(美国阿拉斯加州播音）

©World Christian Broadcasting

Shortwave Radio Station KNLS, Anchor Point, Alaska, USA

Recording Studios: Franklin, Tennessee, USA

当我看电视新闻时，偶尔会看见某一个国家的领袖在公共场合与老百姓会面谈话。有时候这不过只是给记者摄影的机会而已。但，有时候它的确是难忘的时刻。

2001年，9月11日，恐怖分子攻击纽约“世界贸易大楼”。美国总统，乔治$布什，去现场参观七十个小时以前大楼所存在的位置。布什总统和消防队长，巴比$巴克，站在一块儿，感谢纽约市的消防队员，同时他们也鼓励美国国民。

2004年，11月底，中国主席，胡锦涛，去看望一位艾滋病患者。藉着电视台，在十亿中国人面前，胡主席一进门，带着微笑，主动地伸出他的手，与艾滋病患者握手。此举动表示中国对艾滋病患者新的看法和关怀。

2005年元月，海啸排排巨浪地由印度洋海底涌到亚洲的十一个国家的海岸以后，印度尼西亚的总统，Yudhoyono先生，前往灾区。Yudhoyono 向灾民表示关怀说，“我们要显示我们的团结，我们的合一，克服在亞齊省灾害之后的问题”。

在以上所提的事例，国际领袖表示他和人民的同舟共济，说老百姓的问题是领袖的负担，老百姓的疼痛是领袖的责任。

以上的三件事情都很重要，但是在世界媒体之前，都是出现短暂，之后就不见了。我们都知道，世界领袖都被安全人员围绕着，所以他们不能随时和老百姓往来。

这些都让我想起，耶稣基督跟一般的领袖有很大的不同。耶稣天天亲近老百姓。基督教的一个既重要又美丽的特点是耶稣“亲自成了血肉之体”。耶稣天天走我们时常走的路上，坐我们时常坐的地上。耶稣经历饥饿，失望，疼痛，试探。他面对过诽谤，困厄、疾病和死亡。耶稣“亲自成了血肉之体”[希伯来书2:14]。这样看来，《圣经新约》肯定耶稣基督与我们一样接受了苦难，所以他理解我们的痛苦。

关于自己，耶稣曾经说他“连枕头的地方都没有”[马太福音8:20]。意思是他不拥有自己的房子，不拥有任何财产。但是耶稣接触麻风病患者，与妓女谈话，与穷人吃饭。耶稣跟自以为是的辩论。耶稣让瘫痪病者走路，瞎眼的看见，饥饿的吃饱。耶稣“亲自成了血肉之体” 。

也许您想知道，我为什么要向您说这些。我心里想着的是2004年12月26日，印度尼西亚的海啸。十一个国家，二十一万多人失踪死亡，两千万人失去家园。这种灾难使得很多问题出现，如，“神知道这事吗？”和“耶稣基督关心这些人吗？”

是的。基督徒深信神知道这事，我们也深信耶稣关心数百万人的痛苦。《圣经》肯定，藉着耶稣基督，天上的神化身为人，参与与面对生命问题，如同您我一样。我们面对生命苦难之时，就如那些经历过海啸的灾民，耶稣基督理解他们，同情他们。耶稣体会每一个人的情感，叹息和眼泪。耶稣知道万人坑里头每一人的名字；他参加每一次葬礼；他同情每位失去孩子的父母；他喜爱每位孤儿。

听众朋友，请您取得一本《圣经》，阅读新约里的四福音书。请您遇见耶稣，认识这位化身为人的神，这位参与一般人（像您和我）生命的神，这位理解我们痛苦的神，这位“亲自成了血肉之体”的神。

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Tsunami/05：

By Edward Short

As I watch the news on television, occasionally I see the leader of a country make a personal appearance in public.  Some of these photo-ops are memorable. 

After the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, President George Bush visited the site where the World Trade Center had stood only seventy hours earlier.  President Bush stood with Fire Chief Bob Beck and thanked the firemen of New York City and reassured the American people. 

In late November, 2004, as television cameras projected the scene to a billion people, China’s President Hu Jintao shook hands with an AIDS patient.  This act signaled a new level of official concern about AIDS. 

In January of 2005, some days after the tsunami surged from the depths of the Indian Ocean and battered the shores of eleven countries, Indonesian president Yuhoyono visited hard-hit Aceh in Sumatra.   President Yudhoyono said he wanted to "show our solidarity, our unity, our togetherness to overcome the problems after Aceh was hit by the disaster."   

In each case, the world leader expressed oneness with his countrymen and said that their problems were his problems, their pain was his pain.

Each of these events, important though they were, were short-lived.  We know that all world leaders are surrounded by security personnel and that they can hardly live among common people like you and me.

One of the things that makes Jesus Christ so special, however, is that Jesus was in close contact with normal people everyday.  One significant and beautiful facet of Christianity is that Jesus Christ shared our humanity.  This means that Jesus walked where we walk, he sat where we sat.  He faced hunger, disappointment, pain and temptation.  He faced defamation, distress, disease and death.  Jesus shared in [our] humanity (Hebrews 2:14).  Thus the New Testament affirms that Jesus Christ suffered as we suffer and that he understands our pain. 

Of himself, Jesus said that he had no place to lay his head (Matthew 8:20) indication that he possessed no personal home, no personal anything.  Yet Jesus sat with lepers, spoke with prostitutes, ate with public outcasts and argued with self-righteous leaders.  Jesus healed the lame, gave sight to the blind and provided food for the hungry.  Jesus shared in our humanity. 

Why do I mention this today, you may wonder.  I am thinking of the recent tsunami in Indonesia.  I am thinking of the victims in eleven countries—over 210,000 deaths, over two million people displaced.  The questions come:  Does God know?  Does Jesus care? 

Yes, Christians believe that God knows and that God cares about our sufferings.  The Bible affirms that in the body of Jesus Christ, deity became a human and faced life just like you and I face it.  When we face tragedies of life, as those who lived through the tsunami now face them, Jesus Christ understands.  Jesus understands our every emotion, every sigh, every tear.  He knows the names of every person in the mass graves; he is present at every funeral; he shares the grief of every parent whose child died; he loves every orphan.

Obtain a copy of the Bible and read the gospel accounts in the New Testament.  Meet Jesus Christ and get to know this deity who became a man, who entered into life as you and I know it and who understands our suffering because he shared in our humanity.

                                              Rev. March 22, 2005