阅读经文 

我们这个月在思考“道成肉身”的问题，思考耶稣的神性和人性。祂同时两者都是，但有时我们会淡化祂的人性，有时我们会想像祂的神性胜过了祂血肉之躯的弱点和不足。但如果那样的话，耶稣就算不上完全意义的人了。

我想知道马利亚是怎样看待她儿子的真实人性的。当祂还是一个脾气暴躁、正在出牙期的婴孩时，马利亚会安慰祂。当祂还是个膝盖会摔破皮的孩子时，马利亚会为祂擦去眼泪，清理伤口。当祂专注于祂的使命而忙得顾不上吃饭时，马利亚会担心并和祂的兄弟们一起去找祂，他们似乎认为祂癫狂了。（参可 3:20-21、31）

最痛苦的是，当士兵们剥去祂的衣服、鞭打祂；当他们用钉子刺穿祂的肉和骨头，把祂钉在十字架上；当祂最亲密的朋友离弃了祂；当祂痛苦地喊叫；当长矛在祂的身体上划开一个口子；马利亚却无助地站在一旁。她看到了这一切，她在内心深处感受到了这一切撕裂之痛。正如西面所警告她的，她的心被刀刺透了。

作为人，耶稣真实到了何种程度？是足以令祂的母亲惦记到心碎的程度。

We are wondering this month about the incarnation, about Jesus' being divine and human. He is both, but sometimes we downplay his genuine humanity. Sometimes we imagine his divine nature overcoming the weaknesses and shortcomings of his flesh and blood. But that would make Jesus something other than human.

I wonder what Mary thought about the genuine humanity of her son. When he was a cranky baby with teeth coming in, Mary would have comforted him. When he was a youngster with a skinned knee, Mary would have wiped away his tears and cleansed the wound. And when he focused on his mission and got too busy to eat, Mary worried and went with his brothers to find him. It seems they thought he might have gone out of his mind (Mark 3:20-21, 31).

Hardest of all, when soldiers stripped him naked and flogged him, when they drove nails through his flesh and bone to pin him to a cross, when his closest friends abandoned him, when he cried out in anguish, and when a spear opened a gash in his side, Mary stood by helplessly. She saw every bit of it. And she felt it all in the depths of her being. As Simeon had warned her, a sword pierced her soul too.

How human was Jesus? Human enough for his mother's heart to break.