#2 恐怕被拒絕?

“耶穌說：「不要拉著我，我還沒有升到父那裡…」” 約 翰 福 音 20:17a

Chinese Contemporary Bible

親愛的主，

我一直十分欣賞抹大拉馬利亞對你的愛，我好奇為什麼在目睹你的死亡後，再次見到你時,你會拒絕她抓住你作為愛和喜悅的表現呢? 「抓住/ 拉著」這個詞引起了我的注意。有些翻譯使用「抓緊我或摸我」。也許，瑪利亞抓住的是曾經追隨耶穌的美好回憶，與富有同情心、創造奇蹟的耶穌在一起的安全和舒適。但你的復活改變了這一切，你給了自己一個新的定義，你想讓瑪麗知道你現在不一樣了，你已經從死裡復活，現在你已經征服了世界。她沒有必要堅持抓住你的舊形象。

主啊，我對於你對瑪利亞的話的第一個反應是一種拒絕的感覺。我注意到我不願意聽到你說「不要」。我有一種正義感，覺得瑪利亞該受到你的熱烈歡迎，相反，接下來的詞是「不」。現在，我注意到是我的自我阻礙了我的理解。我把自己不喜歡被拒絕的感覺投射到瑪莉身上。如果我是像馬利亞一樣信心單純的人，我就不會懷疑耶穌的意圖，而只是按照祂的吩咐去做，並為遇見復活的耶穌而歡喜。

主啊，謝謝祢為我內心的黑暗帶來光明。請幫助我面對自己對拒絕的恐懼，這樣它就不會妨礙我對你的真正信任和事奉。

阿門。

Fear of rejection?

“Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.”

John 20:17a

Dear Lord,

I have always been fascinated by Mary Madgalene’s love for you, I wonder why you would reject her holding on to you as a gesture of love and joy after witnessing your death. The word “hold on to” catches my eyes. Some translation use “cling to me.” Maybe, it is the wonderful memories that Mary used to have following Jesus, the safety and comfort of being with a compassionate and miracle worker, Jesus. But your resurrection changed all that, you have given a new definition of who you are, and you want Mary to know that you are different now, you have come back from the dead and now you have overcome the world. There is no need for her to hold on to an old image of you.

Lord, my first reaction to your words to Mary was a sense of rejection. I notice that I have this unwillingness to hear the words “do not” from you. I feel a sense of justice that Mary should deserve a warm welcome from you, instead, the words “do not” come next. Now, I notice that it was my ego that is standing in the way. I projected my sense of rejection onto Mary. Had I been someone with simple faith like Mary, I would not doubt Jesus’ intention but to just follow his commend accordingly and rejoice in meeting the resurrected Jesus.

Lord, thank you for bringing me light into some dark places in my heart. Please help me to face my own fear of rejection so that it does not get in the way for me to truly trust you and serve you.

Amen.