11. Laying the Hand on the Sacrifice
He shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering. Leviticus 4:29
Here we have an emblem of the way in which a sacrifice becomes available for the offerer. The same ceremony is commanded in verses 4, 15, 24, and 33, and in other places: it is therefore important and instructive.
The question with many souls is how to obtain an interest in Christ so as to be saved by him. Never could a weightier question be asked.
It is certain that this is absolutely needful; but alas, it has been fearfully neglected by many. In vain did Christ die if he is not believed in.
It ought to be attended to at once.
The text gives us a pictorial answer to the question, How can Christ's sacrifice become available for me?
Let us learn—
I. THE INTENT OF THE SYMBOL
1. It was a confession of sin: else no need of a sin offering.
- To this was added a confession of the desert of punishment, or why should the victim be slain?
- There was also an abandonment of all other methods of removing sin. The hands were empty, and laid alone upon the sin offering.
- Do this at the cross; for there alone is sin put away.
2. It was a consent to the plan of substitution.
- Some raise questions as to the justice and certainty of this method of salvation; but he who is to be saved does not so, for he sees that God himself is the best judge of its rightness, and if he is content we may assuredly be so.
- Substitution exceedingly honours the law, and vindicates justice.
- There is no other plan which meets the case, or even fairly looks at it. Man's sense of guilt is not met by other proposals.
- But this brings rest to the most tender conscience.
"What if we trace the globe around,
And search from Britian to Japan,
There shall be no religion found
So just to God, so safe to man"
3.It was an acceptance of the victim.
- Jesus is the most natural substitute, for he is the second Adam, The second head of the race; the true idea of man.
- He is the only person able to offer satisfaction, having a perfect humanity united with his Godhead.
- He alone is acceptable to God; he may well be acceptable to us.
4. It was a believing transference of sin.
- By laying on of hands sin was typically laid on the victim.
- It was laid there so as to be no longer on the offerer.
5. It was a dependence-leaning on the victim.
- Is there not a most sure stay in Jesus for the leaning heart?
- Consider the nature of the suffering and death by which the atonement was made, and you will rest in it.
- Consider the dignity and worth of the sacrifice by whom the death was endured. The glory of Christ's person enhances the value of his atonement (Heb. 10:5-10).
- Remember that none of the saints now in heaven have had any other atoning sacrifice. "Jesus only" has been the motto of all justified ones.
"He offered one sacrifice for sins for ever" (Heb. 10:12).
- Those of us who are saved are resting there alone; why should; not you, and every anxious one?
SIMPLICITY OF THE SYMBOL.
1. There were no antecedent rites. The victim was there, and hands were laid on it: nothing more. We add neither preface nor appendix to Christ: he is Alpha and Omega.
2. The offerer came in all his sin. "Just as I am." It was to have his sin removed that the offerer brought the sacrifice: not because he had himself removed it.
3. There was nothing in his hand of merit, or price.
4. There was nothing on his hand. No gold ring to indicate wealth; no signet of power; no jewel of rank. The offerer came as a man, and not as learned, rich, or honorable.
5. He performed no cunning legerdemain with his hand. By leaning upon it he took the victim to be his representative; but he placed no reliance upon ceremonial performances.
6. Nothing was done to his hand. His ground of trust was the sacrifice, not his hands. He desired his hand to be clean, but upon that fact he did not rest for pardon.
Come then, dear hearer, whether saint or sinner, and lean hard upon Jesus. He taketh away the sin of the world. Trust him with your sin, and it is for ever put away. Put forth now your hand, and adopt the expiation of the redeeming Lord as your expiation.
Anecdotes and Illustrations
A poor blind woman in Liverpool, after her conversion, committed many hymns to memory. She was an occasional attendant upon the old Earl of Derby, the grandfather of the present Earl. She repeated one of her hymns to him. The old Earl liked it, and encouraged her to repeat more. But one day, when repeating the hymn of Charles Wesley "All ye that pass by" she came to the words —
"The Lord in the day of his anger did lay
Your sins on the Lamb, and he bore them away."
He said, "Stop, Mrs. Brass, don't you think it should be,—
"The Lord in the day of his mercy did lay'?"
She did not think his criticism valid; but it proved that she was not repeating her verses to inattentive ears, and other indications showed that the blind woman was made a blessing to the dying nobleman. — Paxton Hood's Life of Isaac Watts.
"When Christmas Evans was about to die, several ministers were standing round his bed. He said to them, 'Preach Christ to the people, brethren. Look at me: in myself I am nothing but ruin. But look at me in Christ; I am heaven and salvation.'"
It is not the quantity of thy faith that shall save thee. A drop of water is as true water as the whole ocean. So a little faith is as true faith as the greatest. A child eight days old is as really a man as one of sixty years; a spark of fire is as true fire as a great flame; a sickly man is as truly living as a healthy man. So it is not the measure of thy faith that saves thee — it is the blood that it grips to that saves thee. As the weak hand of a child, that leads the spoon to the mouth, will feed it as well as the strong arm of a man; for it is not the hand that feeds thee — albeit, it puts the meat into thy mouth, but it is the meat carried into thy stomach that feeds thee. So if thou canst grip Christ ever so weakly, he will not let thee perish —: The weakest hands take a gift as well as the strongest. Now, Christ is this gift, and weak faith may grip him as well as strong faith, and Christ is as truly thine when thou hast weak faith, as when thou hast come to those triumphant joys through the strength of faith. — Welsh.
The Puritans speak of faith as a recumbency, a leaning. It needs no power to lean; it is a cessation from our own strength, and allowing our weakness to depend upon another's power. Let no man say, "I cannot lean"; it is not a ques-tion of what you can do, but a confession of what you cannot do, and a leaving of the whole matter with Jesus. No woman could say, "I cannot swoon"; it is not a matter of power. Die into the life of Christ; let him be all in all while you are nothing at all.
Charles Hadden Spurgeon
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11. 按手在祭牲上
「他要按手在贖罪祭牲的頭上。」
——利未記 4:29
在這裡，我們看見一個象徵，說明祭物如何對獻祭的人發生功效。同樣的儀式也出現在第 4、15、24、33 節，以及其他經文中；因此，這是一個極其重要、滿有教訓的象徵。
許多人的問題是：我如何才能在基督裡有分，以致藉著祂得救？
再沒有比這更重大的問題了。
毫無疑問，這是絕對必要的；然而，可悲的是，許多人卻極其忽略它。若人不信，基督的死便成了徒然。
這件事應當立刻處理。
本節經文以一幅生動的圖畫回答了這個問題：
基督的獻祭，如何才能對我生效？
讓我們來學習——
一、這個象徵的用意
1. 這是對罪的承認
否則，就不需要贖罪祭。
其中也包含對刑罰當得的承認；否則，為何祭牲必須被宰殺？
此外，這也表示放棄一切其他除罪的方法。雙手是空的，只按在贖罪祭上。
請在十字架前這樣行；因為只有在那裡，罪才得以除去。
2. 這是對「代替」之救恩計畫的認同
有些人質疑這種得救方式的公義性與確定性；
但真正渴望得救的人卻不會如此，
因為他明白：神自己是最好的審判者，既然神滿意，我們當然也可以滿意。
代替的救恩極其尊榮律法，並彰顯公義。
除此之外，再沒有任何方法能真正解決問題，甚至連正視問題都做不到；
人的罪疚感，無法被其他提議所滿足。
唯有這條路，才能使最敏感的良心得著安息。
「縱然我們環遊全球，
從不列顛直到日本，
也找不到一種宗教，
對神如此公義，對人如此穩妥。」
3. 這是對祭牲的接納
耶穌是最合宜的代替者，
因為祂是第二個亞當，是人類的新元首，是「真正的人」。
祂是唯一能獻上滿足的那一位，
因為祂有完全的人性，又與神性聯合。
唯有祂蒙神悅納；祂也完全值得我們接納。
4. 這是憑信心將罪轉移
藉著按手，罪在預表中被放在祭牲身上。
罪被放在那裡，就不再在獻祭的人身上。
5. 這是倚靠——靠在祭牲身上
在耶穌裡，是否有最穩妥的依靠，能承托那顆倚靠的心？
請思想那成就贖罪的痛苦與死亡，你就必在其中得安息。
再思想那承受死亡之祭物的尊貴與價值；
基督位格的榮耀，使祂的贖罪更顯寶貴（來 10:5–10）。
要記得，如今在天上的所有聖徒，
沒有一個是靠著別的贖罪祭得救的。
「惟有耶穌」一直是所有稱義之人的座右銘。
「祂獻上一次贖罪的祭，便叫那得以成聖的人永遠完全。」（來 10:12）
我們這些已得救的人，都是單單安息在此；
為何你和所有憂心的人，不也如此呢？
二、這個象徵的單純性
- 沒有任何前置儀式。
祭牲已在那裡，人只需按手其上——沒有別的。
我們不為基督加上前言或附錄；祂是阿拉法，也是俄梅戛。
- 獻祭的人帶著全部的罪而來。
「照我本相。」
他帶祭物來，是為了除罪，並不是因為他已經把罪除掉。
- 他手中沒有任何功德或代價。
- 他手上沒有任何裝飾。
沒有金戒指象徵財富，沒有印璽象徵權力，沒有寶石象徵地位。
他是以「人」的身分來，不是以學者、富人或顯貴的身分來。
- 他的手沒有施行任何巧妙的儀式。
他只是靠在祭牲身上，承認它是自己的代表；
卻不把信心放在儀式本身。
- 他的手沒有被特別處理。
他信靠的根基是祭牲，而不是自己的手。
他渴望自己的手是潔淨的，但並不憑此得赦免。
親愛的聽眾，無論你是聖徒或罪人，都請現在就來，用力地倚靠耶穌。
祂除去世人的罪。
把你的罪交託給祂，罪就永遠被除去。
現在就伸出你的手，
把救贖主的贖罪，當作你的贖罪。
事例與比喻
利物浦有一位貧窮的盲婦，歸主之後，背誦了許多詩歌。她偶爾會到德比伯爵（現今德比伯爵的祖父）那裡。她為老伯爵背誦詩歌，他十分喜歡，鼓勵她多背一些。
有一天，她背誦查爾斯．衛斯理的詩歌〈凡過路的人〉，念到這一句：
「主在祂忿怒的日子，
將你的罪放在羔羊身上，
羔羊便擔當而除去。」
伯爵說：「停一下，布拉斯太太，你不覺得應該是——
『主在祂憐憫的日子』嗎？」
她不認為這個修正正確；
但這件事顯示，她並不是對漫不經心的人背誦詩歌。
其他跡象也表明，這位盲婦成了那位垂死貴族的祝福。
——摘自派克斯頓．胡德《艾薩克．華茲生平》
當聖誕．伊文思臨終時，幾位牧師站在他的床邊。他對他們說：
「弟兄們，要向百姓傳講基督。看看我：在我自己裡面，只有敗壞；但在基督裡看我，我就是天堂與救恩。」
救你的不是信心的大小，而是你所抓住的對象。
一滴水與整個海洋一樣，都是水；
微小的信心與偉大的信心一樣，都是真信心。
八天大的嬰孩，與六十歲的人一樣是真正的人；
一點火星與熊熊烈焰一樣，都是真火；
病弱的人與健壯的人一樣，都是活著的。
所以，救你的不是信心的「分量」，
而是信心所抓住的寶血。
就像孩子微弱的手，把湯匙送到口中，
也能像壯漢的手一樣餵養自己；
因為餵養你的不是手，
而是進入胃中的食物。
同樣地，只要你能再軟弱地抓住基督，
祂也絕不會讓你滅亡。
最軟弱的手，也能像最有力的手一樣接過禮物。
而基督，就是這份禮物。
——威爾斯
清教徒把信心形容為「躺臥、倚靠」。
倚靠不需要力量；
那是停止倚賴自己的力量，
讓自己的軟弱依附在另一位的能力上。
不要有人說：「我不能倚靠。」
這不是你能做什麼的問題，
而是承認你不能做什麼，
並把一切交給耶穌。
沒有一個女人會說：「我不能昏倒。」
那不是力量的問題。
向自己死，進入基督的生命；
讓祂成為一切，而你成為一無所有。
—— 查爾斯・赫登・司布真（Charles Haddon Spurgeon） |