第五週 • 週二
晨興餧養
約十10~11 …我來了，是要叫羊得生命，並且得的更豐盛。我是好牧人，好牧人為羊捨命。
二一16 …約翰的兒子西門，你愛我麼？彼得對祂說，主阿，是的，你知道我愛你。耶穌對他說，你牧養我的羊。
約翰二十一章啟示，使徒的職事與基督天上的職事合作。基督升到諸天之上以後，就開始了祂天上的職事。為此，祂興起一班跟隨祂的人作祂的使徒，他們能與祂完全的合作。這些使徒受升天基督的託付，與祂合作，以完成神新約的經綸。祂在諸天之上所作的，使徒就在地上作，以完成祂天上的職事。
整卷〔約翰福音〕說到基督在地上的職事，開始於祂這神的話成為肉體，成了一個在肉體裏的人（一1~14），結束於祂這末後亞當的復活，成了賜生命的靈（二十）。…約翰二十一章乃是約翰福音的完成和總結…，給我們看見基督在天上的職事與使徒在地上的職事一起合作，以完成神新約的經綸（李常受文集一九九四至一九九七年第四冊，五七二至五七三頁）。
信息選讀
主的牧養先是在祂地上的職事裏（太九36）。主看見以色列人如同羊，受到他們首領的攪擾；他們如同羊流離，沒有牧人。主這位神選民的牧人就禱告，於是神告訴祂所差的這一位，要設立十二使徒，使他們照顧神的羊（十1~6）。…然後，主的牧養是在祂天上的職事裏（彼前五4），照顧神的召會，結果帶進祂的身體。…祂復活升天之後，仍然在牧養。
當主在復活之後，並在祂升天之前，…在祂一次的顯現裏，祂託付彼得，當祂不在這裏而在諸天之上時，要餧養祂的小羊，並牧養祂的羊（約二一15~17）。牧養含示餧養，但牧養所包含的比餧養要多。牧養乃是給羣羊周全、柔細的照顧。…這是把使徒的職事與基督天上的職事合併，以照顧神的羊羣，就是召會，結果帶進基督的身體。
基督牧養祂的羣羊，包括照顧他們外面的事物，以及他們內裏的所是，就是他們的魂〔彼前二25〕。…基督住在我們裏面，作我們的生命和一切，但祂也監督、察看我們內裏所是的光景和情形。祂藉着顧到我們裏面各部分的益處，並監督我們魂（就是我們真人位）的光景，而牧養我們（李常受文集一九九四至一九九七年第四冊，五七三至五七四、五七六頁）。
我們在已過講說並教導了很多，但很少牧養。…我們的牧養該一直帶着教導，而我們的教導也應當一直帶着牧養。
基督在祂天上的職事裏一直在牧養人，我們需要與祂合作牧養人。沒有牧養，我們為主的工作就不會有果效。我們必須學習一切的真理，使我們有話可說，然後去接觸人，牧養他們。
基督是人子，來救贖我們脫離罪（提前一15）—顧惜。這是新約的第一部分。…基督是神子，來將神聖的生命豐盛的分賜到我們裏面（約十10）—餧養。這是新約的第二部分（李常受文集一九九四至一九九七年第五冊，一二七至一二八、一八六至一八七頁）。
參讀：約翰福音結晶讀經，第十三篇。
WEEK 5 — DAY 2
Morning Nourishment
John 10:10-11 …I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly. I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
21:16…Simon, son of John, do you love Me? He said to Him, Yes, Lord, You know that I love You. He said to him, Shepherd My sheep.
John 21 reveals the apostolic ministry in cooperation with Christ’s heavenly ministry. After Christ ascended to the heavens, He began His heavenly ministry. In doing this, He raised up a group of His followers as His apostles who could fully cooperate with Him. These apostles were commissioned by the ascended Christ to cooperate with Him to carry out God’s New Testament economy. What He was doing in the heavens, the apostles did on earth to carry out His heavenly ministry.
The entire book [of John] covers the earthly ministry of Christ, beginning with His incarnation as the Word of God to become a man in the flesh (1:1-14) and ending with His resurrection as the last Adam to become the life-giving Spirit (ch. 20)…John 21 is the completion and consummation of the Gospel of John…showing that Christ’s heavenly ministry and the apostles’ ministry on the earth cooperate together to carry out God’s New Testament economy. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” p. 446)
Today’s Reading
First, the Lord’s shepherding was in His earthly ministry (Matt. 9:36). The Lord saw the Israelites as sheep harassed by their leaders; they were cast away like sheep not having a shepherd. The Lord as the Shepherd of God’s elect prayed, and God told His sent One to appoint twelve apostles that they might take care of the sheep of God (10:1-6). Second, the Lord’s shepherding is in His heavenly ministry (1 Pet. 5:4) to take care of the church of God, issuing in His
Body…After His resurrection and ascension to the heavens, He is still shepherding. After [the Lord’s] resurrection and before His ascension, in one of His appearings, He commissioned Peter to feed His lambs and shepherd His sheep in His absence, while He is in the heavens (John 21:15- 17). Shepherding implies feeding, but it includes much more than feeding. To shepherd is to take all-inclusive tender care of the flock. This is to incorporate the apostolic ministry with Christ’s heavenly ministry to take care of God’s flock, which is the church that issues in the Body of Christ.
Christ’s shepherding of His flock includes His caring for their outward things and also their inner being, their souls [1 Pet. 2:25]…Christ indwells us to be our life and everything, but He is also overseeing, observing, the condition and situation of our inner being. He shepherds us by caring for the welfare of our inner being and by exercising His oversight over the condition of our soul, our real person. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” pp. 446-448)
In the past we did much speaking and teaching with very little shepherding…Our shepherding should always be with teaching, and our teaching should always be with shepherding.
In His heavenly ministry Christ is shepherding people, and we need to cooperate with Him by shepherding people. Without shepherding, our work for the Lord cannot be effective. We must learn all the truths so that we may have something to speak and go to contact people to shepherd them.
Christ as the Son of Man came to redeem us from sin (1 Tim. 1:15)— cherishing. This is the first part of the New Testament…Christ as the Son of God came to impart the divine life into us abundantly (John 10:10)— nourishing. This is the second part of the New Testament. (CWWL, 1994- 1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” pp. 92, 137)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” ch. 13
