作者 | Sophie Luo

One man was there who had been invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going, another steps down before me.” (John 5:5-7)

那里有一个人，病了三十八年。 耶稣见这个人躺在那里，知道他已经病了很久，就问他：“你想痊愈吗？”那个病人回答：“先生，池水被搅动的时候，没有人把我放进池子里；而正当我要下去的时候，别人总比我先下去。”（约翰福音 5:5-7）

This man has been ill for 38 years and he’s so close to the hope of healing (“the pool”), but he’s so dragged down by his illness (“invalid”) that he could not move himself further into the source of healing (“the pool”), and it his moments of most need, there is no one to share his burden and help him move a few steps towards the pool.

这个人病了 38 年了，虽然离痊愈的希望（“池子”）如此之近，但是他受疾病之困而无法及时移动到痊愈的源泉中（“池子”）。而在他最需要帮助的时候，却“没有人”来分担他的重担，“没有人”来帮助他往池子多挪动几步。

So many people are suffering alone like this man, and while they truly want to be healed by Jesus, they just don’t know how to or they feel so stuck in their pain and struggle (could be caused by biological, psychological, social and spiritual sufferings) that they feel they can’t move one step further toward the Lord. The burden or pain just feels so overwhelming and they feel so weak, so “invalid”, being stuck in the mud of suffering. Sometimes all that they need is someone to be willing to come close to carry their burdens with them, helping them put one foot in front of another towards the source of living water – Jesus Christ their Savior and Healer. 

世上有许许多多的人都像这个人一样孤单地经历着苦难，虽然他们真的很想被耶稣治愈，但是他们却不知道该怎么做，或者他们感觉被困在痛苦和挣扎中（可能是生理、心理、社交关系和精神痛苦）而无力再往前寻求上帝。他们感觉背负的重担或承受的痛苦是如此深重，感觉自己如此软弱，就像深陷在痛苦的泥潭里“动弹不得”。有时候，他们只是需要有个人愿意靠近他们，与他们一起担当重担，帮助他们艰难地一步步迈开腿，走向活水的源头——他们的救主和医治者：耶稣基督。

Suffering alone is not how God has created us to live. He has created us and redeemed us through his Son Christ Jesus, so that we may live and love one another in God’s community in our union with Christ and with one another, and this includes carrying one another’s burdens and helping one another in need. God calls us to do this as he speaks to us in Gal. 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the laws of Christ.”

孤单地独自承受苦难不是上帝创造我们去过的生活。上帝借着祂的儿子耶稣基督创造和救赎我们，是要让我们在与基督的联合中彼此联合，在祂的国里彼此相爱，而这就包含了分担彼此的重担，在有需要时彼此相助。上帝在加拉太书 6:2 中呼召我们这么做：“你们要分担彼此的重担，这样就成全了基督的律法。”

Ps. 133:1 paints such beautiful a picture for us: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” And Eph. 4:4 reminds us that “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;” We as Christians, as followers of Christ, are joined to Christ and to one another through the one same Spirit – the Holy Spirit because of God’s love and grace. We are of One body – the body of Christ, the Church.

诗篇 133:1 为我们描绘了一个特别美丽的画面：“看哪！弟兄和睦共处，是多么的善，多么的美。”以弗所书 4:4 也提醒我们：“身体只有一个，圣灵只有一位，就像你们蒙召只是借着一个盼望。”因为上帝的爱和恩典，我们作为基督徒，作为基督的跟随者，通过同一位灵（也就是圣灵）与基督联合，也彼此联合。我们同属于一个身体——基督的身体：教会。

The picture of Ps. 133:1 is the picture of love of the friends of the paralyzed man in Luke 5：17-20 – they carried their paralyzed friend on a bed all the way to the place where Jesus was, and they tried to bring him to Jesus so that he could be healed by Him. And when they couldn’t find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let their friend down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. And Jesus, seeing their faith, healed the man. 

诗篇 133:1 所描绘的画面正是路加福音 5:17-20 中那位瘫痪之人的朋友们所展示的爱的画面——他们一路用床榻抬着他们瘫痪的朋友，来到耶稣所在的地方，并尝试把他带到耶稣面前，好让耶稣医治他。当由于人多使得他们无法把他带进去时，他们就爬上屋顶，从屋瓦中间把他们的朋友和床榻一起缒到众人当中，正放在耶稣面前。而耶稣看见他们的信心就治愈了这个人。

This man’s friends has shown us how to love one another as God has commanded us to do. God is merciful and gracious. In John 5, after hearing the invalid man’s story, Jesus had compassion on him and healed him at once. And think of what Jesus has done for all of us who believe in him – he carried all of our burdens even when we hated him; he lived a perfectly obedient life on our behalf when we couldn’t; he was beaten, mocked, despised, and betrayed because of our iniquities…he suffered the worst pain for us and he died on the cross to heal our worst disease – our sin, so that we can be One again with God the Father in heaven, without requiring us to bring him anything in return (and we can’t!). His love and salvation is a free gift to us when we believe in him, and he continues to be our High Priest in heaven, bearing our burdens and interceding for us. In his greatest love and grace, he leaves us this commandment: Love one another, even as I have loved you (John 15:12). 

这个人的朋友们为我们展示了如何按上帝所吩咐的去相爱。上帝是满有怜悯和恩慈的。在约翰福音第五章中，当耶稣听了那个患病之人的故事之后，对他充满怜悯，立刻治愈了他。而我们也想想耶稣为我们信主之人所做的吧——他为我们担当了所有的重担，即使在我们曾经恨他的时候；他为我们过了我们无法做到的完全顺服上帝的生活；他因我们的罪而遭受众人的戏弄、殴打、轻视和背叛……他为我们承受了人世间最大的痛苦，并为我们死在十字架上，承受天父对我们的罪的愤怒，为的是治愈我们最严重的疾病——我们的罪，以使我们能够与天父和好，但是他却没有要求我们做任何事情来回报他（我们也无法回报他）。他的爱和救恩是在我们信他之时白白给我们的恩赐，而且他在天上继续做我们的大祭司，担当我们的重担，并为我们向父代求。在他最伟大的爱和恩典中，他留给我们这条命令：“你们要彼此相爱，就像我爱了你们那样。”（约翰福音 15:12）

May we be like the friends of the paralyzed man who did not let their friend suffer alone but loved and helped him to move towards Christ. May we be like Jesus as we remember his love for us and as we imitate him in loving one another. May the Lord give us a humble heart that is not only willing to come close to the suffering souls, but is also willing to go a step further always, not minding the “inconvenience” it might cause us, but to do all that we could to walk with our brothers and sisters in their spiritual journey and help to guide them to our Savior Christ, who is compassionate and loving, faithful to see our suffering and heal our wounds, giving us His peace!

愿我们如那位瘫痪之人的朋友们一般——他们没有让自己的朋友独自一人受苦，而是爱他和帮助他走向基督。愿我们像耶稣一样，在谨记他对我们的爱之时效法他彼此相爱。愿神给我们一颗谦卑的心，让我们不但愿意靠近受苦之人，还始终愿意付出更多，不介意这个过程中可能会给我们带来的“不便之处”，尽我们所能与弟兄姊妹在其属灵之旅中共同前行，并帮助引导他们走向我们的救主基督——他是信实的，充满怜悯和爱，必看见我们的苦难和医治我们的伤痛，赐给我们他的平安。（约翰福音 14:27）

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