經文：路加福音7:31-34
31 主又說：「這樣，我可用甚麼比這世代的人呢？他們好像甚麼呢？
32好像孩童坐在街市上，彼此呼叫說：
我們向你們吹笛，
你們不跳舞；
我們向你們舉哀，
你們不啼哭。
33施洗的約翰來，不吃餅，不喝酒，你們說他是被鬼附着的。
34人子來，也吃也喝，你們說他是貪食好酒的人，是稅吏和罪人的朋友。」
主題：耶穌關於「世代的人」的比喻
真是鮮活的比喻！
每個世代都有這樣的人啊：既不回應別人的喜樂與哀哭（孩童的比喻），又對別人的行為老是找理由去反對與批評（施洗約翰與耶穌自己的遭遇）。前者是對別人的無感與冷漠，後者是極端的自我中心主義。
這樣的生命，是極為剛硬的；這樣的生命，也會嚴重傷害所有的關係。如果讓這樣的人擁有權勢可以決定關係、甚至是建構體制，那一定是只計算個人獲利，不惜將別人當成資源（中國稱之為「人礦」）的恐怖關係與體制，因為在他的世界裡，只有他的意志才是對錯的標準，只有他的樂與悲才是需要在乎的情緒。
而這樣的生命，離神最遠。
Scripture: Luke 7:31–34
31 The Lord said, “To what, then, shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?
32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another:
‘We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not weep.’
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’
34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’”
Theme: Jesus’ Parable about “the People of This Generation”
What a vivid parable!
Every generation has such people: those who neither respond to others’ joy nor to their sorrow (the parable of the children), and who constantly find reasons to oppose and criticize others’ actions (as seen in their treatment of John the Baptist and of Jesus himself). The former reflects indifference and emotional numbness toward others; the latter reflects an extreme form of self-centeredness.
Such a life is profoundly hardened. Such a life also seriously damages all relationships. If people like this were to hold power—able to determine relationships or even construct systems—those systems would inevitably calculate only personal gain, treating others merely as resources (in China, this is referred to as “human mines”). This would result in terrifying relationships and structures, because in their world only their own will defines right and wrong, and only their own joy and sorrow are emotions that matter.
Such a life is the farthest from God.
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