jesus if he could come on water. However, while Peter’s faith was focusing on Jesus he walked on water and when he looked at the environment around him he started to sink. Nonetheless, Jesus held him before he sunk. And just as instantaneously as He got into the boat with Peter, the wind ceased, and they reached where they were going (cf. John 6:21). Knowing who they are faced with, the disciples worshipped Jesus.

彼得的喜悦是毋庸置疑的——他想立即到主那里去,所以问了耶稣他是否能到水面上。当彼得的信心专注在耶稣身上时,他确实能在水面上行走;但当他看着周围的环境时,彼得便开始往下沉。尽管如此,耶稣仍在彼得沉没之前伸手将他拉住。在耶稣与彼得上船的同一刹那,风就平息,船也到达目的地(参:约6:21)。门徒们赫然觉悟耶稣是谁,便俯伏敬拜祂。

 
 
 
 

Praying the Scripture 用经文祷告

 

  1. Jesus waited for a long time before going to His disciples, just as He waited until Lazarus had been dead for several days before going to Bethany. He sometimes allows people to reach the extremity of need before He intervened, for their good and to the glory of God. Do you complaint when the help is not apparent? Pray that you fully trust in Him and His timing.

耶稣等了一段时间才到门徒那里去,就如祂等拉撒路死了好几天后,才到伯大尼去。为了人的益处和神的荣耀,耶稣有时会等人达到他的极限时才介入。当你看不到帮助时,你是否就开始抱怨了?请祷告你能完全信靠神和祂的时间。

 

  1. When Peter focus on Jesus, he faith is strong. However, when he starts to look around, his faith suffers. Do you have strong faith? Why and why not?

当彼得专注于耶稣时,他的信心是强大的。然而,当他开始环顾四周时,他的信心便受到了影响。你有坚固的信心吗?为什么?

 

  1. The climax of the story is not the stilling of the storm but the worship of the Son of God by the disciples. There is a great contrast between the crowd and the disciples. The crowd rejects him while the disciples worship Him. What about you?

这个故事的高潮并不是风浪的止息,而是门徒对神之子的敬拜。群众和门徒之间有一个巨大的反差——群众拒绝耶稣,门徒却敬拜祂。你呢?