太九14~15 那时，约翰的门徒到耶稣跟前来，说，为什么我们和法利赛人常常禁食，你的门徒倒不禁食？耶稣对他们说，新郎和伴友同在的时候，伴友岂能哀恸？……

　　从马太福音的记载，我们看见所有与基督有关的事，都发生在宗教之外。在那时，犹太教是真正的宗教，是根据神的圣言所建立的。但是，凡与基督有关的事都发生在犹太教之外；换句话说，基督与宗教毫不相干。

　　马太一章的记载告诉我们，基督的出生如何是在耶路撒冷以外，远离圣殿的地方成就的，与圣别的祭司无关。……神乃是差遣祂的使者到被人藐视之地的一个小城—加利利的拿撒勒去。神差祂的使者到一个穷苦人家的女孩，一个童女那里。实际上，一切与这个女子并她情形有关的事物都在耶路撒冷、圣殿、圣别的祭司体系，以及典型并真正的宗教之外。基督的出生与宗教完全没有关系，完全是在宗教之外成就的（李文集一九七○年第二册，三至四页）。

　　Matt. 9:14-15 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, The sons of the bridechamber cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?…

　　From the record of Matthew we see that all things related to Christ took place outside of religion. In that day Judaism was the genuine religion, the religion founded according to God’s holy Word. But everything concerning Christ took place outside of that. In other words, Christ had nothing to do with religion.

　　The record of Matthew 1 tells how the birth of Christ was accomplished outside of Jerusalem, away from the temple, having nothing to do with the holy priests…God sent His angel to a little town in a despised country, Nazareth of Galilee. He sent him to a girl, a virgin, in a poor family. Practically everything related to this girl and her situation was outside of Jerusalem, the temple, and the holy priesthood—the typical and genuine religion. The birth of Christ had nothing to do with religion; it was absolutely accomplished outside of religion. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 2, “Christ versus Religion,” p. 3)

　　然后，马太二章继续告诉我们，人如何寻见这位基督。……祂不是在耶路撒冷被寻见，不是在圣殿被寻见，更不是被任何祭司或是圣民所寻见。我们都熟悉有关天上的星如何在外邦地，向一班没有圣经，没有真实宗教的人显现的记载。我们也知道，那些外邦的星象家如何运用他们天然的心思，推论犹太人的王应当生在耶路撒冷。他们这样作，使得许多婴孩的生命后来被杀害。但最终他们找到了耶稣。……当他们来到耶路撒冷时，希律王召集了经学家和法

　　 利赛人；他们是一班有圣经知识的人。他们都给了希律王正确并准确的引经，就是弥迦书五章二节的话，那里说到基督将出生在伯利恒。他们有知识，有准确的圣经章节，却没有一个人去看基督。他们只为着圣经，却不为着基督。

　　马太三章向我们陈述引进基督的原则—这也完全是在宗教之外。施浸者约翰向人引荐基督。他生来就是祭司，但他却不留在祭司体系里，也不留在圣殿中，甚至不留在耶路撒冷城里。我们读到他乃是在旷野里。他留在一个野的地方，甚至他自己也变成野的。他身穿骆驼毛的衣服。根据利未记十一章，骆驼乃是不洁净的动物。

　　约翰没有教导人有关宗教的事，他乃是呼召人要悔改，改变他们的心思，改变他们对宗教和文化的观念。他没有告诉他们去作什么事，他乃是为他们施浸，埋葬他们，了结他们。约翰说，“我是将你们浸在水里，……但那在我以后来的，……祂要将你们浸在圣灵……里。”〔太三11〕……耶稣是由一个野人，用与宗教毫不相干的方式引荐的。

　　马太四章告诉我们，耶稣被引进之后，有一些亲爱的人跟随了祂。他们是谁呢？是大祭司么？是经学家么？都不是。他们乃是加利利的渔夫。有些是在海里打鱼的，有些是补网的—他们都是没有学问的人，但是他们跟随了耶稣。他们开始跟随耶稣的地方，不是在耶路撒冷，也不是在圣殿，甚至也不是在圣地，而是在当时称为“外邦人的”加利利（15）。……基督的出生，基督的被寻见，基督的被引进，以及被人跟随，都完全远离宗教。……耶稣来了：祂不仅出生了，也达到成年；祂出来尽职事，把自己荐与人。……祂来到人那里，人不需要去寻找祂（李文集一九七○年第二册，四至八页）。

　　参读：基督与宗教相对，第一章。

　　Matthew 2 then proceeds to tell us how people found this Christ…He was not found in Jerusalem; He was not found in the temple; neither was He found by any priest or any holy people. We are all familiar with the account of the heavenly star appearing in a pagan country to people with no Bible and no genuine religion. We know also how those heathen magi exercised their natural mind, concluding that the King of the Jews should be born in Jerusalem. In so doing, they caused many young lives to be taken. But eventually, they found Jesus…When they came to Jerusalem, King Herod called the chief priests and scribes, those who had the knowledge of the Bible. They all gave Herod the proper and exact quotation, Micah 5:2, telling that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. They had the knowledge, they had the exact scriptural references, but none of them went to see Christ. They were for the Scriptures, they were for the Bible, but they were not for Christ.

　　Matthew 3 relates to us the principle of the introducing of Christ— this also is absolutely outside of religion. John the Baptist was the one who recommended Christ to the people. He was born a priest, but he would not remain in the priesthood; he would not stay in the temple or even in the city of Jerusalem. We read that he was in the wilderness. He stayed in a wild place, and even he himself became wild. He wore camel’s hair. The camel, according to Leviticus 11, was an unclean animal.

　　John did not teach people about religion—he called on them to repent, to change their mind, to change their concept about religion and culture. He did not tell them to do something; he baptized them, he buried them, he terminated them. John said, “I baptize you in water,…but He who is coming after me…will baptize you in the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 3:11). [Jesus] was recommended by a wild person in a wild way with nothing to do with religion.

　　Matthew 4 tells us that after Jesus was introduced, there were some dear ones who followed Him. Who were they? The high priests? The scribes? No. They were Galilean fishermen. Some were fishing in the sea, others were mending their nets—they were unlearned people, but they followed Jesus. They began to follow not in Jerusalem, not in the temple, and not even in the Holy Land, but in Galilee, a place then considered as “of the Gentiles” (v. 15)…The birth of Christ, the finding of Christ, the introducing of Christ, and the following of Christ were entirely apart from religion…Jesus came: He not only came in His birth, but He also came of age; He came forth to minister; He presented Himself to the people…He came to the people; there was no need to go and find Him. (CWWL, 1970, vol. 2, “Christ versus Religion,” pp. 3-6)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1970, vol. 2, “Christ versus Religion,” ch. 1