阅读经文 

学步小孩最早学会的其冲动行为之一，就是在受到不公平对待时以发怒作为回应。小孩会大叫大嚷：“真不公平！这是我的东西！”父母努力安抚不满的小孩后，通常会这样说：“你需要与别人分享。你已经玩了很久，现在应该轮到另一个人玩了。”

父母正在教导小孩死而后生的功课，就是藉着放弃某些东西，来换取丰盛的生命。小孩还学到其他的功课，例如，他明白了，当自己感到事情不对劲时，很容易便会以发脾气来回应；但是，更智慧的做法，就是在天路历程中，作一个“不喧嚷、不扬声”的行路人。

以赛亚书这段经文描述的，就是耶稣默默进行传道事工的智慧。

在过去几年，这个世界似乎变成了一个更嘈吵、更愤怒的地方。透过匿名的社群媒体、揭露社会上失控的问题，更增加了焦虑。大众认同的价值观又大大改变了。这些都产生很大的压力，但却不能提供什么拨云见日的曙光。数年前我为一报社的专栏写了一篇温和的文章，内容是关于我今天作为一个跟从基督的人的含义，事后在网上的回应文章中对我表达的憎恨，真是势不可当。

这样的反应，令我很想大声叫嚷，然而，当我想起以赛亚书所描述的耶稣的态度时，我便知道我需要消灭这个冲动。采取能更新生命的行动才是更好的做法。

One of the first impulses that a young toddler learns is to react with anger to a perceived injustice. “Not fair!” the child will yell, “That’s mine!” After attempting to calm down the frustrated child, the parent will often say, “You need to share. You’ve played with that for a long time. Now let someone else have a turn.”

The parent is giving the child a lesson in dying to live, giving something up in order to live life to the full. But that’s not all. The child is also being taught that it’s easy to react to a perceived wrong with an angry tantrum, but it’s wiser to navigate life as one who does not “shout or cry out.”

This passage in Isaiah is describing the wisdom of the quietness of Jesus’ ministry.

In the past several years, the world seems to have become a noisier, angrier place. The anonymity of social media, increasing anxiety about a world whose problems seem out of control, and a great deal of changes in shared values have combined to generate a lot of heat and not much light. A few years ago I wrote a gentle op-ed for a newspaper, describing what it meant for me to be a Christ-follower today, and the hatred that followed in online comments was overwhelming.

That kind of response makes me want to shout, but when I remember the attitude of Jesus described here in Isaiah, I realize that that urge needs to die. It’s better to act in a way that leads to restoring life.