第135篇		Paper 135
施洗者约翰		John the Baptist
135:0.1 (1496.1) 施洗者约翰生于公元前7年3月25日，与加百列在头一年六月向伊丽莎白做出的许诺一致。伊丽莎白将加百利的来访保密了五个月；当她告诉她丈夫撒迦利亚时，他受到了极大困扰，仅在他于约翰出生前大约六周有过一个不同寻常的梦之后，才完全相信了她。除了加百列对伊丽莎白的造访和撒迦利亚的梦以外，没有任何不寻常或超自然之事与施洗者约翰的出生有关联。		135:0.1 (1496.1) JOHN the Baptist was born March 25, 7 b.c., in accordance with the promise that Gabriel made to Elizabeth in June of the previous year. For five months Elizabeth kept secret Gabriel’s visitation; and when she told her husband, Zacharias, he was greatly troubled and fully believed her narrative only after he had an unusual dream about six weeks before the birth of John. Excepting the visit of Gabriel to Elizabeth and the dream of Zacharias, there was nothing unusual or supernatural connected with the birth of John the Baptist.
135:0.2 (1496.2) 在第八天，约翰依照犹太人习俗受了割礼。日复一日，年复一年，他在那些日子被称为犹大城、大约在耶路撒冷以西四英里（约六公里）的小村庄作为一个普通孩子长大了。		135:0.2 (1496.2) On the eighth day John was circumcised according to the Jewish custom. He grew up as an ordinary child, day by day and year by year, in the small village known in those days as the City of Judah, about four miles west of Jerusalem.
135:0.3 (1496.3) 在约翰早期童年中最为重大的事件，是伴随他父母对耶稣和拿撒勒一家人的造访。这一造访发生在公元前1年六月，那时他六岁多一点。		135:0.3 (1496.3) The most eventful occurrence in John’s early childhood was the visit, in company with his parents, to Jesus and the Nazareth family. This visit occurred in the month of June, 1 b.c., when he was a little over six years of age.
135:0.4 (1496.4) 在他们从拿撒勒返回之后，约翰的父母开始了对这个孩子的系统教育。在这个小村庄没有犹太教会堂学校；然而，由于撒迦利亚是一个祭司，他受到了相当好的教育，伊丽莎白也比一般犹太女人受过好得多的教育；她也属于祭司阶层，是“亚伦之女”的一个后裔。由于约翰是唯一的孩子，他们花了很多时间用于他的心智和灵性培训。撒迦利亚仅有很短时期在耶路撒冷圣殿服务，因此他投入许多时间教导他的儿子。		135:0.4 (1496.4) After their return from Nazareth John’s parents began the systematic education of the lad. There was no synagogue school in this little village; however, as he was a priest, Zacharias was fairly well educated, and Elizabeth was far better educated than the average Judean woman; she was also of the priesthood, being a descendant of the “daughters of Aaron.” Since John was an only child, they spent a great deal of time on his mental and spiritual training. Zacharias had only short periods of service at the temple in Jerusalem so that he devoted much of his time to teaching his son.
135:0.5 (1496.5) 撒迦利亚和伊丽莎白拥有一个小农场，他们在农场上养羊。他们很难在这片土地上维持生活，不过撒迦利亚会收到一笔来自奉献给祭司阶层的圣殿基金的定期津贴。		135:0.5 (1496.5) Zacharias and Elizabeth had a small farm on which they raised sheep. They hardly made a living on this land, but Zacharias received a regular allowance from the temple funds dedicated to the priesthood.
1. 约翰成为拿细耳人 ^top		1. John Becomes a Nazarite ^top
135:1.1 (1496.6) 约翰在十四岁时未从任何学校毕业，但他父母却选择这年作为他发下正式拿细耳人誓约的合适之年。相应地，撒迦利亚和伊丽莎白带着他们儿子去往死海下面的隐基底。这是拿细耳人兄弟会的南方总部，在那儿，这个孩子被适当而又庄严地引入这个终生修道会。在这些仪式以及做出弃绝所有醉饮、让头发生长、避免触摸死者的誓约后，一家人继续前往耶路撒冷，约翰在那儿的圣殿前完成了发下那些拿细耳人誓约所需的祭品供奉。		135:1.1 (1496.6) John had no school from which to graduate at the age of fourteen, but his parents had selected this as the appropriate year for him to take the formal Nazarite vow. Accordingly, Zacharias and Elizabeth took their son to Engedi, down by the Dead Sea. This was the southern headquarters of the Nazarite brotherhood, and there the lad was duly and solemnly inducted into this order for life. After these ceremonies and the making of the vows to abstain from all intoxicating drinks, to let the hair grow, and to refrain from touching the dead, the family proceeded to Jerusalem, where, before the temple, John completed the making of the offerings which were required of those taking Nazarite vows.
135:1.2 (1496.7) 约翰发下了被施给他显赫前辈参孙和先知撒母耳的同一终生誓约。一个终生的拿细耳人，被视为一个圣化的神圣人格。犹太人怀着对给予大祭司的相近尊重和崇敬看待一个拿细耳人，这并不奇怪，因为终生奉献的拿细耳人是除了大祭司以外，永远获允进入圣殿至圣所的仅有人物。		135:1.2 (1496.7) John took the same life vows that had been administered to his illustrious predecessors, Samson and the prophet Samuel. A life Nazarite was looked upon as a sanctified and holy personality. The Jews regarded a Nazarite with almost the respect and veneration accorded the high priest, and this was not strange since Nazarites of lifelong consecration were the only persons, except high priests, who were ever permitted to enter the holy of holies in the temple.
135:1.3 (1497.1) 约翰从耶路撒冷回家去照管他父亲的绵羊，并长大成为一个具有高贵品格的强壮男人。		135:1.3 (1497.1) John returned home from Jerusalem to tend his father’s sheep and grew up to be a strong man with a noble character.
135:1.4 (1497.2) 当十六岁时，约翰由于读到关于以利亚的内容，便对这位迦密山的先知极为印象深刻，并决定采用他的衣着风格。从那天起，约翰总是穿一件多毛的、带皮腰带的衣服。他在十六岁时有六英尺多（一米八多）高，几近完全长成了。伴随其飘逸的头发和奇特的衣着方式，他确实是一个别致的青年。他的父母对他们这个独子、一个应许之子和一个终生的拿细耳人期待着伟大之事。		135:1.4 (1497.2) When sixteen years old, John, as a result of reading about Elijah, became greatly impressed with the prophet of Mount Carmel and decided to adopt his style of dress. From that day on John always wore a hairy garment with a leather girdle. At sixteen he was more than six feet tall and almost full grown. With his flowing hair and peculiar mode of dress he was indeed a picturesque youth. And his parents expected great things of this their only son, a child of promise and a Nazarite for life.
2. 撒迦利亚之死 ^top		2. The Death of Zacharias ^top
135:2.1 (1497.3) 在几个月的一场疾病后，撒迦利亚死于公元12年七月，此时约翰刚过十八岁。这对约翰是一段极为尴尬的时期，因为拿细耳人的誓约禁止与死者接触，甚至在一个人的家中。尽管约翰已尽力遵守他誓约与死者玷污相关的约束，但他却仍怀疑他已完全服从于拿细耳人修道会的要求；因此在他父亲葬礼之后，他去往了耶路撒冷，在那儿女人庭院的拿细耳人角落，他供奉了他净化所需的祭品。		135:2.1 (1497.3) After an illness of several months Zacharias died in July, a.d. 12, when John was just past eighteen years of age. This was a time of great embarrassment to John since the Nazarite vow forbade contact with the dead, even in one’s own family. Although John had endeavored to comply with the restrictions of his vow regarding contamination by the dead, he doubted that he had been wholly obedient to the requirements of the Nazarite order; therefore, after his father’s burial he went to Jerusalem, where, in the Nazarite corner of the women’s court, he offered the sacrifices required for his cleansing.
135:2.2 (1497.4) 这年九月，伊丽莎白和约翰前往拿撒勒造访玛利亚和耶稣。约翰刚下定决心去展开他的毕生事业，但他不仅被耶稣的话语、也被给他的示范所劝诫，返回家里照顾他的母亲，等待“父之时刻的到来”。在这场令人愉快的造访结束之际向耶稣和玛利亚道别后，约翰再没见到耶稣，直到他在约旦河洗礼事件之时。		135:2.2 (1497.4) In September of this year Elizabeth and John made a journey to Nazareth to visit Mary and Jesus. John had just about made up his mind to launch out in his lifework, but he was admonished, not only by Jesus’ words but also by his example, to return home, take care of his mother, and await the “coming of the Father’s hour.” After bidding Jesus and Mary good-bye at the end of this enjoyable visit, John did not again see Jesus until the event of his baptism in the Jordan.
135:2.3 (1497.5) 约翰和伊丽莎白返回他们家后，便开始为未来制定计划。由于约翰拒绝接受他应得的来自圣殿基金的祭司津贴，两年结束之际他们差点失去了他们的家园；因此他们决定跟羊群一起南行。相应地，约翰二十岁的那年夏天见证了他们搬迁到希伯仑。在所谓的“犹地亚旷野”，约翰沿着一条小溪照管他的羊，那是一条在隐基底汇入死海的较大河流的支流。隐基底的侨居者们不仅包括毕生和定期奉献的拿细耳人，也包括众多其他苦行的牧人，他们与其牧群聚集到了这一地区，并与拿细耳人兄弟会友善往来。他们靠养羊和富有犹太人赠给的修道会的礼物支持自身。		135:2.3 (1497.5) John and Elizabeth returned to their home and began to lay plans for the future. Since John refused to accept the priest’s allowance due him from the temple funds, by the end of two years they had all but lost their home; so they decided to go south with the sheep herd. Accordingly, the summer that John was twenty years of age witnessed their removal to Hebron. In the so-called “wilderness of Judea” John tended his sheep along a brook that was tributary to a larger stream which entered the Dead Sea at Engedi. The Engedi colony included not only Nazarites of lifelong and time-period consecration but numerous other ascetic herdsmen who congregated in this region with their herds and fraternized with the Nazarite brotherhood. They supported themselves by sheep raising and from gifts which wealthy Jews made to the order.
135:2.4 (1497.6) 随着时间流逝，约翰越来越少返回希伯仑，与此同时，他越来越频繁造访隐基底。他完全不同于大多拿细耳人，以致他发现和兄弟会全然友善往来非常困难。不过他非常喜欢艾伯纳，隐基底侨居者的公认领袖和头领。		135:2.4 (1497.6) As time passed, John returned less often to Hebron, while he made more frequent visits to Engedi. He was so entirely different from the majority of the Nazarites that he found it very difficult fully to fraternize with the brotherhood. But he was very fond of Abner, the acknowledged leader and head of the Engedi colony.
3. 牧羊人的生活 ^top		3. The Life of a Shepherd ^top
135:3.1 (1497.7) 沿着这条小溪的溪谷，约翰建造了由堆积起来的石头所组成的十多个石头掩体和夜间畜栏，他在其中可看守和保卫他的成群绵羊和山羊。约翰作为牧羊人的生活给他提供了很多思考的时间，他与艾兹达、伯夙的一个孤儿交谈过很多，他以某种方式收养了他，后者在他去往希伯仑看他母亲和卖羊时，以及在他往下去往隐基底进行安息日礼拜时照看羊群。约翰和这个孩子过得非常简单，以羊肉、山羊奶、野蜂蜜和那一地区的可吃蝗虫为生。他们的这一切日常饮食，依靠不时从希伯仑和隐基底带来的食物得以补充。		135:3.1 (1497.7) Along the valley of this little brook John built no less than a dozen stone shelters and night corrals, consisting of piled-up stones, wherein he could watch over and safeguard his herds of sheep and goats. John’s life as a shepherd afforded him a great deal of time for thought. He talked much with Ezda, an orphan lad of Beth-zur, whom he had in a way adopted, and who cared for the herds when he made trips to Hebron to see his mother and to sell sheep, as well as when he went down to Engedi for Sabbath services. John and the lad lived very simply, subsisting on mutton, goat’s milk, wild honey, and the edible locusts of that region. This, their regular diet, was supplemented by provisions brought from Hebron and Engedi from time to time.
135:3.2 (1498.1) 伊丽莎白随时告知约翰关于巴勒斯坦和世界的事务，他的信念变得越来越坚定，即旧秩序要结束的时间正快速接近；他就要成为一个新时代、即“天国”到来之先驱。这个粗犷的牧羊人对先知但以理的作品十分偏爱。他对但以理关于巨大形象的描述读过千遍，撒迦利亚告诉他这形象代表了世界诸个大国的历史，始于巴比伦，之后是波斯，希腊，最后是罗马。约翰察觉到了罗马已由如此多语言民族和种族组成，以致它无法成为一个强大巩固和牢固统一的帝国。他相信罗马即使在那时也会被分为叙利亚、埃及、巴勒斯坦和其他行省；之后他进一步读过“在列王在位的日子中，无上的神必要建立一个永不败坏的王国。这一王国必不会留给其他民族，但却必会打碎、灭绝所有这些王国，它必要存到永远。”“在那儿他被给予权柄、荣耀和一个所有民族、国家和语言都应服务于他的王国。他的权柄是永远的权柄，不能废去，他的王国必不败坏。”“这一王国和权柄，整个天下王国的大权，必会赐给极高者的圣民，他的王国是一个永远的王国，一切掌权的必服务他、服从他。”		135:3.2 (1498.1) Elizabeth kept John posted about Palestinian and world affairs, and his conviction grew deeper and deeper that the time was fast approaching when the old order was to end; that he was to become the herald of the approach of a new age, “the kingdom of heaven.” This rugged shepherd was very partial to the writings of the Prophet Daniel. He read a thousand times Daniel’s description of the great image, which Zacharias had told him represented the history of the great kingdoms of the world, beginning with Babylon, then Persia, Greece, and finally Rome. John perceived that already was Rome composed of such polyglot peoples and races that it could never become a strongly cemented and firmly consolidated empire. He believed that Rome was even then divided, as Syria, Egypt, Palestine, and other provinces; and then he further read “in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And this kingdom shall not be left to other people but shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” “And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom never shall be destroyed.” “And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
135:3.3 (1498.2) 约翰始终不能完全克服因他从父母那里听到的关于耶稣的内容以及因他在圣经中读到这些段落所产生的困惑。在《但以理书》中他读过：“我在夜间的异象中观看，见到一位像人子的驾着天云而来，在那儿，他被给予权柄、荣耀和一个王国。”但先知的这些文字与他父母传授给他的并不相合。他在其十八岁造访时与耶稣的交谈，也未曾与圣经的这些陈述相对应。尽管有这一困惑，他的母亲在他整个困惑中间向他保证，拿撒勒的耶稣是真正的弥赛亚，他以已前来要坐在大卫的宝座上，他（约翰）要成为他的先行报信者和主要支持者。		135:3.3 (1498.2) John was never able completely to rise above the confusion produced by what he had heard from his parents concerning Jesus and by these passages which he read in the Scriptures. In Daniel he read: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom.” But these words of the prophet did not harmonize with what his parents had taught him. Neither did his talk with Jesus, at the time of his visit when he was eighteen years old, correspond with these statements of the Scriptures. Notwithstanding this confusion, throughout all of his perplexity his mother assured him that his distant cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, was the true Messiah, that he had come to sit on the throne of David, and that he (John) was to become his advance herald and chief support.
135:3.4 (1498.3) 从约翰听说到的关于罗马之恶习和邪恶的一切，以及这个帝国的放荡和道德贫瘠，从他所知的希律•安提帕斯和犹地亚总督们的恶行中，他愿意相信这个时代的终结正在迫近。对这个粗犷而又高贵的自然之子来说，似乎这个世界为人类时代的终结和神之新时代 -- 即天国之黎明做好了准备。约翰他将要成为旧先知中最后一个和新先知中第一个的感觉，在他心中成长。他怀着日益增加的冲动，简直要震颤起来出去向所有人宣布：“忏悔吧！与神和好吧！准备好终结；让你们自身为世上事务之永恒新秩序、即天国的出现做好准备。”		135:3.4 (1498.3) From all John heard of the vice and wickedness of Rome and the dissoluteness and moral barrenness of the empire, from what he knew of the evil doings of Herod Antipas and the governors of Judea, he was minded to believe that the end of the age was impending. It seemed to this rugged and noble child of nature that the world was ripe for the end of the age of man and the dawn of the new and divine age—the kingdom of heaven. The feeling grew in John’s heart that he was to be the last of the old prophets and the first of the new. And he fairly vibrated with the mounting impulse to go forth and proclaim to all men: “Repent! Get right with God! Get ready for the end; prepare yourselves for the appearance of the new and eternal order of earth affairs, the kingdom of heaven.”
4. 伊丽莎白之死 ^top		4. The Death of Elizabeth ^top
135:4.1 (1499.1) 公元22年8月17日，当约翰二十八岁时，他母亲突然过世了。伊丽莎白的朋友们由于知道拿细耳人关于与死者接触的约束，即便是本人的家人，便再派人去叫约翰之前为伊丽莎白的葬礼做了所有安排。当他收到他母亲过世的消息时，他指示艾兹达将他的羊群赶往隐基底，并动身前往希伯仑。		135:4.1 (1499.1) On August 17, a.d. 22, when John was twenty-eight years of age, his mother suddenly passed away. Elizabeth’s friends, knowing of the Nazarite restrictions regarding contact with the dead, even in one’s own family, made all arrangements for the burial of Elizabeth before sending for John. When he received word of the death of his mother, he directed Ezda to drive his herds to Engedi and started for Hebron.
135:4.2 (1499.2) 在从他母亲葬礼返回隐基底时，他将他的羊群呈献给了兄弟会，并令他自身与外界隔绝，同时他禁食和祈祷。约翰只知道通往神祗的古老方法；他只知道像以利亚、撒母耳和但以理这些人的记载。以利亚是他关于一位先知的理想。以利亚是以色列导师中被视为先知的第一人，而约翰真的相信他要成为天国信使这一长串显赫家系中的最后一个。		135:4.2 (1499.2) On returning to Engedi from his mother’s funeral, he presented his flocks to the brotherhood and for a season detached himself from the outside world while he fasted and prayed. John knew only of the old methods of approach to divinity; he knew only of the records of such as Elijah, Samuel, and Daniel. Elijah was his ideal of a prophet. Elijah was the first of the teachers of Israel to be regarded as a prophet, and John truly believed that he was to be the last of this long and illustrious line of the messengers of heaven.
135:4.3 (1499.3) 两年半以来约翰住在隐基底，他说服了兄弟会大多人“时代终结即将到来”；“天国就要出现了。”所有他的早期教导都基于当下犹太人有关弥赛亚的想法和概念，后者会成为令犹太民族摆脱其外邦统治者的应许拯救者。		135:4.3 (1499.3) For two and a half years John lived at Engedi, and he persuaded most of the brotherhood that “the end of the age was at hand”; that “the kingdom of heaven was about to appear.” And all his early teaching was based upon the current Jewish idea and concept of the Messiah as the promised deliverer of the Jewish nation from the domination of their gentile rulers.
135:4.4 (1499.4) 在这整个时期当中，约翰在他隐基底的拿细耳人家中找到的许多圣书中读过许多内容。他尤为对以赛亚和玛拉基印象深刻，他们是直到那时的最后两个先知。他反复阅读了《以赛亚书》的最后五章，他也相信了这些预言。之后他愿意读《玛拉基书》：“看哪，在上主大而可畏之日到来之前，我必派先知以利亚到你们那里；他必使父亲的心转向儿女，儿女的心转向父亲，免得我来咒诅遍地。” 仅是由于玛拉基这一关于以利亚将返回的许诺，阻止了约翰去宣讲关于天国的来临，以及劝告他同伴犹太人逃避将来的天谴。约翰为宣讲即将到来天国的讯息做好了准备，但对以利亚即将到来的这一期望令他踌躇了两年多。他知道他不是以利亚，玛拉基意思是什么？这一预言是字面上的还是比喻性的？他何以能知晓真相？他最终敢于思考到，由于先知中的第一个叫做以利亚，因此最后一个终归应以同一名字闻名。尽管如此，他仍有疑虑，足以阻止他称他自己为以利亚的诸多疑虑。		135:4.4 (1499.4) Throughout this period John read much in the sacred writings which he found at the Engedi home of the Nazarites. He was especially impressed by Isaiah and by Malachi, the last of the prophets up to that time. He read and reread the last five chapters of Isaiah, and he believed these prophecies. Then he would read in Malachi: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers toward the children and the hearts of the children toward their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” And it was only this promise of Malachi that Elijah would return that deterred John from going forth to preach about the coming kingdom and to exhort his fellow Jews to flee from the wrath to come. John was ripe for the proclamation of the message of the coming kingdom, but this expectation of the coming of Elijah held him back for more than two years. He knew he was not Elijah. What did Malachi mean? Was the prophecy literal or figurative? How could he know the truth? He finally dared to think that, since the first of the prophets was called Elijah, so the last should be known, eventually, by the same name. Nevertheless, he had doubts, doubts sufficient to prevent his ever calling himself Elijah.
135:4.5 (1499.5) 正是以利亚的影响，使得约翰采用了他对同时代人罪行和恶习直接而又直率的攻击方式；他试图穿得像以利亚一样，他尽力像以利亚一样说话；从每一外在方面看，他都很像古时的这位先知。他就是这样一个健壮而又别致的自然之子，就是这样一个无畏而又勇敢的正义之士。约翰并非不识字，他的确清楚了解犹太人诸多圣书，但他却很难说是有教养的。他是一个清晰的思考者，一个有力的演讲者，一个炽烈的斥责者。他很难说是他时代的示范，但他却是一个雄辩的谴责者。		135:4.5 (1499.5) It was the influence of Elijah that caused John to adopt his methods of direct and blunt assault upon the sins and vices of his contemporaries. He sought to dress like Elijah, and he endeavored to talk like Elijah; in every outward aspect he was like the olden prophet. He was just such a stalwart and picturesque child of nature, just such a fearless and daring preacher of righteousness. John was not illiterate, he did well know the Jewish sacred writings, but he was hardly cultured. He was a clear thinker, a powerful speaker, and a fiery denunciator. He was hardly an example to his age, but he was an eloquent rebuke.
135:4.6 (1499.6) 最后，他想出了宣告新时代、即神之王国的方法；他确定他要成为弥赛亚的先驱者；他扫除了一切疑虑，并在公元25年3月的一天从隐基底出发，开始他作为公众布道者短暂却又灿烂的生涯。		135:4.6 (1499.6) At last he thought out the method of proclaiming the new age, the kingdom of God; he settled that he was to become the herald of the Messiah; he swept aside all doubts and departed from Engedi one day in March of a.d. 25 to begin his short but brilliant career as a public preacher.
5. 神之王国 ^top		5. The Kingdom of God ^top
135:5.1 (1500.1) 为了理解约翰的讯息，应当考虑他出现在活动舞台上之时犹太民族的地位。近百年以来，整个以色列进退两难；他们无法解释他们对外邦领主的不断克制。难道摩西没教导过正义总是被报以繁荣和力量吗？难道他们不是神的受选之民吗？为何大卫的宝座凄凉空置？根据摩西的教义和先知们的戒律，犹太人发现很难解释他们长久持续的民族凄凉。		135:5.1 (1500.1) In order to understand John’s message, account should be taken of the status of the Jewish people at the time he appeared upon the stage of action. For almost one hundred years all Israel had been in a quandary; they were at a loss to explain their continuous subjugation to gentile overlords. Had not Moses taught that righteousness was always rewarded with prosperity and power? Were they not God’s chosen people? Why was the throne of David desolate and vacant? In the light of the Mosaic doctrines and the precepts of the prophets the Jews found it difficult to explain their long-continued national desolation.
135:5.2 (1500.2) 大约在耶稣和约翰的时代一百年前，一个由宗教导师们所组成的新学派、即末世论者，在巴勒斯坦兴起。这些新的导师演化出了一套信念体系，它以犹太人正在为民族之罪恶付出代价为理由，对他们所遭受痛苦和羞辱做出了解释。他们又回到众所周知的、被用来解释巴比伦及先前诸时代被囚的理由。不过，末世论者却如此教导，以色列应振作起来；他们的苦难日子就要结束了；对神之选民的惩罚就要结束了；神对外邦人的耐心就要耗尽了。罗马人统治的结束与这个时代的终结，在某种意义上来说，与这个世界的终结是同义的。这些新导师在很大程度上依靠了但以理的诸多预言，他们始终如一地教导造物将要进入它的最终阶段；这一世界的诸王国就要变成神之王国。对于那一时代的犹太人智者来说，这便是“天国”那一贯穿约翰和耶稣教导的习语之意涵。对于巴勒斯坦的犹太人来说，“天国”这一习语只有一个意涵：一种绝对正义的状态，神（弥赛亚）将会以完美之权能在世上各国掌权，正如他在天上掌权一样 -- “愿你的意志行在地上，如同行在天上。”		135:5.2 (1500.2) About one hundred years before the days of Jesus and John a new school of religious teachers arose in Palestine, the apocalyptists. These new teachers evolved a system of belief that accounted for the sufferings and humiliation of the Jews on the ground that they were paying the penalty for the nation’s sins. They fell back onto the well-known reasons assigned to explain the Babylonian and other captivities of former times. But, so taught the apocalyptists, Israel should take heart; the days of their affliction were almost over; the discipline of God’s chosen people was about finished; God’s patience with the gentile foreigners was about exhausted. The end of Roman rule was synonymous with the end of the age and, in a certain sense, with the end of the world. These new teachers leaned heavily on the predictions of Daniel, and they consistently taught that creation was about to pass into its final stage; the kingdoms of this world were about to become the kingdom of God. To the Jewish mind of that day this was the meaning of that phrase—the kingdom of heaven—which runs throughout the teachings of both John and Jesus. To the Jews of Palestine the phrase “kingdom of heaven” had but one meaning: an absolutely righteous state in which God (the Messiah) would rule the nations of earth in perfection of power just as he ruled in heaven—“Your will be done on earth as in heaven.”
135:5.3 (1500.3) 在约翰的时代，所有犹太人都满怀期待的询问，“天国多久才会到来？”一种普遍的感受存在着，即外邦民族统治之终结正在临近。在所有犹太人当中存在一种活跃的希望和热切的期待，即在那代人的一生中，诸时代的心愿之圆满将会发生。		135:5.3 (1500.3) In the days of John all Jews were expectantly asking, “How soon will the kingdom come?” There was a general feeling that the end of the rule of the gentile nations was drawing near. There was present throughout all Jewry a lively hope and a keen expectation that the consummation of the desire of the ages would occur during the lifetime of that generation.
135:5.4 (1500.4) 尽管犹太人在他们对即将到来王国之本质的估计上极为不同，但他们在其信念上却是相似的，即这一事件即将发生，近在咫尺，甚至就在门口。许多读过旧约的人，从字面上期待一个巴勒斯坦新王，期待一个摆脱了其仇敌、由一个大卫王的继承者、即会被快速承认为全世界合法和正义统治者的弥赛亚主掌的复兴犹太民族。另一群尽管规模较小的虔诚犹太人，则对这一神之王国持有一种大为不同的看法。他们教导即将到来的王国并不属于这个世界，这个世界将要接近某个终结，“一个新天新地”将要在神之王国的建立过程中引领；这一王国要成为一个永远的权柄，罪恶要得以终结，新王国的公民在其享受这一无尽极乐过程中变得不朽。		135:5.4 (1500.4) While the Jews differed greatly in their estimates of the nature of the coming kingdom, they were alike in their belief that the event was impending, near at hand, even at the door. Many who read the Old Testament literally looked expectantly for a new king in Palestine, for a regenerated Jewish nation delivered from its enemies and presided over by the successor of King David, the Messiah who would quickly be acknowledged as the rightful and righteous ruler of all the world. Another, though smaller, group of devout Jews held a vastly different view of this kingdom of God. They taught that the coming kingdom was not of this world, that the world was approaching its certain end, and that “a new heaven and a new earth” were to usher in the establishment of the kingdom of God; that this kingdom was to be an everlasting dominion, that sin was to be ended, and that the citizens of the new kingdom were to become immortal in their enjoyment of this endless bliss.
135:5.5 (1500.5) 所有人都同意，激烈的清除或是净化性惩罚必定会先于新王国在世上的建立。拘泥字义者教导一场世界范围战争将随之而起，它将毁灭所有不幸者，而忠诚者将会留下，直到普遍而又永恒的胜利。行巫术者们则教导这一王国将会由神之伟大审判所引入，它会将不义者移交给他们应得的惩罚审判和最终毁灭，与此同时将受选之民中的信奉圣者与人子一起提升到充满荣耀和权威之高位，他们将以神之名掌管被救赎的民族。后面这一群体甚至相信许多虔诚的外邦人或许被允许进入这一新王国的团队中。		135:5.5 (1500.5) All were agreed that some drastic purging or purifying discipline would of necessity precede the establishment of the new kingdom on earth. The literalists taught that a world-wide war would ensue which would destroy all unbelievers, while the faithful would sweep on to universal and eternal victory. The spiritists taught that the kingdom would be ushered in by the great judgment of God which would relegate the unrighteous to their well-deserved judgment of punishment and final destruction, at the same time elevating the believing saints of the chosen people to high seats of honor and authority with the Son of Man, who would rule over the redeemed nations in God’s name. And this latter group even believed that many devout gentiles might be admitted to the fellowship of the new kingdom.
135:5.6 (1501.1) 有些犹太人持有以下观点，即神或许可能会通过直接而又神圣的介入而创建这一新王国，但大多数相信他会插入某个代表性的中间者，即弥赛亚。那是弥赛亚这个词在约翰和耶稣那代犹太人心中所能拥有的唯一可能意涵。弥赛亚不可能指代一个仅教导神之意志或宣扬正义生活之必要的人。对所有这类圣人，犹太人给予了先知的称呼。弥赛亚不只是先知；弥赛亚要带来新王国、即神之王国的创建。在犹太人传统意义上，任何未能做到这一切的人都不可能是弥赛亚。		135:5.6 (1501.1) Some of the Jews held to the opinion that God might possibly establish this new kingdom by direct and divine intervention, but the vast majority believed that he would interpose some representative intermediary, the Messiah. And that was the only possible meaning the term Messiah could have had in the minds of the Jews of the generation of John and Jesus. Messiah could not possibly refer to one who merely taught God’s will or proclaimed the necessity for righteous living. To all such holy persons the Jews gave the title of prophet. The Messiah was to be more than a prophet; the Messiah was to bring in the establishment of the new kingdom, the kingdom of God. No one who failed to do this could be the Messiah in the traditional Jewish sense.
135:5.7 (1501.2) 这位弥赛亚会是谁呢？犹太导师们又有不同意见了。旧有的导师们紧抓住大卫之子的教义不放。较新的导师们则教导，新的支配者或许也是一个神性人格体，他在天上已长久坐在神的右手边。尽管看起来有些奇怪，但那些以此方式想象新王国支配者的人，未将他视为一个人类弥赛亚，视为一个纯粹的人，而是视为“人子”-- 即神之子 -- 一个天上的君王，长久等待以此方式承担更新世间的支配权。这便是在约翰出去宣告：“忏悔吧，因为天国近在咫尺！”时，犹太人世界的宗教背景。		135:5.7 (1501.2) Who would this Messiah be? Again the Jewish teachers differed. The older ones clung to the doctrine of the son of David. The newer taught that, since the new kingdom was a heavenly kingdom, the new ruler might also be a divine personality, one who had long sat at God’s right hand in heaven. And strange as it may appear, those who thus conceived of the ruler of the new kingdom looked upon him not as a human Messiah, not as a mere man, but as “the Son of Man”—a Son of God—a heavenly Prince, long held in waiting thus to assume the rulership of the earth made new. Such was the religious background of the Jewish world when John went forth proclaiming: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
135:5.8 (1501.3) 因此，显而易见的是，约翰对即将到来王国的宣告，在那些倾听他充满激情布道之人的心中，有不少于六种不同的意涵。但无论他们对约翰所采用习语附以什么意涵，这些不同群体的犹太王国期待者都被这一正义和忏悔之真诚粗犷布道者的宣告所迷住了，后者如此庄严劝告他的倾听者们“逃离即将到来的天谴。”		135:5.8 (1501.3) It becomes apparent, therefore, that John’s announcement of the coming kingdom had not less than half a dozen different meanings in the minds of those who listened to his impassioned preaching. But no matter what significance they attached to the phrases which John employed, each of these various groups of Jewish-kingdom expectants was intrigued by the proclamations of this sincere, enthusiastic, rough-and-ready preacher of righteousness and repentance, who so solemnly exhorted his hearers to “flee from the wrath to come.”
6. 约翰开始布道 ^top		6. John Begins to Preach ^top
135:6.1 (1501.4) 公元25年3月月初，约翰沿着死海西岸前行，上至耶利哥对面的约旦河，即约书亚及以色列子孙在他们第一次进入应许之地时所经过的古时浅滩；他穿过到了河的另一边，在靠近浅滩入口处立足，并开始向来往过河而路过的人们宣讲。这是所有约旦河穿越处中最为频繁之地。		135:6.1 (1501.4) Early in the month of March, a.d. 25, John journeyed around the western coast of the Dead Sea and up the river Jordan to opposite Jericho, the ancient ford over which Joshua and the children of Israel passed when they first entered the promised land; and crossing over to the other side of the river, he established himself near the entrance to the ford and began to preach to the people who passed by on their way back and forth across the river. This was the most frequented of all the Jordan crossings.
135:6.2 (1501.5) 对于倾听约翰的所有人来说，显而易见他不只是一个布道者。那些倾听这一来自犹地亚旷野陌生人的大多数人离开时相信他们听到了一个先知的声音。难怪这些疲倦而又满怀期待的犹太人灵魂被这一现象所深深搅动了。在整个犹太人历史上，亚伯拉罕的虔诚子孙从未如此渴望“以色列的慰藉”或更为热烈地期待“王国的复兴”。在整个犹太人历史上，约翰的“天国近在咫尺”讯息从未如在他如此神秘出现在约旦河这一南部穿越处岸边时这般，产生这样一种深刻而又普遍的吸引力。		135:6.2 (1501.5) It was apparent to all who heard John that he was more than a preacher. The great majority of those who listened to this strange man who had come up from the Judean wilderness went away believing that they had heard the voice of a prophet. No wonder the souls of these weary and expectant Jews were deeply stirred by such a phenomenon. Never in all Jewish history had the devout children of Abraham so longed for the “consolation of Israel” or more ardently anticipated “the restoration of the kingdom.” Never in all Jewish history could John’s message, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” have made such a deep and universal appeal as at the very time he so mysteriously appeared on the bank of this southern crossing of the Jordan.
135:6.3 (1502.1) 他出身于像阿摩司一样的牧人。他穿着像古时的以利亚，他也以“以利亚之精神和力量”大喊出他的告诫，倾吐出他的警告。毫不奇怪，随着旅行者们将他沿约旦河布道的消息带到国外，这位奇异的布道者在整个巴勒斯坦产生了巨大的轰动。		135:6.3 (1502.1) He came from the herdsmen, like Amos. He was dressed like Elijah of old, and he thundered his admonitions and poured forth his warnings in the “spirit and power of Elijah.” It is not surprising that this strange preacher created a mighty stir throughout all Palestine as the travelers carried abroad the news of his preaching along the Jordan.
135:6.4 (1502.2) 关于这一拿细耳人布道者工作还有另一个新的特色：他在约旦河中洗礼他的每一个信奉者“以赦免罪恶”。尽管洗礼在犹太人中间并非是一种新的仪式，但他们却从未见过它以约翰此时所使用的这般应用。长久以来，这一做法以此用来洗礼外邦改信仰者进入圣殿外院团体，但犹太人本身从未被要求接受忏悔之洗礼。在约翰开始布道洗礼之时与在希律•安提帕斯教唆下被捕和被囚之间间隔仅十五个月，但在这一短短时间中他洗礼了多过十万的忏悔者。		135:6.4 (1502.2) There was still another and a new feature about the work of this Nazarite preacher: He baptized every one of his believers in the Jordan “for the remission of sins.” Although baptism was not a new ceremony among the Jews, they had never seen it employed as John now made use of it. It had long been the practice thus to baptize the gentile proselytes into the fellowship of the outer court of the temple, but never had the Jews themselves been asked to submit to the baptism of repentance. Only fifteen months intervened between the time John began to preach and baptize and his arrest and imprisonment at the instigation of Herod Antipas, but in this short time he baptized considerably over one hundred thousand penitents.
135:6.5 (1502.3) 在沿约旦河北上之前，约翰在伯大尼浅滩布道了四个月。成千上万的听众从犹地亚、比利亚和撒玛利亚所有各处前来，有的是好奇，但许多却是严肃认真的。甚至有一些来自加利利。		135:6.5 (1502.3) John preached four months at Bethany ford before starting north up the Jordan. Tens of thousands of listeners, some curious but many earnest and serious, came to hear him from all parts of Judea, Perea, and Samaria. Even a few came from Galilee.
135:6.6 (1502.4) 在这年五月，当他还在伯大尼浅滩逗留时，祭司们和利未人委派了一个代表团出来问询约翰他是否宣称为弥赛亚，他靠谁的权威布道。约翰回答了这些问询者，说道：“去告诉你们的主人，你们听到了‘一个在旷野中呼喊之人的声音’，正如这个先知所说，‘预备上主的路，为我们的神修平道路。一切山谷都要填满，大小山岗都要削平；不平之地要变为平原，崎岖之处要成为平坦谷地；所有血肉之人必看到神的拯救。’”		135:6.6 (1502.4) In May of this year, while he still lingered at Bethany ford, the priests and Levites sent a delegation out to inquire of John whether he claimed to be the Messiah, and by whose authority he preached. John answered these questioners by saying: “Go tell your masters that you have heard ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness,’ as spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘make ready the way of the Lord, make straight a highway for our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; the uneven ground shall become a plain, while the rough places shall become a smooth valley; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
135:6.7 (1502.5) 约翰是一个有勇无谋的布道者。一天，当他在约旦河西岸布道施洗时，一群法利赛人和若干撒该都人前来令自身受洗。在领他们下水之前，约翰将他们作为一个群体致辞说道：“谁警告过你们像临火的毒蛇一样逃离即将到来的天谴？我将为你们施洗，不过我警告你们，若你们愿意接受对你们罪恶的赦免，要结出配得上真诚忏悔的果实来。不要告诉我亚伯拉罕是你们的父。我宣称神能从你们面前这十二块石头中兴起亚伯拉罕的相配子孙。即便此时，斧头已放在树根之上。每棵未结出好果实的树，注定要被砍下扔进火中。”（他所提及的十二块石头是由约书亚为了纪念他们第一次进入应许之地时十二支派在此处穿越所设的纪念之石。）		135:6.7 (1502.5) John was a heroic but tactless preacher. One day when he was preaching and baptizing on the west bank of the Jordan, a group of Pharisees and a number of Sadducees came forward and presented themselves for baptism. Before leading them down into the water, John, addressing them as a group said: “Who warned you to flee, as vipers before the fire, from the wrath to come? I will baptize you, but I warn you to bring forth fruit worthy of sincere repentance if you would receive the remission of your sins. Tell me not that Abraham is your father. I declare that God is able of these twelve stones here before you to raise up worthy children for Abraham. And even now is the ax laid to the very roots of the trees. Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is destined to be cut down and cast into the fire.” (The twelve stones to which he referred were the reputed memorial stones set up by Joshua to commemorate the crossing of the “twelve tribes” at this very point when they first entered the promised land.)
135:6.8 (1502.6) 约翰给他的信徒们上课，在这个过程中，他在他们新生活的细节上指导他们，并尽力回答他们许多问题。他劝告教师们既要以律法之文字又要以一律法之精神指导。他指导富人供养穷人，对税收者他说道：“只收取指派给你的。” 对士兵们他说道：“不用暴力，不索取不当之物 -- 对你们的报酬满足。” 与此同时，他劝告所有人：“为这个时代的终结做好准备 -- 天国近在咫尺。”		135:6.8 (1502.6) John conducted classes for his disciples, in the course of which he instructed them in the details of their new life and endeavored to answer their many questions. He counseled the teachers to instruct in the spirit as well as the letter of the law. He instructed the rich to feed the poor; to the tax gatherers he said: “Extort no more than that which is assigned you.” To the soldiers he said: “Do no violence and exact nothing wrongfully—be content with your wages.” While he counseled all: “Make ready for the end of the age—the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
7. 约翰北行 ^top		7. John Journeys North ^top
135:7.1 (1503.1) 约翰对于即将到来的王国及其君王仍有些困惑的想法。他布道越久，也变得越困惑，但这一关于即将到来王国之本质的智性不确定，丝毫未曾缩减他对王国即将出现之必然性的确信。在心智上约翰或许是困惑的，但在灵性上却从未如此。他对即将到来之王国毫无疑问，但就耶稣是否是那一王国的支配者，他却远不能确定。只要约翰持有大卫宝座复兴的想法，他父母有关生于大卫之城的耶稣要成为长久期待的拯救者之教导便似乎是一致的；但在他更多倾向于一个灵性王国以及世上暂存性时代之终结的教义那些时候，他就耶稣在这些事件中所扮演角色变得十分怀疑。他时常质疑每件事，但不会太久。他真的希望和他表弟好好谈谈，但那违反了他们所表达的协定。		135:7.1 (1503.1) John still had confused ideas about the coming kingdom and its king. The longer he preached the more confused he became, but never did this intellectual uncertainty concerning the nature of the coming kingdom in the least lessen his conviction of the certainty of the kingdom’s immediate appearance. In mind John might be confused, but in spirit never. He was in no doubt about the coming kingdom, but he was far from certain as to whether or not Jesus was to be the ruler of that kingdom. As long as John held to the idea of the restoration of the throne of David, the teachings of his parents that Jesus, born in the City of David, was to be the long-expected deliverer, seemed consistent; but at those times when he leaned more toward the doctrine of a spiritual kingdom and the end of the temporal age on earth, he was sorely in doubt as to the part Jesus would play in such events. Sometimes he questioned everything, but not for long. He really wished he might talk it all over with his cousin, but that was contrary to their expressed agreement.
135:7.2 (1503.2) 随着约翰北行，他思考了许多关于耶稣的事。当他沿着约旦河上行时，他在十多个地方停留过。在亚当村，在回答他信徒问他的一个直接问题“你是弥赛亚吗？”之时，他第一次提及“另一个要在我之后到来之人”。他继续说道：“那在我以后来的，比我能力更大，我就是弯腰给他松鞋带也不配。我用水给你们施洗，但他却要用圣灵给你们施洗。他手里拿着铁铲，要扬净他的谷场；他将会把麦子收在仓里，但将把糠以一审判之火烧尽。”		135:7.2 (1503.2) As John journeyed north, he thought much about Jesus. He paused at more than a dozen places as he traveled up the Jordan. It was at Adam that he first made reference to “another one who is to come after me” in answer to the direct question which his disciples asked him, “Are you the Messiah?” And he went on to say: “There will come after me one who is greater than I, whose sandal straps I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And his shovel is in his hand thoroughly to cleanse his threshing floor; he will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff will he burn up with the judgment fire.”
135:7.3 (1503.3) 在回答他门徒诸多问题的过程中，约翰继续扩展他的教导，逐日添加更多与他早期隐晦讯息“忏悔并受洗”相比更为有益和令人安慰的内容。到此时为止，人群从加利利和德加波利斯到来。许多热切的信徒日复一日与他们爱戴的导师逗留。		135:7.3 (1503.3) In response to the questions of his disciples John continued to expand his teachings, from day to day adding more that was helpful and comforting compared with his early and cryptic message: “Repent and be baptized.” By this time throngs were arriving from Galilee and the Decapolis. Scores of earnest believers lingered with their adored teacher day after day.
8. 耶稣和约翰的相见 ^top		8. Meeting of Jesus and John ^top
135:8.1 (1503.4) 到公元25年12月，当约翰在他沿着约旦河的行程达到佩拉附近时，他的名声已延伸到整个巴勒斯坦，他的工作已成为加利利湖周围所有城镇里谈话之主题。耶稣以对约翰的讯息给予好评，这引起许多来自迦百农的人加入约翰忏悔和洗礼的仪式。在约翰开始在佩拉附近讲道不久，西庇太的两个渔夫儿子詹姆斯和约翰在十二月前去，并献上自身受洗。他们每周一次去见约翰，并将这个传递者的新鲜一手汇报带给耶稣。		135:8.1 (1503.4) By December of a.d. 25, when John reached the neighborhood of Pella in his journey up the Jordan, his fame had extended throughout all Palestine, and his work had become the chief topic of conversation in all the towns about the lake of Galilee. Jesus had spoken favorably of John’s message, and this had caused many from Capernaum to join John’s cult of repentance and baptism. James and John the fishermen sons of Zebedee had gone down in December, soon after John took up his preaching position near Pella, and had offered themselves for baptism. They went to see John once a week and brought back to Jesus fresh, firsthand reports of the evangelist’s work.
135:8.2 (1503.5) 耶稣的弟弟詹姆斯和犹大曾讨论过前去约翰那里洗礼；既然犹大已过来迦百农参加安息日礼拜，他和詹姆斯在听完耶稣在犹太教会堂的演讲后，决定就他们的计划与他商量。这是在公元26年1月12日周六晚上。耶稣请求他们推迟讨论到第二天，那时他会给他们答案。由于与天上的父密切交流，他那晚睡得很少。他已安排了与他弟弟们一起共进午餐，并就接受约翰洗礼的事建议他们。那个周日早上，耶稣像往常一样在船店工作。詹姆斯和犹大带着午餐抵达，并在木料间等他，因为还没到中午休息时间，他们知道耶稣对于这些事务非常守规矩。		135:8.2 (1503.5) Jesus’ brothers James and Jude had talked about going down to John for baptism; and now that Jude had come over to Capernaum for the Sabbath services, both he and James, after listening to Jesus’ discourse in the synagogue, decided to take counsel with him concerning their plans. This was on Saturday night, January 12, a.d. 26. Jesus requested that they postpone the discussion until the following day, when he would give them his answer. He slept very little that night, being in close communion with the Father in heaven. He had arranged to have noontime lunch with his brothers and to advise them concerning baptism by John. That Sunday morning Jesus was working as usual in the boatshop. James and Jude had arrived with the lunch and were waiting in the lumber room for him, as it was not yet time for the midday recess, and they knew that Jesus was very regular about such matters.
135:8.3 (1504.1) 就在中午休息之前，耶稣放下他的工具，脱掉他的工作围裙，仅对与他在一起的三个工人宣布，“我的时刻到来了”。他出去对他的弟弟詹姆斯和犹大重复道，“我的时刻到来了 -- 让我们去找约翰。”他们立即动身去往佩拉，在他们行程中吃的午饭。这是在1月13日，周日。他们在约旦河谷逗留了一夜，大约在第二天中午抵达了约翰施洗的现场。		135:8.3 (1504.1) Just before the noon rest, Jesus laid down his tools, removed his work apron, and merely announced to the three workmen in the room with him, “My hour has come.” He went out to his brothers James and Jude, repeating, “My hour has come—let us go to John.” And they started immediately for Pella, eating their lunch as they journeyed. This was on Sunday, January 13. They tarried for the night in the Jordan valley and arrived on the scene of John’s baptizing about noon of the next day.
135:8.4 (1504.2) 约翰刚开始施洗当天的候选人。许多忏悔者站队等候轮到他们，这时耶稣和他两个弟弟在这个由热切男女组成的队伍中站好了位置，这些男女在约翰宣扬即将到来王国的过程中成了信奉者。约翰曾一直向西庇太的儿子们问询有关耶稣的情况。他也听说过耶稣就他布道的评论，他每天都期待看到他抵达现场，但他却未曾期待在受洗候选人的队伍中迎接他。		135:8.4 (1504.2) John had just begun baptizing the candidates for the day. Scores of repentants were standing in line awaiting their turn when Jesus and his two brothers took up their positions in this line of earnest men and women who had become believers in John’s preaching of the coming kingdom. John had been inquiring about Jesus of Zebedee’s sons. He had heard of Jesus’ remarks concerning his preaching, and he was day by day expecting to see him arrive on the scene, but he had not expected to greet him in the line of baptismal candidates.
135:8.5 (1504.3) 由于全神贯注于快速洗礼这样一大批皈依者之诸多细节，约翰并未抬头看见耶稣，直到这位人子站在他面前。当约翰认出耶稣，仪式被中止了一会儿，同时他欢迎他肉身中的表弟并问道，“不过你为何前来到水中迎接我？”耶稣回答道，“来接受你的洗礼。”约翰回答道：“不过我需要被你洗礼。你为何来找我？” 耶稣对约翰低语说道：“此时容忍我一下，因为我们该为和我站在一起的弟弟们树立这个榜样，这样人们可知道我的时刻已到来。”		135:8.5 (1504.3) Being engrossed with the details of rapidly baptizing such a large number of converts, John did not look up to see Jesus until the Son of Man stood in his immediate presence. When John recognized Jesus, the ceremonies were halted for a moment while he greeted his cousin in the flesh and asked, “But why do you come down into the water to greet me?” And Jesus answered, “To be subject to your baptism.” John replied: “But I have need to be baptized by you. Why do you come to me?” And Jesus whispered to John: “Bear with me now, for it becomes us to set this example for my brothers standing here with me, and that the people may know that my hour has come.”
135:8.6 (1504.4) 耶稣的嗓音中有一种终局性和权威性的语气。在公元26年1月14日周一上午，当约翰准备好在约旦河中给耶稣施洗时，他因激动而发抖。约翰以此方式给耶稣和他的两个弟弟詹姆斯和犹大施了洗。当约翰给这三个人施洗之时，他让当天的其他人离开了，宣布他将会在第二天中午继续施洗。当人们离开时，仍站在水中的这四个人听到了一种奇异的声音，不久在耶稣头上一种显灵出现了片刻，他们听到一个声音说道，“这是我的爱子，我所喜悦的。”耶稣的面容出现了极大的改变，他默默从水里上来并离开了他们，去往东边的山里。四十天以来，没有人再看到耶稣。		135:8.6 (1504.4) There was a tone of finality and authority in Jesus’ voice. John was atremble with emotion as he made ready to baptize Jesus of Nazareth in the Jordan at noon on Monday, January 14, a.d. 26. Thus did John baptize Jesus and his two brothers James and Jude. And when John had baptized these three, he dismissed the others for the day, announcing that he would resume baptisms at noon the next day. As the people were departing, the four men still standing in the water heard a strange sound, and presently there appeared for a moment an apparition immediately over the head of Jesus, and they heard a voice saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” A great change came over the countenance of Jesus, and coming up out of the water in silence he took leave of them, going toward the hills to the east. And no man saw Jesus again for forty days.
135:8.7 (1504.5) 约翰跟随耶稣一段足够远的距离，去告诉他关于加百列在他们二人出生之前造访他（耶稣）母亲的故事，因为他从母亲嘴里听过好多次了。在他说道，“现在我确定知道你就是拯救者”之后，他让耶稣继续他的路。但耶稣却未作任何回答。		135:8.7 (1504.5) John followed Jesus a sufficient distance to tell him the story of Gabriel’s visit to his mother ere either had been born, as he had heard it so many times from his mother’s lips. He allowed Jesus to continue on his way after he had said, “Now I know of a certainty that you are the Deliverer.” But Jesus made no reply.
9. 四十天的布道 ^top		9. Forty Days of Preaching ^top
135:9.1 (1505.1) 当约翰回到他门徒那里（他此时拥有大约二十五到三十人常与他同住），他发现他们正在热切讨论中，讨论刚才与耶稣受洗相关所发生之事。当约翰此时让他们知道有关加百列在耶稣生前造访玛利亚之事，以及耶稣在他告诉他关于这一切之后未曾对他说一句话时，他们都更为惊讶了。那天傍晚没有雨，这个包含了三十多个人的团体长谈到星光闪耀的夜里。他们想知道耶稣去哪儿了，何时他们会再看到他。		135:9.1 (1505.1) When John returned to his disciples (he now had some twenty-five or thirty who abode with him constantly), he found them in earnest conference, discussing what had just happened in connection with Jesus’ baptism. They were all the more astonished when John now made known to them the story of the Gabriel visitation to Mary before Jesus was born, and also that Jesus spoke no word to him even after he had told him about this. There was no rain that evening, and this group of thirty or more talked long into the starlit night. They wondered where Jesus had gone, and when they would see him again.
135:9.2 (1505.2) 在这天的经历之后，约翰的布道就即将到来的王国和所期待的弥赛亚采用了新鲜而又确定的宣扬说明。这四十天逗留、等待耶稣返回的日子，是一段紧张的时期。不过约翰继续怀着巨大的力量布道，他的门徒也大约在此时开始向聚集在约旦河边、约翰周围挤满的人群布道。		135:9.2 (1505.2) After the experience of this day the preaching of John took on new and certain notes of proclamation concerning the coming kingdom and the expected Messiah. It was a tense time, these forty days of tarrying, waiting for the return of Jesus. But John continued to preach with great power, and his disciples began at about this time to preach to the overflowing throngs which gathered around John at the Jordan.
135:9.3 (1505.3) 在这等待的四十天过程中，许多谣言在乡间传开，甚至传到了提比里亚和耶路撒冷。成千上万人前来观看约翰营地中这一新引人之处。当约翰的门徒声称这个奇异的神人已去往山里时，许多人怀疑这整个故事。		135:9.3 (1505.3) In the course of these forty days of waiting, many rumors spread about the countryside and even to Tiberias and Jerusalem. Thousands came over to see the new attraction in John’s camp, the reputed Messiah, but Jesus was not to be seen. When the disciples of John asserted that the strange man of God had gone to the hills, many doubted the entire story.
135:9.4 (1505.4) 大约在耶稣离开他们之后的三周里，一个从耶路撒冷的祭司和法利赛人来的新代表团抵达了佩拉的现场。他们直接问约翰他是否是以利亚或是摩西所许诺的先知；当约翰说道，“我不是，”他们又冒昧问道，“你是弥赛亚吗？”约翰回答道，“我不是。”这些来自耶路撒冷的人之后说道，“若你不是以利亚，也不是先知，又不是弥赛亚，那么为何你要为他们施洗，并造成所有这一切搅动呢？”约翰回答道：“应该是那些倾听我并接受我施洗的人说我是谁，但我向你们宣告，尽管我以水施洗，但我们当中却会有一个人将会返回以圣灵给你们施洗。”		135:9.4 (1505.4) About three weeks after Jesus had left them, there arrived on the scene at Pella a new deputation from the priests and Pharisees at Jerusalem. They asked John directly if he was Elijah or the prophet that Moses promised; and when John said, “I am not,” they made bold to ask, “Are you the Messiah?” and John answered, “I am not.” Then said these men from Jerusalem: “If you are not Elijah, nor the prophet, nor the Messiah, then why do you baptize the people and create all this stir?” And John replied: “It should be for those who have heard me and received my baptism to say who I am, but I declare to you that, while I baptize with water, there has been among us one who will return to baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
135:9.5 (1505.5) 对约翰和他门徒而言，这四十天是一段艰难的时期。约翰与耶稣会是什么关系？成百个问题被提出来讨论，政治和自私优先权开始出现了。围绕有关弥赛亚的各种想法和概念，展开了激烈的讨论。他会成为一个军事领袖和大卫王式的国王吗？他会像约书亚击杀迦南人一样击杀罗马军队吗？还是他会前来建立一个灵性王国？约翰宁愿与少数人一起断定，耶稣前来创建天国，尽管就这一创建天国使命当中要包含什么，他在心中并不完全清楚。		135:9.5 (1505.5) These forty days were a difficult period for John and his disciples. What was to be the relation of John to Jesus? A hundred questions came up for discussion. Politics and selfish preferment began to make their appearance. Intense discussions grew up around the various ideas and concepts of the Messiah. Would he become a military leader and a Davidic king? Would he smite the Roman armies as Joshua had the Canaanites? Or would he come to establish a spiritual kingdom? John rather decided, with the minority, that Jesus had come to establish the kingdom of heaven, although he was not altogether clear in his own mind as to just what was to be embraced within this mission of the establishment of the kingdom of heaven.
135:9.6 (1505.6) 在约翰经历中，这是些艰苦的日子，他祈祷耶稣的归来。约翰的一些门徒组织了侦察团队要去寻找耶稣，但约翰制止了，说道：“我们的时刻在天上之神的手中；他将会指导他所选定的儿子。”		135:9.6 (1505.6) These were strenuous days in John’s experience, and he prayed for the return of Jesus. Some of John’s disciples organized scouting parties to go in search of Jesus, but John forbade, saying: “Our times are in the hands of the God of heaven; he will direct his chosen Son.”
135:9.7 (1505.7) 正是在2月23日安息日清晨，忙于吃早饭的约翰这群人抬头看向北面，看到了耶稣正向他们走来。当他接近他们时，约翰站到一块大岩石上面，提高了他洪亮的嗓音，说道：“看那神之子，这个世界的拯救者！这就是我所说的那个他，‘有一位在我以后来，反成了我以前的，因为他本在我以前。’因为这一原因，我走出旷野来宣扬忏悔，并以水施洗，宣扬天国近在咫尺。此时来的这一位将会以圣灵给你们施洗。我看到过神之灵降到这个人身上，我听到神之声音宣布，‘这是我的爱子，我所喜悦的。’”		135:9.7 (1505.7) It was early on the morning of Sabbath, February 23, that the company of John, engaged in eating their morning meal, looked up toward the north and beheld Jesus coming to them. As he approached them, John stood upon a large rock and, lifting up his sonorous voice, said: “Behold the Son of God, the deliverer of the world! This is he of whom I have said, ‘After me there will come one who is preferred before me because he was before me.’ For this cause came I out of the wilderness to preach repentance and to baptize with water, proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And now comes one who shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And I beheld the divine spirit descending upon this man, and I heard the voice of God declare, ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’”
135:9.8 (1506.1) 耶稣吩咐他们回去吃饭，与此同时他坐下与约翰一起吃，他的弟弟詹姆斯和犹大已经返回了迦百农。		135:9.8 (1506.1) Jesus bade them return to their food while he sat down to eat with John, his brothers James and Jude having returned to Capernaum.
135:9.9 (1506.2) 第二天一大早，他离开了约翰和他的门徒，返回加利利。就何时他们会再次见到他，他并没有给他们一句话。对约翰关于他自己的布道和使命，耶稣只是说道，“我的父现在和将来将会引导你，正如他在过去所做一样。”这两个伟大之人那天早上在约旦河岸上分开了，再也没有以肉身方式彼此问候。		135:9.9 (1506.2) Early in the morning of the next day he took leave of John and his disciples, going back to Galilee. He gave them no word as to when they would again see him. To John’s inquiries about his own preaching and mission Jesus only said, “My Father will guide you now and in the future as he has in the past.” And these two great men separated that morning on the banks of the Jordan, never again to greet each other in the flesh.
10. 约翰南行 ^top		10. John Journeys South ^top
135:10.1 (1506.3) 由于耶稣已北行去往加利利，约翰感到被引领折步往南。相应地，在3月3日周日早上，约翰以及余下的门徒开始了他们的南行，其间有大约四分之一的约翰贴身追随者动身前往加利利寻求耶稣。在约翰周围有一种困惑悲伤。他再也没有宣扬他之前曾给耶稣施洗过，他有点感觉到即将到来王国的责任不再在他肩上了。他感觉到他的工作几近完成了；他孤独而又惆怅。但他继续南行布道、施洗。		135:10.1 (1506.3) Since Jesus had gone north into Galilee, John felt led to retrace his steps southward. Accordingly, on Sunday morning, March 3, John and the remainder of his disciples began their journey south. About one quarter of John’s immediate followers had meantime departed for Galilee in quest of Jesus. There was a sadness of confusion about John. He never again preached as he had before baptizing Jesus. He somehow felt that the responsibility of the coming kingdom was no longer on his shoulders. He felt that his work was almost finished; he was disconsolate and lonely. But he preached, baptized, and journeyed on southward.
135:10.2 (1506.4) 在接近亚当村时，约翰逗留了几个周，正是在这儿，他对希律•安提帕斯非法迎娶另一个人的妻子做出了令人难忘的抨击。到这年（公元26年）六月，约翰回到了约旦河的伯大尼浅滩，他在那一年多以前开始了关于即将到来天国的布道。在紧随为耶稣施洗的数周里，约翰布道的风格逐渐变为一种对普通人的仁慈宣告，与此同时，他再度激烈地谴责腐败的政治和宗教统治者。		135:10.2 (1506.4) Near the village of Adam, John tarried for several weeks, and it was here that he made the memorable attack upon Herod Antipas for unlawfully taking the wife of another man. By June of this year (a.d. 26) John was back at the Bethany ford of the Jordan, where he had begun his preaching of the coming kingdom more than a year previously. In the weeks following the baptism of Jesus the character of John’s preaching gradually changed into a proclamation of mercy for the common people, while he denounced with renewed vehemence the corrupt political and religious rulers.
135:10.3 (1506.5) 希律•安提帕斯，约翰布道所处领地的主人，变得惊慌，唯恐他和他的门徒开始反叛。希律还憎恨约翰对他家事的公开批评，鉴于这一切，希律决定将约翰投入监狱。相应地，在6月12日清早，在群众抵达倾听布道和见证施洗之前，希律的密探将约翰逮捕了。数周过去了，他并未被释放，他的门徒逃散到整个巴勒斯坦，他们中有许多去往加利利加入耶稣的追随者当中。		135:10.3 (1506.5) Herod Antipas, in whose territory John had been preaching, became alarmed lest he and his disciples should start a rebellion. Herod also resented John’s public criticisms of his domestic affairs. In view of all this, Herod decided to put John in prison. Accordingly, very early in the morning of June 12, before the multitude arrived to hear the preaching and witness the baptizing, the agents of Herod placed John under arrest. As weeks passed and he was not released, his disciples scattered over all Palestine, many of them going into Galilee to join the followers of Jesus.
11. 狱中的约翰 ^top		11. John in Prison ^top
135:11.1 (1506.6) 约翰在狱中有过一段孤独而又痛苦的经历。他的追随者们很少获许去见他。他渴望见到耶稣，但不得不以通过他的那些成为人子信奉者的追随者听到他的工作为满足。他常禁不住怀疑耶稣和他的神圣使命。若耶稣是弥赛亚，为何他不做任何将他从这一难以忍受囚禁中解脱出来的事儿呢？一年半多以来，这个属于神之旷野的粗犷男人，在那个卑劣的狱中受尽折磨。这一经历是他对耶稣之信任和忠诚的极大考验。确实，这一整个经历甚至是约翰对神之信仰的一大考验。许多次，他甚至禁不住怀疑他自己使命和经历的真实性。		135:11.1 (1506.6) John had a lonely and somewhat bitter experience in prison. Few of his followers were permitted to see him. He longed to see Jesus but had to be content with hearing of his work through those of his followers who had become believers in the Son of Man. He was often tempted to doubt Jesus and his divine mission. If Jesus were the Messiah, why did he do nothing to deliver him from this unbearable imprisonment? For more than a year and a half this rugged man of God’s outdoors languished in that despicable prison. And this experience was a great test of his faith in, and loyalty to, Jesus. Indeed, this whole experience was a great test of John’s faith even in God. Many times was he tempted to doubt even the genuineness of his own mission and experience.
135:11.2 (1507.1) 他在狱中几个月之后，他的一群门徒前来看他，在汇报了关于耶稣的公众活动后，说道：“你看老师，在约旦河上游与你在一起的他兴盛了，并接受了所有前往他的人。他甚至与税吏和罪人一同赴宴。你对他做了勇敢的见证，但他却不做任何事来使你得救。”不过约翰回答他的朋友们：“除非他天上的父赐给他，否则这个人无法做任何事。你们要清楚记得我所说，‘我不是弥赛亚，而是在之前被派来为他准备好道路之人。’我这样做了，娶新娘的是新郎，新郎的这个朋友站在一旁，听见新郎的声音就极为喜乐了。故此我的喜悦得以满足了。他必兴旺，我必衰微。我来自这地上，已经宣布了我的讯息。拿撒勒的耶稣从天上降世，在我们所有人之上。人子从神那里降下，他将向你们宣布神之话语。因为天上的父赐灵给他自己的儿子没有限量。父爱他的儿子，不久将万物放到这个儿子手中。相信子的人有永生。我所说的这些话语是真实而持久的。”		135:11.2 (1507.1) After he had been in prison several months, a group of his disciples came to him and, after reporting concerning the public activities of Jesus, said: “So you see, Teacher, that he who was with you at the upper Jordan prospers and receives all who come to him. He even feasts with publicans and sinners. You bore courageous witness to him, and yet he does nothing to effect your deliverance.” But John answered his friends: “This man can do nothing unless it has been given him by his Father in heaven. You well remember that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I am one sent on before to prepare the way for him.’ And that I did. He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands near by and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This, my joy, therefore is fulfilled. He must increase but I must decrease. I am of this earth and have declared my message. Jesus of Nazareth comes down to the earth from heaven and is above us all. The Son of Man has descended from God, and the words of God he will declare to you. For the Father in heaven gives not the spirit by measure to his own Son. The Father loves his Son and will presently put all things in the hands of this Son. He who believes in the Son has eternal life. And these words which I speak are true and abiding.”
135:11.3 (1507.2) 这些门徒对约翰的宣告极为吃惊，以致他们默默离开了。约翰也非常激动，因为他察觉到他已经说出了一个预言，他再也没有完全怀疑耶稣的使命和神性。不过令约翰极为失望的是，耶稣没给他传过任何话，他也未前来见他，他也未施展他的大能将他从监狱解救出去。但耶稣知道这一切，他对约翰有着极大的爱，但此时却认识到他的神性本质，并全然知道当约翰从这个世界离开时，伟大之事会为他准备好，还知道约翰在世上的工作已经结束了，他让自己不去干涉这个伟大布道者兼先知生涯的自然运作。		135:11.3 (1507.2) These disciples were amazed at John’s pronouncement, so much so that they departed in silence. John was also much agitated, for he perceived that he had uttered a prophecy. Never again did he wholly doubt the mission and divinity of Jesus. But it was a sore disappointment to John that Jesus sent him no word, that he came not to see him, and that he exercised none of his great power to deliver him from prison. But Jesus knew all about this. He had great love for John, but being now cognizant of his divine nature and knowing fully the great things in preparation for John when he departed from this world and also knowing that John’s work on earth was finished, he constrained himself not to interfere in the natural outworking of the great preacher-prophet’s career.
135:11.4 (1507.3) 在狱中这一漫长悬置是人所难以忍受的。就在约翰死之前几天，他再次派了信得过的使者去见耶稣，问询：“我的工作完成了吗？为何我要在狱中受折磨？你真的是弥赛亚吗？还是我们应寻找另一位？” 当这两个门徒将这一讯息给予耶稣时，耶稣回答道：“回到约翰那里并告诉他我并未忘怀，而是也忍受这一切，因为我们要尽所有的义。告诉约翰你们所见所闻 -- 穷人有了传给他们的好消息 -- 最后，告诉我世间使命的挚爱先驱者，若他对我未找到任何怀疑和踌躇的理由，他将在即将到来的时代受到大量的赐福。” 这是约翰从耶稣那里收到的最后话语。这一讯息极大安慰了他，并为稳定他的信仰、令他为紧随这一难忘时刻之后的肉身生命之悲惨结束准备好做了很多。		135:11.4 (1507.3) This long suspense in prison was humanly unbearable. Just a few days before his death John again sent trusted messengers to Jesus, inquiring: “Is my work done? Why do I languish in prison? Are you truly the Messiah, or shall we look for another?” And when these two disciples gave this message to Jesus, the Son of Man replied: “Go back to John and tell him that I have not forgotten but to suffer me also this, for it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. Tell John what you have seen and heard—that the poor have good tidings preached to them—and, finally, tell the beloved herald of my earth mission that he shall be abundantly blessed in the age to come if he finds no occasion to doubt and stumble over me.” And this was the last word John received from Jesus. This message greatly comforted him and did much to stabilize his faith and prepare him for the tragic end of his life in the flesh which followed so soon upon the heels of this memorable occasion.
12. 施洗者约翰之死 ^top		12. Death of John the Baptist ^top
135:12.1 (1508.1) 由于在被捕时约翰在比利亚南部工作，他立即被送到了马卡鲁斯城堡的监狱，他在那儿被监禁直至他的处决。希律既统治加利利也统治比利亚，他在比利亚的尤利亚斯和马卡鲁斯都保有住所。在加利利，官邸已经从塞佛瑞斯移到了位于提比里亚的新首府。		135:12.1 (1508.1) As John was working in southern Perea when arrested, he was taken immediately to the prison of the fortress of Machaerus, where he was incarcerated until his execution. Herod ruled over Perea as well as Galilee, and he maintained residence at this time at both Julias and Machaerus in Perea. In Galilee the official residence had been moved from Sepphoris to the new capital at Tiberias.
135:12.2 (1508.2) 希律害怕释放约翰，唯恐他煽动反叛。他害怕将他处死，唯恐群众在首府暴乱，因为成千上万比利亚人相信约翰是一个圣人，一个先知。因此，希律将这个拿细耳人布道者留在狱中，不知道还能拿他怎么办。有几次约翰被带到希律面前，但他从未同意若他被释放，要么离开希律领地，要么避免一切公众活动。这一关于拿撒勒耶稣的新搅动正在稳步增长，告诫希律现在不是释放约翰的时候。此外，约翰还是希律非法妻子希罗底强烈而又痛苦仇恨的受害者。		135:12.2 (1508.2) Herod feared to release John lest he instigate rebellion. He feared to put him to death lest the multitude riot in the capital, for thousands of Pereans believed that John was a holy man, a prophet. Therefore Herod kept the Nazarite preacher in prison, not knowing what else to do with him. Several times John had been before Herod, but never would he agree either to leave the domains of Herod or to refrain from all public activities if he were released. And this new agitation concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was steadily increasing, admonished Herod that it was no time to turn John loose. Besides, John was also a victim of the intense and bitter hatred of Herodias, Herod’s unlawful wife.
135:12.3 (1508.3) 在许多场合，希律与约翰讨论过关于天国之事，尽管有时对他的讯息极为印象深刻，但他却害怕把他从狱中释放出去。		135:12.3 (1508.3) On numerous occasions Herod talked with John about the kingdom of heaven, and while sometimes seriously impressed with his message, he was afraid to release him from prison.
135:12.4 (1508.4) 由于当时提比哩亚的许多工程仍在进行，希律大部分时间都在他朴勒阿的处所里度过，而他尤其偏爱玛克路斯要塞。那时，距离提比哩亚所有的公共建筑和官邸完全竣工，大约还有好几年时间。		135:12.4 (1508.4) Since much building was still going on at Tiberias, Herod spent considerable time at his Perean residences, and he was partial to the fortress of Machaerus. It was a matter of several years before all the public buildings and the official residence at Tiberias were fully completed.
135:12.5 (1508.5) 在庆祝他生日过程中，希律在马卡鲁斯宫殿为他在加利利和比利亚政府议会高位的主要官员和其他人举办了一场大的宴席。由于希罗底未能通过直接向希律请求而致约翰于死地，她此时开始让自己通过狡猾算计着手于将约翰处死的任务。		135:12.5 (1508.5) In celebration of his birthday Herod made a great feast in the Machaerian palace for his chief officers and other men high in the councils of the government of Galilee and Perea. Since Herodias had failed to bring about John’s death by direct appeal to Herod, she now set herself to the task of having John put to death by cunning planning.
135:12.6 (1508.6) 在晚上庆祝和娱乐过程中，希罗底令她女儿出场，在赴宴者面前起舞。希律对这个少女的表演非常满意，将她叫到他面前，说道：“你很迷人。我对你非常满意，在我的这场生日宴上，你随意向我求什么，我都会给你，甚至是我王国的一半。”希律在他许多酒的影响下，做了所有这一切。这个年轻女人退到一旁问询她母亲她应向希律要求什么。希罗底说道，“去希律那里要施洗者约翰的头。”这个年轻女人回到宴会桌席，向希律说道，“我请求您立即把施洗者约翰的头放在盘子里给我。”		135:12.6 (1508.6) In the course of the evening’s festivities and entertainment, Herodias presented her daughter to dance before the banqueters. Herod was very much pleased with the damsel’s performance and, calling her before him, said: “You are charming. I am much pleased with you. Ask me on this my birthday for whatever you desire, and I will give it to you, even to the half of my kingdom.” And Herod did all this while well under the influence of his many wines. The young lady drew aside and inquired of her mother what she should ask of Herod. Herodias said, “Go to Herod and ask for the head of John the Baptist.” And the young woman, returning to the banquet table, said to Herod, “I request that you forthwith give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
135:12.7 (1508.7) 希律充满了恐惧和懊悔，但由于他的誓言，并由于所有那些坐下与他一起吃饭的人，他不愿否认这一请求，希律•安提帕斯派了一个士兵，命令他带回约翰的头。约翰就这样在那晚于狱中被斩首，这个士兵将这个先知的头放在一个盘子上带回，将它呈献给宴会大厅后面的这个年轻女人。这个少女将盘子给了她母亲。当约翰的门徒听到这一切，他们来到监狱要回约翰的尸身，在将它放入墓中后，他们前往告知了耶稣。		135:12.7 (1508.7) Herod was filled with fear and sorrow, but because of his oath and because of all those who sat at meat with him, he would not deny the request. And Herod Antipas sent a soldier, commanding him to bring the head of John. So was John that night beheaded in the prison, the soldier bringing the head of the prophet on a platter and presenting it to the young woman at the rear of the banquet hall. And the damsel gave the platter to her mother. When John’s disciples heard of this, they came to the prison for the body of John, and after laying it in a tomb, they went and told Jesus.