士五7　　…直到我底波拉兴起，等我兴起作以色列的母。

　　罗十六13　　问在主里蒙拣选的鲁孚和他母亲，也就是我的母亲安。

　　1~2　　我向你们推荐我们的姊妹非比，她是在坚革哩的召会的女执事，…她素来护助许多人，也护助了我。

　　罗马十六章里所着重的是姊妹，不是弟兄，那里提起母亲，但没有提起父亲。…“我向你们推荐我们的姊妹”（1），这不是肉身的姊妹。…没有一节圣经告诉我们保罗肉身父母亲的名字。十三节里的母亲，与鲁孚的关系是肉身的母亲，但更要紧的是，她与保罗的关系不是肉身的母亲（李文集一九七五至一九七六年第一册，六四页）。

　　Judg. 5:7 …Until I, Deborah, rose up; until I rose up as a mother in Israel.

　　Rom. 16:13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother as well as mine.

　　1-2 I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a deaconess of the church which is in Cenchrea,…for she herself has also been the patroness of many, of myself as well.

　　The emphasis in Romans 16 is on the sisters, not the brothers, and there is mention of a mother but no mention of a father….’I commend to you Phoebe our sister” [v. 1], not a sister in the flesh….We do not have a verse to tell us the names of Paul’s mother and father in the flesh. The mother in verse 13 is a mother in the flesh in relation to Rufus, but more important, she is a mother not in the flesh in relation to Paul. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, p. 47)

　　新约告诉我们，保罗至少有两个儿子，一个名叫提摩太，第二个名叫提多，但这些都不是他肉身的儿子。保罗用了非常亲密的辞句来称他们为儿子：“凭信作我真孩子的提摩太”，以及“作我真孩子的提多”（提前一2，多一4）。…新约很少告诉我们使徒肉身的直系亲属。…彼得的确告诉我们，他有一个儿子名叫马可：“我儿子马可”（彼前五13下）。当然马可不是彼得肉身的儿子。…彼得是马可的父亲，不是他肉身的父亲，而是他灵里的父亲，是他在共同信仰上的父亲。

　　照约翰十九章里的记载，主耶稣被钉十字架，在十字架上受苦，当祂快要被钉死的时候，祂看着祂肉身的母亲。当时共有四位姊妹站在十字架旁边，看着主如何被钉。马利亚在那里，还有她的姊妹，以及另外两位也叫作马利亚的姊妹。马利亚的姊妹就是雅各和约翰的母亲，因此雅各和约翰是耶稣的表兄弟。主耶稣快要被钉死的时候，看着祂肉身的母亲，对她说，“看哪，你的儿子。”同时祂对祂的表兄弟约翰说，“看哪，你的母亲”（25~27）。

　　约翰福音是一卷讲生命的书，不是讲天然的生命，而是讲转换并变化过的生命。使徒约翰要达到他的目的，就给我们一段记载，来指明相信基督之人的生命，如何能够借着耶稣的十字架和祂的复活，而得着转换。如果你注视耶稣的十字架，你就会得着转换。主耶稣对约翰和母亲所说的话给我们看见，祂分赐生命、释放生命的死转换了人的生命。

　　本来约翰不是马利亚的儿子，马利亚也不是约翰的母亲。但因着耶稣钉十字架，耶稣的母亲马利亚就成了约翰的母亲。约翰原是马利亚姊妹的儿子，现在竟成了马利亚的儿子。这不是一段领养的故事，其意思不是说，当他们都站在十字架旁时，主耶稣好像法官一样，作成了领养的手续。…照着肉身的生命，约翰是马利亚的外甥，马利亚是约翰的姨母。但他们因着注视十字架，得着了另一个生命。…在这第二个生命里面，外甥成了真儿子，姨母也成了真母亲。

　　要彻底有实际的召会生活，在地方召会里就该有一些真实的姊妹和母亲。我们需要成为服事的姊妹，也需要成为母亲。我们中间只要缺少了象非比那样的姊妹，召会生活就不实际。然而这位姊妹的服事是在罗马十六章的开头，在第一节。当实际的召会生活到达顶峰时，每个召会都该有一些真实的母亲（李文集一九七五至一九七六年第一册，六四至六八页）。

　　参读：李文集一九七五至一九七六年第一册，六○至七五页。

　　The New Testament tells us that Paul had at least two sons, one named Timothy and the second named Titus, but these were not his sons in the flesh. Paul uses a very intimate expression to call them sons: “…genuine child in faith,” and “…genuine child” (1 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4)….The New Testament tells us very little about the direct flesh relatives of the apostles….Peter did tell us that he had a son named Mark: “Mark my son” (1 Pet. 5:13). Surely Mark was not Peter’s son in the flesh…. Peter was Mark’s father, not his father in the flesh but his father in the spirit, his father in the common faith.

　　According to the record in John 19, when the Lord Jesus was suffering during His crucifixion, He looked at His mother in the flesh. At that time four sisters were standing by the cross, watching how the Lord was being crucified. Mary was there, and her sister, and another two sisters also named Mary. Mary’s sister was the mother of James and John, so James and John were the cousins of Jesus. Near the end of His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus looked at His mother in the flesh, and in a sense it was as if He said to her, “Mother, don’t behold Me, but behold your son.” At the same time He said to His cousin John, “Behold, your mother” (vv. 25-27).

　　The Gospel of John is a book on life, not on the natural life but on the transferred and transformed life. To fulfill his purpose John gives us a record to show how the life of the believers of Christ could be transferred by the cross of Jesus and by His resurrection. If you look at the cross of Jesus, you will be transferred. The word of the Lord Jesus to John and to His mother was a word to show us that His life-imparting, life-releasing death transfers people’s lives.

　　Originally, John was not Mary’s son, and Mary was not John’s mother. But because of the crucifixion of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus, became the mother of John. John, who was the son of Mary’s sister, became Mary’s son. This is not a story of adoption, and it does not mean that the Lord Jesus was like a judge to carry out the adoption as they all stood by the cross…. According to the life in the flesh, John was Mary’s nephew, and Mary was John’s aunt. But by looking at the cross, they received another life….In this second life the nephew becomes a real son, and the aunt becomes a real mother.

　　To have the practical church life to the uttermost, in the local church there should be some real sisters and some real mothers. [Recently] it was my burden to share with you that you need to be a serving sister, but now I am burdened to share with you that you need to be a mother. As long as there is a shortage of sisters like Phoebe among us, the church life is not practical. Yet the serving of that sister is at the beginning of Romans 16, in the first verse. When the church life in practicality reaches a peak, in every church there should be some real mothers. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 47-50)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 45-46 (also in the booklet The Serving Sisters in the Church Life), pp. 47-55 (also in the booklet The Loving Mothers in the Church Life)