ルカによる福音書9:37-45 Luke 9:37-45,
「なんと信仰のない、よこしまな時代なのか。いつまでわたしは、あなたがたと共にいて、あなたがたに我慢しなければならないのか。」 （ルカ9:41）
「よこしまな時代」という表現は、イエス・キリストの時代の人々が特別に悪い心をもっていたというよりも、 神様に信頼しない人々のことを言うときの決まり文句と考えた方が良いでしょう。すなわち、旧約聖書の申命記32章5節には、モーセがイスラエルの人々を「不正を好む曲がった世代」と言って責める言葉が記されています。キリストが父親に向かっておっしゃった「よこしまな時代」という言葉は、文字どおりに翻訳すると、モーセの言葉と同じ「曲がった世代」という言葉になります。つまり、キリストは、人間の中にいつも存在している神様を信じず神様に従わない思いを見抜いて叱責し、悔い改めさせようとなさったのであります。
しかし、キリストはこの父親を叱責して、そのまま見捨ててしまわれたのではありません。 叱責をした後で「あなたの子供をここに連れて来なさい」とおっしゃり、子どもが来るとその子どもを悪霊から救って父親に返してくださったのです。ルカの記述の元となったと考えられるマルコによる福音書では、父親が「信じます。信仰のないわたしをお助けください」と言って悔い改めるありさまが記されています。しかし、ルカはこの父親の言葉を省略して記していません。おそらく、父親の悔い改めよりも、イエス・キリストの絶大な力の方を強調しようとしたのでしょう。キリストは旧約聖書で預言されたメシアとしての絶大な力をもって、悪霊に取りつかれた子どもをお救いになりました。それは、罪と死に支配されている人間の存在への深い憐れみの思いからでありました。すでにキリストは多くの奇跡によって病に苦しむ人々や悪霊に取りつかれた人々を救っておられました。それは、罪と死に支配された人間の苦しみに対する深い共感の思いからなさったことでした。決してご自分の評判を上げるためではありませんでした。
キリストはご自分の評判を上げるつもりがなかったばかりではありません。キリストは、今、奇跡に感銘を受けている民衆が、やがてご自身を殺そうとすることすら見抜いておられました。43節前半には「人々は皆、神の偉大さに心を打たれた」とあります。そして、それに続いて43節の後半から44節にかけては「イエスがなさったすべてのことに、皆が驚いていると、イエスは弟子たちに言われた。『この言葉をよく耳に入れておきなさい。人の子は人々の手に引き渡されようとしている』」とあります。この御言葉には、キリストの驚くべき深く強いご意志が表現されています。すなわち、キリストは、民衆がキリストを信じているかのように見えるまさしくその場において、やがてご自身が受けるべき十字架の苦難をしっかりと見据えておられたのであります。
（8月20日の説教より）
It is widely known to the world that the spirit of Christianity is one of self-sacrifice. What often surprises the world, however, is that those who have a thoroughly Christian spirit are willing to go beyond the normal limits of human nature in their self-sacrifice. During the Second World War, a British bishop in South East Asia was captured by the Japanese military police on suspicion of spying. He was tortured severely for four days, but he survived the torture by praying, “O God, forgive the military policemen.” Impressed by the bishop’s admirable attitude, a member of the military police visited him after the war, asked for forgiveness, was baptised and became a Christian. This bishop’s self-sacrifice goes far beyond the limits of ordinary human beings. Ordinary people can get so angry and yell at others for even stepping on their feet. And while we can say that this is the power of this bishop’s faith, we must go further and say that it is the power of the person of Christ himself, in whom this bishop believed. Therefore, we wish, through today’s Scriptures, to study how Jesus Christ has related to the people of the world and to touch the depths of the person of Christ.
After the wondrous event of the Transfiguration on the mountain, where eternal life shone forth from Jesus Christ, Christ and his three disciples descended the mountain, and here, too, a crowd was waiting for him. Among those who wanted Christ to save them was a father who had an only son who was possessed by an evil spirit. This father had asked for a miracle to have his child saved by Christ’s disciples, but his request was not fulfilled. The father’s words in verse 40, “I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not” expressed his disappointment that his request was not fulfilled. However, in Christ’s reply to this, rather than being angry at the disciples’ inability, we sense a strong sense of indignation at the lack of faith of the father and the people represented by him. In verse 41, Christ said, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” The father who complained about the impotence of Christ’s disciples was, on the contrary, rebuked by Christ for his lack of faith.
Incidentally, it is better to think of the expression “twisted generation” as a cliché when referring to those who did not trust in God, rather than to think that those in Jesus Christ’s time had a particularly bad heart. In Deuteronomy 32:5, Moses chastised the Israelites, calling them “a crooked and twisted generation.” Christ’s words to the father, “twisted generation” (γενεα διεστραμένη), are the same as Moses’ words. In other words, Christ saw through the unbelief in God and disobedience to God that had always existed in man and rebuked him and tried to bring him to repentance.
However, Christ did not just rebuke the father and leave him to it. After rebuking him, he said, “Bring your son here,” and when the child came, he rescued him from the evil spirit and returned him to his father. In the Gospel of Mark, which is believed to be the source of Luke’s account, the father said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” and repented. However, Luke omitted the father’s words. Perhaps he wanted to emphasise the immense power of Jesus Christ rather than his father’s repentance. Christ, with his immense power as the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, saved the child who was possessed by the evil spirit. This was out of deep compassion for human existence, which is dominated by sin and death. Christ had already saved those suffering from illness and those possessed by evil spirits by many miracles. He did this out of deep compassion for the suffering of human beings who are ruled by sin and death. It was never to enhance his own reputation.
Not only did Christ not intend to make a reputation for himself, but also Christ even foresaw that the people who were now impressed by his miracles would eventually try to kill him. In the first half of verse 43, we read that “all were astonished at the majesty of God.” And then, following that, in the second half of verse 43 to verse 44, “But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.’” In these words, the amazing and deep and strong will of Christ was expressed. In other words, Christ was looking firmly at the suffering of the cross that he would soon have to undergo, right there in the very place where the people seemed to believe in him.
The following misconceptions are often made about Jesus Christ. He first tried to become the leader of the Jewish people and won their hearts with his miracles and teachings of love, but he gradually lost popularity and finally, unwillingly, he was betrayed by his people and died on the cross. The reason why this is a misconception is that Christ saw from the beginning that the people would betray him, and knowing this, he was involved with them in their search for salvation. This is because Christ knew that it was his mission to save them from their sins by being convicted on their behalf. And this mission was given to Christ by God the Father. In verses 4 and 5 of Isaiah 53 of the Old Testament, the prophecy of Christ’s mission is prophesied as follows.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
As this prophecy shows, Jesus Christ was sinless, yet he chose to live in such a way that he would be punished on behalf of human beings. Rather than choosing to live, we might say that he chose to die.
Calvin, the Genevan religious reformer, wrote of Christ’s suffering and death as follows. “In order to remove our condemnation, it was not sufficient to endure any kind of death. To satisfy our ransom, it was necessary to select a mode of death in which he might deliver us, both by giving himself up to condemnation, and undertaking our expiation.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, Chapter 16, 5) The people, however, had no idea that Christ had such deep love and obedience. They thought, as Isaiah prophesied, that he suffered because he was “smitten by God.” Also, as written in verse 45, “They did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.” In other words, the disciples could not understand Christ’s announcement of his sufferings and could not even ask about the meaning of Christ’s announcement of his sufferings.
According to Luke 23:13-25, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, seeing that Jesus Christ was not guilty of the crimes of which the Jewish leaders accused him, proposed before the people to release him after having him flogged. However, the people, incited by the Jewish leaders, demanded that Jesus Christ be crucified. “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas,” they shouted, “Crucify, crucify him!” Moreover, they continued to demand that Christ be crucified, despite the fact that Pilate, the governor, had suggested three times that Christ be released in an attempt to somehow change the people’s minds. According to Luke 23:34 the crucified Jesus Christ said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He prayed intercession for the salvation of those who had crucified him. The people, however, stripped Christ of his garments, divided them by lot, and said to the crucified Christ, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” Christ knew in advance that this would be the result. Not only did he know it, but he also walked in order to undergo such sufferings. Christ was deeply aware that it was his mission given to him by God the Father to die on the cross. And in order to fulfil that mission, he prayed constantly and kept listening to the will of God the Father.
Those who truly believe in Christ are forgiven of their sins and recognised as righteous because of this obedience and atonement offered by Christ. At the same time, as those united to Christ, they also suffer and walk obediently in the way of the cross. Therefore, Christians must not try to gain popularity with the people. Nor should they seek to gain popularity with the people, nor should they seek to flatter the leaders who do things that are contrary to God’s will using the power of the people. Rather, they should bear in mind two things. First, the sufferings of Christ, who was persecuted by his people to the point of crucifixion, was in order that I might be saved. Secondly, by being persecuted by the people, I would also realise how deep Christ’s love and obedience was. Of course, our sufferings are not even one hundredth or one thousandth of what Christ suffered. However, through sufferings, we come to know the depth of Christ’s person and our faith is deepened.
A Christian writer Ms. MIURA Ayako wrote the following interesting story about her encounter with Mr. NISHIMURA Kyuzo, an elder of Sapporo Kitaichijo Church. When Ms. Miura, who had been getting medical treatment in a hospital in Asahikawa (at the time she was unmarried and her name was HOTTA Ayako), was transferred to a hospital in Sapporo, Mr. MAEKAWA Tadashi who was a believer of Asahikawa Church wrote to Mr. NISHIMURA, an elder of Sapporo Kitaichijo Church, “Please take care of Ms. HOTTA Ayako, a seeker from Asahikawa Church, who is now being admitted to a hospital in Sapporo. I would like to thank you for your kind attention.” After Ms. HOTTA was admitted to the Sapporo hospital, Mr. NISHIMURA came to visit her with sweets. Ms. HOTTA was a person of strong character, so instead of accepting the box of sweets, she said, “Sir, I have been in hospital for a long time. I always receive sympathy from people, so I have been accustomed to receive things from others. When people become accustomed to receiving things from others, they become disgusted with humans. I beg you not to give me any things.”
How would you feel if you visited someone you didn’t know, at the request of an acquaintance, and were told something like this? I am sure you would say, “This person is rude and cheeky. I didn’t come to visit you because I’m man of leisure. I will never come here again!” However, Mr. NISHIMURA would laugh and say, “Yes, yes, I understand. But you see, Ms. HOTTA. When you receive the sun’s rays every day, do you receive them from this angle or that angle?” Hearing this, Ms. HOTTA felt ashamed that she had spoken so arrogantly and said that she did not need any more sympathy, when it was thanks to the love of many people, including her parents and siblings, that she had been able to live a life of convalescence for so many years. This encounter with Mr. NISHIMURA Kyuzo led Ms. HOTTA, i.e., MIURA Ayako to baptism. She was impressed by Mr. NNISHIMURA’s attitude of not only not being offended in the slightest when she rejected sweets, but also calling out deeply to the heart of the person he was visiting. I believe that the spirit of the cross of Christ, nurtured in his church life, resides in Mr. NISHIMURA. In other words, because Mr. NISHIMURA himself had shared Christ’s sufferings and had been touched by the depths of Christ’s person, he was able to witness to others about Christ with a deep sense of person.
When we, too, witness to Christ in the world, we should not be happy or sad at the other person’s reaction. We should not be so quick to stop when we don’t get a good response, but have an unshakable attitude that it is normal if they don’t accept us, and that it is God’s special grace if they do. To this end, let us bear in mind how Christ dealt with his people. Christ poured out his love to the people who eventually demanded that he himself should be crucified. This was because he knew that by taking himself to the cross, he would open the way for people’s salvation.