11月13日
标 题： 不要像其他人一样忧伤
经 节： 论到睡了的人，我们不愿意弟兄们不知道，恐怕你们忧伤，像那些没有指望的人一样。（帖撒罗尼迦前书四章13节）
基督徒不像世人一样那么忧伤。世人所经验的是没有指望的忧伤，基督徒也忧伤，然而，基督徒的忧伤是伴随着希望。在耶稣的时代，丧事是表露心灵哀恸的时刻。在丧礼中嚎啕大哭，是表达对死者的敬意。人为痛失所爱而哀伤，是由于无力改变现况。人一生的经历中，也许没有比丧礼更叫人无助和绝望的。
耶稣也在挚友的丧礼中悲泣，祂的哀伤并非因为无望（约翰福音十一：35）。耶稣知道拉撒路很快就要复活，也知道当自己再来的时候，拉撒路与所有的信徒，都会从死里复活，与祂永远同在天堂。耶稣哭泣，是因为看到所爱的人那种无望的感受。复活与生命就在祂的朋友当中，他们居然还哀恸（约翰福音十一：25）！
当耶稣战胜死亡的那一刻，祂永远地改变了基督徒对死亡的看法。基督徒会遭遇丧失所爱的痛苦，但我们仍有盼望，因为晓得在任何处境中，神使万事互相效力，叫爱祂的人得益处（罗马书八：28）。我们有希望，因为知道没有任何事可以隔绝我们领受基督的爱，即使是死亡，也不能使我们与神隔绝（罗马书八：38～39）。我们有希望，因为耶稣会来接我们到天堂，让我们永享与祂没有拦阻的交通（约翰福音十四：3）。
即使是基督徒，也不可能逃脱生命的哀恸。然而，基督已复活所带来的希望，可以减轻你的哀恸，因祂是你的希望及你的安慰。
Not Sorrowing as
Others
But I do not
want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep,
lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
Christians do not grieve as the world grieves. The world experiences
sorrow without hope. The Christian also has sorrow, but the Christian’s sorrow
is accompanied by hope. In Jesus’ day, a funeral was a time for an impassioned demonstration
of grief. It was a sign of respect for the deceased to wail loudly at a
funeral. A person grieving the loss of a loved one had no power to change what
had happened. There was probably no time in human experience where people felt
more helpless or vulnerable than at a funeral.
Jesus, too, wept at the funeral of a close friend, but His sorrow did
not come from a lack of hope (John 11:35). Jesus knew that soon Lazarus would
be alive again. He also knew that at His second coming, Lazarus and all of
Jesus’ followers would be resurrected from death to spend eternity with Him in
heaven. Jesus wept because He saw the hopelessness felt by the people He loved.
His friends had the Resurrection and the Life right in their midst, yet they
were grieving! (John 11:25). When Jesus conquered death, He forever changed the
way Christians view death. Christians still experience the sorrow of losing
someone we love, but we have hope because we know that God can bring good out
of any situation (Rom. 8:28). We have hope in the knowledge that nothing, not
even death, can separate us from God’s love (Rom. 8:38–39). We have hope
because Jesus will bring us to join Him in heaven so that we might enjoy
eternity in unhindered fellowship with Him (John 14:3).
Even though you are a Christian, you cannot escape life’s sorrows. But
you can temper your grief with the hope that Christ is risen, for He is your
hope and your comfort.
