4 月 9 日 预苦期第五周 星期三

(罗雅各牧师 信望堂)

约翰福音 12：1-8

12 逾越节前六日，耶稣来到伯大尼，就是他叫拉撒路从死里复活之处。 2 有人在那里给耶稣预备筵席，马大伺候，拉撒路也在那同耶稣坐席的人中。 3 马利亚就拿着一斤极贵的真哪哒香膏，抹耶稣的脚，又用自己的头发去擦，屋里就满了膏的香气。 4 有一个门徒，就是那将要卖耶稣的加略人犹大， 5 说：“这香膏为什么不卖三十两银子周济穷人呢？” 6 他说这话，并不是挂念穷人，乃因他是个贼，又带着钱囊，常取其中所存的。 7 耶稣说：“由她吧！她是为我安葬之日存留的。 8 因为常有穷人和你们同在，只是你们不常有我。”

经文反思

“你们中间永远有穷人，但你们不会永远有我。(第 8 节）耶稣非常关心穷人，犹大提到穷人是为了激起门徒对马利亚的愤怒（马可福音 14：5），这说明他们在耶稣传道期间是多么致力于帮助那些需要帮助的人。此时，耶稣即将去世，但他仍然确保门徒们为即将发生的事情做好了准备。他关心他们，希望他们以他为中心。他希望他们与他同在，准备好走向世界，成为他人的祝福。

“爱主你的神 这是第一要务，也是最重要的要务；“爱他人 ”是第二要务，第一要务使之成为可能。穷人需要我们带他们去见耶稣，而不是给他们金钱或成功。比起穷人需要我们，我们更需要耶稣。

“爱主你的神 这是第一条，也是最优先的一条；“爱他人 ”是第二条，由第一条变为可能。穷人需要我们带他们去见耶稣，而不是给他们金钱或成功。

我们需要耶稣胜过穷人需要我们。

祷告

天父，我们来到您面前，认识到我们比想象中更需要耶稣。教导我们始终把注意力放在耶稣和他对我们的爱上，这样我们就会首先爱您，最重要的是，这样我们对他人的爱就会从我们对您的奉献中流淌出来。帮助我们不被世俗的要求所干扰，而是将我们的心专注于基督。赐予我们生活和服务的智慧，使我们的世界充满耶稣的馨香，他为赦免我们的罪死在十字架上。奉祂的名，我们祈祷。阿门。

应用

在这个预苦期，你可以学会:

让我们正确对待优先事项。我们的首要任务必须是爱神，爱神高于一切。如果我们只关注人类的需求，就有可能忽略生命的真正源泉--耶稣本身。我们应该竭尽全力去敬拜、研读圣经、聆听布 道、奉献和祷告。虽然有时间去服侍穷人，但我们需要确保自己明白自己最大的需要是基督，并按照自己的认识去做。

帮助我们的基督徒弟兄姐妹调整到正确的优先顺序。在教会、家庭和工作的事工中，我们可以提醒彼此什么才是真正的重点，确保我们所有的善行都是有目的的，都能吸引人去爱耶稣。

9 April The Wednesday in the Fifth Week of Lent

(Rev Jacob Law Hope Methodist Church)

Scripture - John 12:1–8

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

Reflections on the Scripture

You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” (verse 8) Jesus cared deeply about the poor, and the fact that Judas mentioned the poor to stir up the disciple's indignation with Mary (Mark 14:5) shows just how committed they were to helping those in need during his ministry. At this time, Jesus was about to die, but he still made sure his disciples were ready for what was to come. He cared for them, he wanted them to focus on him. He wanted them to be with him, to be ready to go out into the world and be a blessing to others.

"Love the Lord your God". This is the first and most important priority; "love others" comes second, made possible by the first. The poor need us to bring them to Jesus more than to give them money or success. We need Jesus more than the poor need us.

“Love the Lord your God”. This is the first and with the greatest priority; “love others” comes the second, made possible by the first.

The poor need us to bring them to Jesus more than to give them money or success. We need Jesus more than the poor need us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we come before You, recognizing that we need Jesus more than we thought. Teach us to always put our focus on Jesus and his love for us, so that we love You first and above all, so that our love for others may flow from our devotion to You. Help us not to be distracted by the world's demands but to fix our hearts on Christ. Give us the wisdom to live and to serve, so that we fill the world with the fragrance of Jesus, who died on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins. In His name, we pray. Amen.

Application

In this season of Lent, you can learn to:

Let’s get our priorities right. Our foremost priority must always be to love God above everything else. If we focus exclusively on human needs, we risk overlooking the true source of life—Jesus Himself. We should give our best efforts to worship, Bible study, attending sermons, devotion and prayer. While there's a time to serve the poor, we need to make sure we understand our greatest need is Christ and do as we know.

Help our fellow Christians adjust to the right priorities. In our ministries at church, at home, and through our work, we can remind each other what the true focus is, ensuring that all our good works are purposeful and draw people to love Jesus.