Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace

My Sunday Scripture 2008.12.28


When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord," and to offer the sacrifice of "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons," in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel." The child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Luke 2,22-40.


-----------------
My reading notes:

This Scripture has been one of my favorite. Simeor was
a prophet, he had the vision that he will see the Messiah
before he dies. Now he had seen the baby, and he said to
God: Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace.

And this line is very very attractive to me. If one could
have the strength to say that, it means he had fulfilled
completely the task of his whole life. Only those who had
done so could have such a moment, feeling that their life
satisified and fulfilled.

the virgin shall conceive a son

My Sunday Scripture 2008.12.21

Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"

Luke 1,26-38.


--------------------
My reading notes:

Recently I have read a book, the title was: "why do man have nipples? "
And this happened to be one of my question in my column.
However, the answer is not certain in that book.

I believe that in the very begining, man was created with both male and female
features in his body. And I had heard also when in some extreme situations
like drought , some animals can produce their next generation without sex.

Can a virgin produce a son? Yes, There are cases in the animal world.

But the point in not here.

The point is , by sending Jesus into our world, man's fate has been changed
completely.

Testify to the Light

My Sunday Scripture 2008.12.14

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.

John 1,6-8.19-28


---------------------
My reading notes:

Before Jesus, God had send John.

Johh was the one to testify that Jesus was coming.
And that Jesus will baptize us with Holy Spirit.

Now that John had still more: He said Jesus is the Light.
John was to testify to the Light.

Yes we are in darkness before Jesus. We human being was
in darkness because we did not know how to love, until
one day Jesus had come, and baptized us human being with the
Holy Spirit, and shed Light on us.

Rejoice, then.

He will baptize you with the holy Spirit

My Sunday Scripture 2008.12.7.



And this is what he(John the Baptist)proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after me.........he will baptize you with the holy Spirit."



Mark 1,1-8


-----------------
My reading notes:

This is the most important event in human history.
the coming of Jesus Christ is the complete change of
human nature.
John the baptist said he will baptise us with holy spirite.
And this is true. Because he had brought us Love.
Who ever accepted Jesus into his mind will be smarter.

Let us prepare for a very very happy Christmas.
Because he did have come!

You can take

My Sunday Scripture 2008.11.30.

Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'"

Mark 13,33-37

-----------------
My reading notes:

Yes, Jesus, You can give and you can take. Thank you for your reminder.

We Chinese always forget the other point. We all expect you to give, but seldom do we remember: You can give and you can take.

I was very sad last month. An old family member left me. I felt lonely. Though
he was 92 already, but I had failed to watch. I did not expect he could had gone so sudden. I was caught in the very unexpecting moment.

"You can take" is in the lyric of the "Les Meserable". I remembered the song suddenly this morning in Church. And I had had a deep emotional shock. How can I ignore this?

Yes you can give, but no body knows when you will take. I will be watchful.

Thank you Jesus.

least brothers of mine

My Sunday Scripture 2008.11.23.


Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Matthew 25,31-46.

----------------------
My reading notes:

What is the point here?

We see the least brothers every day, everywhere. One thing to remember, anything I will do for them, I am doing it for God.
And actually, they are God.

And some thing more to the point:

When we are trying to solve the problems for the world, we are doing it for God. And thus, we had found the aim of
human evolution. We solve different problems evey day, and we are evolving ourselves.

we must "earn" something

My Sunday Scripture 2008.11.16.


It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one--to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money.

After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'

(Then) the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, 'Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'

Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, 'Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.' His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'


Matthew 25,14-30.

----------------------
My reading notes:

From this scripture, I can see that this is a very important issue of the Western
culture. Its quite different from the East, though it is more or lest the same with
the Chinese Culture(before Confucius).

And the point is the goal for Mankind.

Human beings, like the servants in the parable, are useful to the Creator. He must work hard, not only to achieve his own goal, but the goal for the Creator. We must "earn" something for the universe.

In the East, the goal is spiritual improvement to the self only. It is nothing to do with the universe. And this thought, could also be found in Confucius. He thought that the main goal for human beings are morality, not to achieve anything.

Zhuang-zi the ancient Chinses Philosopher who is very much not the same with Confucius, has samilar idea with this scripture. In Zhuang-zi's mind, human beings are like candles. The candles must release light, that is the purpose of living.

Jesus was angry

My Sunday Scripture 2008.11.9.

He knocked over the tables of the money-changers, scattering the coins, and ordered the people selling doves,

"Take all this away and stop turning my Father's house into
a marketplace!"


John 2:13-22

----------------------
My reading notes:

If we could see that the temple itself is God, and we should respect it.

Don't turn the holy place into a marketplace.......but we are doing it everyday.

Where is God ? ........I was hungry and you gave me food

My Sunday Scripture 2008.11.2.


When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'

Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'

And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'

Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'

He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'

And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Matthew 25,31-46

----------------------
My reading notes:

To my humble understanding, God is everywhere. And this feeling is from Zhuang-zi
also. Zhuang-zi is the only Ancient philosopher of China who insisted there is a creator of the universe.

God is everywhere. But only those who has a loving heart can see God. God is in
those we care about. If we care about the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the ill, and those in the prison, then we are actually tending God himself.

We shall never feel lonely in the planet. Whenever we offer any help to the needed, we have God by our side.

Zhuang-zi and Christ

My Sunday Scripture 2008.10.26.

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them (a scholar of the law) tested him by asking, Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

Matthew 22,34-40


----------------------
My reading notes:

This is the most important doctrine Jesus told us. We must love God the Lord of the universe with our whole heart, whole soul, and whole mind. Plus the second teaching: Love our neighbours. Love our neighbor as ourself.

From this two points, one can find out the difference of Confucius and Christ.

Confucius did not represent Chinese thought. He had never had such thoughts as to love your neighbour, and to love God. His point was rather selfish, and limited. He could only see the relationship between the ruler and the ruled, the elder and the young. He promoted obedience rather then love. And this is not the worst elements of Confucius.

He was the one to forbid and cut and limit the Ancient Chinese thought, which was much much nearer to Christ then the feudal rulers. Zhuang-zi's idea of man-heaven union, was like the subconscious idea of Jesus's love of God, though he did not say so, but it is sure that he had felt it and meant it. We can say that Zhuang-zi and Christ had shared the same feeling.

To Caesar what is Caesar's

Return to Caesar what is Caesar's

My Sunday Scripture 2008.10.19.

They said to Jesus, "Master, we know that you are an honest man and truly teach God's way: you are not influenced by others nor are you afraid of anyone. Tell us, then, what you think: is it against the Law to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

But Jesus understood their evil intent, and said to them, "Hypocrites! Why are you testing me? Show me the coin with which you pay the taxes."

They showed him a denarius, and Jesus said to them, "whose head is this, and whose name?" They answered, "Caesar's."Then Jesus replied, "Therefore, return to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

Matthew 22: 15-21


----------------------
My reading notes:

How much we have given to Caesar? Almost most of ourselves. How much we have given to God? It depends.

Some people thought we need to have a balance between the earthly interest and the heavenly interest. But to my view, the two kinds of interest are not contradicted. When one finds oneself totally committed and dedicated, he will never have such problems. To pay tax is nothing to him, but to dedicate wholeheartedly, is the issue.

Those invited were not worthy

Those invited were not worthy

My Sunday Scripture 2008.10.12


Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 22,1-14.

Jesus again in reply spoke to them in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."' Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.' Many are invited, but few are chosen."


My reading notes:

This is a difficult part of the scripture.

But the message seems very clear.
Those invited, one can guess from the parable, was the Israel people. They have refused the Messiah. As this is a parable, we can also think that among those who had refused God, could be people anywhere in the world.

And the result will come as a very unhappy one.

People are being invited, and honoured, but they refuse with a contempt.
.
They had insulted the kindness of the Creator.

Thus the result was obvious.

Cornerstone

Cornerstone

My Sunday Scripture 2008.10.5

Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.' They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?" They answered him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times." Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.


Matthew 21,33-43





My reading notes:

My question is: Do we human beings need a savior?

This is the question other philosophers have never answered.
(Including Zhuang-zi)
It is only in the Gospel that we learned we humans do need
a savior. Just like a house need a corner stone. We can not
imagine a house without a proper cornder stone. And all the
problems of the human race arises from here.

We tended to be weak and wrong. We need guidance from above.

This is what I have learned to day.

Leechard.

The prostitutes are ahead of you

The prostitutes are ahead of you


My Sunday Scripture 2008.9.28


Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders,
"What do you think of this? A man had
two sons. He went to the first and said to
him: "Son, today go and work in my
vineyard." And the son answered: " I
don't want to." But later he thought better
of it and went. Then the father went to
the second and gave him the same
command. The son replied: "I will
go, sir," but he did not go.

"Which of the two did what the father
wanted?" They answered, "The first."
And Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say
to you: the publicans and prostitutes
are ahead of you on the way to the
kingdom of heaven. For John came
to show you the way of goodness but
you did not believe him, yet the
publicans and the prostitutes did.
You were witnesses of this, but you
neither repented nor believed him.

Matthew 21: 28-32

My reading notes:

The point is, there are two kinds of
decisions or perceiving abilities.

People only do things as they
perceive truly in their mind. If they
do not perceive it , they will not
do it. The prostitutes and publicans
did perceive better than some of the
learned people.

So the important thing is to see into
the real inner meaning of everything.
If you don't see it, you will not do
it, even sometimes people will easily
promise to do things they don't really
wanted to do.

The last will be first

The last will be first
My Sunday Scripture 2008.9.21.

Jesue told his disciples this parable,
"The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went ot early in the morning to hire
workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay
the workers a salary of a sliver coin for
the day, and sent them to his vineyard.

"He went out again at about nine in the
morning, and seeing others idle in the
square, he said to them: 'You, too, go to
my vineyard and I will pay you what is
just.' So they went.

"The owner went out at midday and again
at three in the afternoon, and he did the
same. Finally he went out at the last
working hour---it was the eleventh---and
he saw others standing there. So he said
to them: 'Why do you stay idle the whole
day?' They answered: 'Because no one hired
us.' The master said, 'Go and work in
my vineyard.'


"When evening came, the owner of the
vineyard said to his manager: 'Call the
workers and pay them their wage, beginning
with the last and ending with the first.'
Those who had come to work at the eleventh
hour turned up and were given a denarius
each (a silver coin). When it was the
turn of the first, they thought they would
receive more. But they, too, received a
denarius each. So, on receiving it, they
began to grumble against the landowner.


"They said, 'These last hardly worked an
hour, yet you have treated them the same as
us who have endured the day's burden and
heat.' The owner said to one of them:
'Friend, I have not been unjust to you.
Did we not agree on a denarius a day? So
take what is yours and go. I want to give
to the last the same as I give to you.
Don't I have the right to do as I please
with my money? Why are you envious when
I am kind? '


"So will it be: the last will be first,
the first will be last."

Matthew 20: 1-16


(《牧靈聖經》譯文)

「天國好比一個家主，清晨六點多出門，為自己葡萄
園僱工人。他和工人講定：每人一天一個銀元，就打
發他們去工作。」

「到了九點多鐘，他看見街上有人閒著沒事做，就對
他們說：『你們也來我葡萄園，我會給你們合理的工
資。』他們馬上就來了。中午和下午家主人又出去了，
用同樣的辨法僱了工人。」

「近黃昏時，就是五點鐘的時候，他又到外面去看看，
見有人閒坐著，就問道：『你們為什麼整天都閒著沒
事﹖』他們說：『因為沒人僱用我們。』於是，家主
人對他們說：『你們也來我葡萄園做事吧！』晚上到了，
家主人吩咐管家：『把工人叫來，給他們發工資，從
後面僱來的發起，直到最先僱用的。』

先來領錢的是五點鐘才僱用的工人，他們拿了一個銀元。
等最先僱用的工人來時，以為會多拿一點，沒料到竟然
也是一個銀元。

他們就向家主人抱怨說：『後來的人只做了一個時
辰，而我們在太陽下做了一整天，你卻給我們一樣的報
酬。』

主人回答其中一人說：『朋友，我對你並不是不公平，
我們不是事先已談妥，工資是一個銀元嗎。拿了錢，就
走吧！我願意讓後來的拿的跟你一樣。難道我在自己的
家裏不能隨我意行事嗎﹖這不過是你嫉妒我善心罷了！』

是的，最後的將成為最先的，最先的又將成為最後的。」


My reading notes:

Different teachings may be obtained from the
parable. Just like attending a very important
class. The late one wished so much to come
earlier. But he encountered heavy rain on the
road. His friends told him, the class is not
important, you may get some notes the next day,
why bother to fight with the rain? The rain was
so heavy, water are coming to the height of
waist. But he managed to walk through the water.
He swam across the roads, and finally, he reached
the school. He was the last to attend the class.

But he was the first, definitely.