History Makers? 締造歷史的人？

When he was President, Barack Obama was fond of the phrase ‘on the right side of history’ and used it over 30 times in his speeches. It was his way of suggesting that an issue or topic of debate for which he was advocating would eventually be seen by the rest of the world as being the right thing or for the better of humanity in general. However, history has an annoying habit of proving us wrong, often by little side events that push things off track (at least for a little while).

In the gospel accounts of both John the Baptist’s and Jesus’ ministries, Herod Antipas had his moments of power to influence history and it did not go well for him. He was the half-Jewish tetrarch appointed by Rome to administer the areas of Galilee and Perea. He was an ambitious ruler and sought to impress Rome with several grand building projects, including a whole city dedicated to the emperor Tiberius. It seems from the gospel accounts of his interactions with both the Baptist and Jesus that despite his scheming and power-seeking ego, he was intrigued by their lifestyle, teaching and miracles. Sensing that they were righteous and holy men of God, he even tried to protect them from the angry actions of others who wanted to kill them. Yet in both cases, his addiction to power proved stronger than his instinct to do the right thing. Herod Antipas will forever be known as the king on the wrong side of history responsible for authorizing the killing of both John the Baptist and Jesus.

And in both cases, it was the little things that pushed him over to the wrong side. In John Baptist’s case, it was Herod’s unwillingness to lose face in front of his friends that pushed him over to the wrong side (Luke 9); and it was Jesus’ refusal to pull off a private miracle stunt for him that made Herod get mad and give him the thumbs down (Luke 23).

As Christians, each of us is history-makers in our own little universe. We have the influence to push things towards the right side of history or let our human weaknesses explode into a side event that will push things the other way. Let’s thank God that he is the ultimate history maker and that even when we mess things up in our own personal eco-systems, he has the last word about how history ends.

前美國總統奧巴馬在任時，很喜歡「站在歷史正確的一邊」（on the right side of history）這句話，這句話在他在演講中，出現過不下三十次。他用這句話指出，他希望目前所爭取的某件事或某個立場，將來會被世界認可，證明這是個正確的決定，是為著人類的好處而做的。然而，歷史有個令人討厭的習慣，就是總愛證明我們是錯的，我們往往會因為一些小支節而（有一段時間）偏離正軌。

福音書記載，施洗約翰和耶穌傳道時，希律．安提帕斯曾權極一時，舉足輕重，足以左右歷史，然而事情卻不太順利。他是半個猶太人，被羅馬分封的王，管治加利利和比利亞。他是個很有野心的統治者，想要透過幾個大型建設項目來給羅馬留下深刻印象，其中包括建造為記念凱撒提比哩亞的一整座城。從福音書的記載裏，我們可以從他跟施洗約翰和耶穌的互動中，見到希律雖然詭計多端又追求權力，他還是對二人的生活方式、教導和神蹟非常好奇。他知道他們是在神面前的義人，甚至還曾經想要保護他們，救他們脫離那些謀害他們性命的人。然而，在兩次的情況中，希律對權力的迷戀遠超過他要行公義的心。希律的名字結果遺臭萬年，因為施洗約翰和耶穌都是在他的授權之下死的。

而兩次事件的錯誤決定，都是由很小的事情引起的。在施洗約翰的事件中，希律不願意在朋友面前失去面子（可六章），所以站了在歷史錯誤的一邊；而因為耶穌不願意在希律面前為他行神蹟，結果令希律發怒，對他不屑一顧（路二十三章）。

作為基督徒，我們每個人都是締造自己歷史的人。我們有足夠的影響力，可以決定要將事情推向歷史正確的那邊，還是任由我們的軟弱將事情推向另一方向。讓我們一同感謝神，因為祂是那位最終的締造歷史者，即使我們會用自己的方法來搞砸事情，祂還是對歷史終局有最終的決定權。