THE STRANGE MATH OF JESUS: EMPTYING HIMSELF
BY ADDING HUMAN NATURE
PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY/基督教神學教授
SBTS/南浸信會大學
Dr. Ware is a highly esteemed theologian and author in the evangelical world. He came to Southern Seminary from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he served as Chairman of the Department of Biblical and Systematic Theology. Prior to this, he taught at Western Conservative Baptist Seminary and Bethel Theological Seminary.
在福音派的世界中，Ware博士是一位倍受尊重的神學家與作者。在加入南浸前，他原先為三一神學院聖經與系統神學部門的主任。之前，他任教於西保守浸信會神學院和伯特利神學院。
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
你們當以基督耶穌的心思為你們的心思：他本有神的形像，不以自己與神同等為強奪的；反倒虛己，取了奴僕的形像，成為人的樣式；既有人的樣子，就自己卑微，存心順服，以至於死，且死在十字架上。（根據英文修改）
Philippians 2:5-8/腓利比二5-8
Whereas the eternal Son of the Father, the second person of the Trinity, had no beginning and will have no end, the incarnate Son—the son of David, the son of Mary, the Messiah—had a beginning in time and space. This Son,（1） Jesus the Christ, was brought into being through the power of the Holy Spirit, as the divine nature of the eternal Son was miraculously joined together with a created human nature in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Luke’s account of this miracle—the grand miracle, as C. S. Lewis rightly called it—is riveting. Luke writes:
是否父永恆的兒子，三一神的第二位，無始無終，道成肉身的兒子—大衛的兒子，瑪利亞的兒子，彌賽亞—在時間與空間中有一個起始。這位子，耶穌基督，藉由聖靈的大能而誕生，永恆之子的神性以一種神跡性的方式，在童女馬里亞的腹中，與一個被造的人性聯合。路加對於這個神跡的記載—就如同魯易士（C. S. Lewis）所稱之為偉大的奧秘—是非常精彩的。路加寫到：
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
到了第六個月，天使加百列奉神的差遣往加利利的一座城去（這城名叫拿撒勒），到一個童女那裡，是已經許配大衛家的一個人，名叫約瑟。童女的名字叫馬利亞；天使進去，對他說：「蒙大恩的女子，我問你安，主和你同在了！」 馬利亞因這話就很驚慌，又反覆思想這樣問安是什麽意思。天使對他說：「馬利亞，不要怕！你在神面前已經蒙恩了。你要懷孕生子，可以給他起名叫耶穌。他要為大，稱為至高者的兒子；主神要把他祖大衛的位給他。他要作雅各家的王，直到永遠；他的國也沒有窮盡。」馬利亞對天使說：「我沒有出嫁，怎麽有這事呢？」天使回答說：「聖靈要臨到你身上，至高者的能力要蔭庇你，因此所要生的聖者必稱為神的兒子（或作：所要生的，必稱為聖，稱為神的兒子）。
(Luke 1:26-35/路加福音一26-35)
The conception of Jesus in the Virgin Mary was unique in the history of humankind. Not only did the Holy Spirit supernaturally bring about conception within her apart from the involvement of any human father, but even more remarkable was the uniting of the divine and human natures in Jesus, such that this one would be born the son of Mary (Luke 1:31) and the son of “his father David” (Luke 1:32) while also being “the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32), “the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). That is, he would be fully human (son of Mary) while also being fully divine (Son of the Most High). The miracle the Holy Spirit brought to pass, then, was to conceive in Mary none other than the God-man, the theanthropic person, Jesus Christ, son of David and Son of God.
耶穌在瑪麗亞腹中成孕這件事在人類歷史中是獨一無二的事件。不單單聖靈以超自然的方式在缺乏任何人類父親參與的情況下，使其成孕，更為令人印象深刻的是在耶穌身上神性與人性的聯合，使得這位生為馬里亞的兒子（路加一31）和“祂祖大衛”的兒子（路加一32）的這位，同時也是“至高者的兒子”（路加一32），與“神的兒子”（路加一35）。也就是說，祂是個完全的人（瑪麗亞的兒子），同時也是完全的神（至高者的兒子）。聖靈所帶來的這個神跡，無非就是這位神—人，一個同時是神又人的位格，耶穌基督，大衛的兒子，且是神的兒子。
The Nature of the Kenosis (Self-Emptying) of the Eternal Son
永恆之子Kenosis（自我倒空）的本質
Given that the divine nature in Jesus was eternal and infinite while the human nature in Jesus was created and finite, one of the questions we ponder is just how these two natures could coexist in the one person. Could Jesus as both fully divine and fully human be, for example, simultaneously omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent—qualities of his eternal, divine nature—while also possessing a limited and finite human power, a limited yet growing knowledge and wisdom, and a restricted ability to be only one place at one time—qualities of finite, human nature? It seems clear that some qualities of his eternal, divine nature are simply incompatible with his true and genuine human nature, such that it would be impossible for him truly to live as a human if that so-called human life was also one in which he exhibited fully divine qualities such as omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. In other words, would Jesus be truly and genuinely human if in his human experience he had limitless power, knowledge, wisdom, and spatial presence?
基於耶穌裡面的神性是永恆與無限的，同時耶穌裡面的人性是被造與有限的，我們會問的一個問題將是，這兩個性質如何能夠同時存在在一位格之內。耶穌是否可能同時是完整的神與完全的人，例如，同時是無所不能，無所不知，無所不在—祂永恆神性的性質—又同時擁有一個有限的人類能力，一個有限並會雖時間成長的知識與智慧，一個被時間與空間所限制的能力—有限人性的性質？明顯的，某些屬於祂永恆神聖屬性的實質無法與祂真實的人性相容，以至於祂完全無法過一個平常人的生活，因為這個所謂平常人的生活也同時與無所不能，無所不知，無所不在這些屬於祂的神聖屬性完全是一。換句話說，若耶穌在祂的人類經驗中同時擁有無限的能力，知識，智慧，與受時空限制的存在，祂還能夠是一個真正的人嗎？
The crux of the answer to these questions comes in how Paul in Philippians 2:5-8 expresses the kenosis, the self-emptying, of the eternal Son as he took on human nature. Here Paul writes:
這些問題的核心就是保羅在腓利比二5-8中所表達的kenosis中，永恆的子在取了人性中的倒空。保羅在此處寫到：
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
你們當以基督耶穌的心思為你們的心思：他本有神的形像，不以自己與神同等為強奪的；反倒虛己，取了奴僕的形像，成為人的樣式；既有人的樣子，就自己卑微，存心順服，以至於死，且死在十字架上。
Notice some crucial features of this important passage.
讀者當主義這段重要經文中的重點。
First, Paul makes clear that Christ Jesus, as the eternal Son of the Father, is fully God. He offers two expressions, each of which conveys the full deity of Christ. Paul writes that Christ existed in the “form of God” (v. 6), using the term morphē, which refers to the inner nature or substance of something, not its external or outward shape. So, while the English word form can convey merely the outward appearance of something (i.e., the shape or contour or facade of some object), not its inner reality, the Greek word morphē conveys just the opposite, as can be seen with Plato's “forms”—i.e., those substances of ultimate realities such as beauty, truth, justice, goodness, etc., that Plato thought existed eternally and apart from any material representation. The Greek morphē, then, is the inner substance or very nature of a thing, not its outer shape or appearance.
首先，保羅清楚的宣告基督也是，作為父永恆的子，是完全的神。他提供了兩個表述，以表達基督完全的神格。保羅寫到，基督存在於“神的形象（form of God）”（6節）之中，他使用了morphē這個詞，指的是某件事物內在的本質或素質，而不是外在的輪廓。故此，當英文的form只能表達某件事物的外在樣式（例如某件事物外在的形狀，輪廓，或外表），而不是其內在之實際的時候，希臘文的morphē表達了一個完全想法的意思，就如同柏拉圖使用‘forms’這個詞所表達的一樣—例如，那些終極存有（ultimate realities）的素質，如美麗，真理，公義，良善等等，柏拉圖認為只有它們能在物質的表象外存到永遠。希臘文的morphē就是某件事物內在的素質或真正的本質，而不是它的外在形狀或表現。
That Paul intends this understanding can be seen further in his second use of morphē, when he says that Jesus took the “form [morphēn] of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). Surely it is evident that Paul does not mean that Jesus took on merely the outer appearance of a servant, implying perhaps that though he looked like a servant, he was not in his own heart and life a true servant. Just the opposite: Jesus took on the inner substance and very nature, i.e., the form (morphēn), of what it means to be a servant, and that to its highest expression. As a servant, he served to the utmost, as he was obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. So again, “form” (morphē, Philippians 2:6, and morphēn, Philippians 2:7) must mean the very nature of something, not merely its outer appearance. Therefore, Paul’s point in Philippians 2:6 is clear: Jesus, being the “form of God,” exists in very nature as God, with the inner divine substance that is God’s alone. He is fully God since he exists “in the form [morphē] of God.”
保羅期盼在他第二次使用morphē這個詞，就是當他說也是取了“奴僕的形狀（form，morphē）”的時候，能夠進一步加深這樣的理會。當然，保羅的意思不是也是只披上了奴僕外在的樣子，或者暗示雖然祂看起來像是個奴僕，然而他的內心和生命不是一個真正的奴僕。恰恰想法：耶穌取了奴僕內在的素質與本質，例如，form（morphē），含示的作為奴僕的最高彰顯。作為一個奴僕，祂盡其所能的服侍，就像祂也順服死，甚至死在十字架上。再者，“form” (腓利比二6的morphē與腓利比二7的morphēn)必然指着某個事物的性質，而不單單是外在的樣子。故此，保羅在腓利比二6的重點是明確的：也是，作為‘神的形像（form of God）’乃是以作為神之性質的方式存在，也只存在於只屬於神的內在神聖素質之中。祂是完全的神，因為祂存在於“神的形像（form，morphē）之中”。
Paul also refers to Christ as possessing “equality [isa] with God” (Philippians 2:6), which likewise makes clear his full deity. Nothing is equal to God except God! As God declares of himself, through the prophet Isaiah, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me” (Isaiah 46:9; cf. Exodus 8:10; Exodus 15:11; Deuteronomy 3:24; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Kings 8:23;Psalms 71:19; Micah 7:18). Indeed, there is no god other than the one true and living God—so God is exclusively God—and there is no god who is like the one true and living God—so God is incomparably God. With this background in mind, Paul’s declaration that Christ possesses “equality with God” is stunning. It can mean only one thing: by virtue of the fact that no one can be equal to God but God himself, Christ, who possesses equality with God, must himself be fully God. Of course, as we often find where the deity of Christ is expressed, we see hints or outright declarations that someone other than Christ likewise is God. Since he is equal to God, this means that there is another who is God, in relation to whom Christ is his equal. So, as John puts it, the Word is both “with God” and is “God” (John 1:1), and Hebrews declares that Christ is the “exact imprint” of the nature of God (Hebrews 1:3). Likewise here in Philippians 2, Christ is both other than the one who is God (understood as the Father, no doubt) while he also is equal to this other one who is God and so is himself fully God.
保羅也指出基督“與神同等”（腓利比二6），同樣的也清楚的指明祂完全的神格。除了神以外，沒有什麼事物能夠與神同等！就像神藉由先知以賽亞所宣告的，“我是神，並無別神；我是神，再沒有能比我的”（以賽亞四十六9；參考出埃及八10；出埃及十五11；申命記三24；撒母耳下七22；列王上八23；詩篇七十一19；彌迦七18）。確實，除了那位真實的活神外，沒有別神—故此，只有神是神—也沒有別神能夠與那一位真實的活神向比擬—因此，神是無法比擬的神。在這個基礎上，保羅對於基督“與神同等”的宣告，是震耳欲聾的！它只能代表一件事：基於除神以外沒有人能夠與神同等的事實，與神同等的基督必然是完全的神。當然，常常在我們能夠找到基督之神格的經文中，我們也能夠找到在基督外有另一位神的宣告。因為祂與神同等，這就代表有另一位神。故此，約翰這樣說，道既‘與神同在’，也‘就是神’（約翰一1），希伯來書宣告基督乃是神本質的‘印像’（exact imprint of the nature of God）（希伯來一3）。此處的腓利比二章也是一樣，基督同時與那位是神的不同（毫無疑問的，必須理解為父），祂又同時與那位是神的同等，故此祂乃是完全的神。
Second, when Paul writes that Christ “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Philippians 2:6), he cannot mean that Christ gave up equality with God or that he ceased being fully God. Since he is fully God, he cannot cease to be fully God. God is eternal, self-existent, immortal, and immutable, and thus he cannot cease to exist as God, nor can he fail to be fully God. Surely what Paul means is this: Christ being fully God, possessing the very nature of God and being fully equal to God in every respect, did not thereby insist on holding onto all the privileges and benefits of his position of equality with God (the Father) and thereby refuse to accept coming as a man. He did not clutch or grasp his place of equality with the Father and all this brought to him in such a way that he would refuse the condescension and humiliation of the servant role he was being called to accept. Just how he could accept his calling to become a man while being (and remaining!) fully God, we’ll explore next. But here it is crucial to see that Christ’s not “grasping” equality with God cannot rightly be taken to mean that Christ gave up being God or became in any way less than fully God when he took on also a fully human nature. No, rather, he did not grasp or clutch onto the privileged position, rights, and prerogatives that his full equality with God, his Father, afforded him, in order to fulfill his calling to become fully a man who would be, amazingly, servant of all.
第二，當保羅寫到基督‘不以自己與神同等為強奪的’的時候（腓利比二6），他不可能指基督放棄了與神同等，或祂不再是完全的神。因為祂是完全的神，祂不可能不再是完全的神。神是永恆，自存，不死，和不改變的，故此，祂不可能不再是神，祂也不可能變為不完全的神。保羅所意指的必然是這個：作為完全的神的基督，擁有神的本質，並在各方面完全與神同等，然而祂並沒有因此緊抓着因其與神（父）同等之地位而有的權力與益處不放，而拒絕降世為人。祂也沒有緊持祂與父同等的地位而拒絕因被召而賦予的奴僕角色所產生的屈尊俯就和羞辱。我們接下來將會探討祂如何接受成為人的呼召，並同時（仍然繼續）是完全的神這件事實。然而，我們在此處必須看見基督的不‘緊持’與神的同等不能被視為基督在披上完全的人性時，就放棄其為神的事實或在任何方面成為比完全的神更小的一位。不！祂反而不緊抓着因完全與神，祂的父同等而有的地位，權利和君權，使得祂能夠履行成為完全的人的責任，而更令人驚嘆的，也成為眾人的奴僕。
Third, as one who is fully God, Christ Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). The word that here is translated “emptied himself,” ekenōsen (third aorist indicative of kenoō), means literally just this: that Christ “emptied himself” or “poured out himself.” Note that Paul is not saying that Christ emptied something from himself or poured something out of himself, as if in so doing he became less fully God than he was before (which, as we have seen, is impossible). Rather, he emptied himself; he poured out himself. That is, all of who Christ is as eternal God, all that he is as the one who is in the form of God and is equal with God, is poured out. Christ, then, as God remains fully God. He loses nothing of his divine nature, and no divine qualities are removed from him as he pours himself out. No, Christ remains in his divine nature fully who and what he is in his existence as the eternal second person of the Trinity. He has eternally been fully God, and now in the incarnation he pours out fully who he is as God, remaining fully God as he does so.
第三，基督耶穌作為完全的神，‘藉由取了奴僕的形像倒空自己（emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant）’（腓利比二7）。這裡的ekenōsen (kenoō的第三人稱不定式的陳述語氣)這個詞被譯作‘倒空自己’，其字面的意義就是：基督“倒空了自己”或“倒出自己”。當注意，保羅在此處並不是說基督倒空了自己裡面的事物，或從自己裡面倒出了某些事物，以至於祂變得比神更小了。（我們前面已經看見，這是不可能的。）相反的，祂倒空了自己；祂傾倒出自己。也就是說，基督作為永恆的神，在神的形像中，並與神同等中所是的一切，都被倒出來了。（意思是，基督從神而出，但仍然是神—譯者。）接着，基督作為神，仍然是完全的神。祂並不會失去哪怕一丁點的神性，當祂倒出自己的時候，沒有任何神性的屬性被丟失。不！基督在祂的神性中，仍然完全是那位三一神中的第二位的存有。祂永遠是完全的神，如今在道成肉身中，祂完全傾倒出作為神的自己，因此，祂仍然是完全的神。
The question then becomes just what this means—that Christ, the one who exists in the form of God (morphē) and as equal (isa) to God, pours himself out (ekenōsen). The answer comes, amazingly, in the three participles (particularly the first one) that follow ekenōsen. Christ poured himself out, taking the form of a servant. Yes, he pours out by taking; he empties by adding. Here, then, is a strange sort of math that envisions a subtraction by addition, an emptying by adding. What can this mean?
此處的問題就是該處經文的意義—基督，那位存在於神的形像中(morphē)，並與神同等(morphē)的那位，傾倒出(ekenōsen)了自己。而出乎人意料的，其答案則在緊接ekenōsen之後的三個分詞之中。基督傾倒出了自己，取了奴僕的形像。使得！祂藉由取而傾倒；祂藉由加入而倒空。在此展現出一個非常簡單的，藉由加而減的數學，藉由加入而倒空。這是什麼意思呢？
In brief, what this must mean is this: Christ Jesus, existing and remaining fully who he is as God, accepts his divine calling to come to earth and carry out the mission assigned him from the Father. As the eternal Son of God, who is himself the form (morphē, i.e., very nature) of God, he must come in the form (morphēn, i.e., very nature) of a servant. That is, he must come fully as a man, and as a man he must live his life and give his life as one of us. In so doing, Christ pours himself out (all of who he is) as he takes on, in addition to his full divine nature, a full human nature. Again, it is crucial to see that in the self-emptying (ekenōsen) of the eternal Son, Paul does not say that he poured something “out of” himself. No, absolutely not! Rather, he poured out himself. All of who he is as the eternal Son of the Father, as the one who is the form (morphē) of the Father, is poured out fully. Here, then, is no subtraction, strictly speaking. It is a “subtraction” (i.e., a pouring out, an emptying) by adding human nature to his divine nature. He came, then, to become the God-man—the one whose very divine nature took on fully the existence of a created human nature. He poured himself out by adding to himself the nature of a man, indeed, the nature of a servant par excellence who would give his life in obedience on the cross to fulfill the will of his Father.
簡單的說，它必然意指：那位是神的基督耶穌，仍然存在，並繼續是完的神，祂接受了神聖的呼召降世，並帶着父所賦予祂的人物。作為永恆之神的兒子，祂自己就是神的形像（morphē，例如，其本質），祂必須也在奴僕的形像（morphē，例如，其本質）而來。也就是說，祂必須來成為一個完全的人，作為一個人，祂必須活出我們的生活。為了這樣，基督在祂取的時候，傾倒出了自己（祂所有的所是），將一個完全的人性加入到祂完全的神性裡面。再者，我們必須看見永恆之子的自我倒空(ekenōsen)，保羅並不是說祂從自己裡面‘倒出’了某種東西。不！絕非如此！反而，祂傾倒出了祂的自己。作為父永恆之子的所有所是，並作為父的行形像（morphē），完全被傾倒出來。因此，嚴格的說，在這裡並沒有減少。它乃是藉由將人性加入其神性而有的減法（例如，傾倒出，倒空）。祂來成為神—人，一位其神性披上了完全被造人性之存有者。祂藉由加入人的本性而傾倒出自己，確實，奴僕那個卓越的性情在順服中將自己的性命獻在十字架上，成全了祂父親的旨意。
Endnotes:
1. The appellation “Son” is used of the second person of the Trinity in three distinct yet related senses in Scripture. (1) The eternal Word (John 1:1) is often referred to as “Son,” and in this sense he is the eternal Son of the eternal Father (e.g., John 3:16-17; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 1:1-2; 1 John 4:9-10). (2) Jesus the Christ, Son of David and Son of Mary, who is the incarnate God-man, is referred to as the “Son” of God, and in this sense he is the incarnate and historic Son of the Father, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary (e.g., Luke 1:31-35; John 1:33-34, John 1:49; Galatians 2:20). (3) The crucified but risen, ascended, reigning, and exalted Messiah is also referred to in a distinct way as the “Son” of God, and in this sense he is the risen and triumphant Son of the Father (e.g., Acts 13:32-33; Romans 1:3-4; 1 Corinthians 15:27-28; Hebrews 4:14).
|
