In our previous blog post, we have studied into the background of the miracle by the pool of Bethesda. We understood about the legend as well as the problem that comes alongside with it.
We saw the hope as well as the anguish of the people waiting by the pool of Bethesda. Now we also see Jesus coming to the pool on his own accord.
We concluded saying that even though the grace of God is given free, but sinners had to make a choice whether to accept the grace or not. So let us consider this question.
What is Our Response To This Grace Of God?
This is important because we often find ourselves unwilling to come before God. Today, Jesus had sent his servants to preach the gospel, He wanted them to reach out to those who do not know him, and to tell them to believe in Jesus.
But sometimes we cant help asking “Why don’t Jesus just give his grace directly to the people”
Jesus is always willing to give his grace to whoever who wants to hear it, that is why he came to the pool of Bethesda personally. But this grace of salvation is not to be given out like the free samples that is push to everyone for no particular reason. That is why Jesus asked the man “Do you want to be healed?”
Many would find this question redundant, for is there anyone who do not want to be healed. But Jesus did not ask for no reason , it is an important and necessary question. For one need to believe in Jesus if they want to be healed.
Faith can only be proven by obedience to the words of God. In this case, Jesus came to a man who did not know him, and Jesus wanted to give him his grace for free. Even though grace is free, it is not given without any reason. The receiver needs to believe in the words of Christ and to respond to the grace by following his instructions.
The man did it, that is why he is willing to get up and take up his bed. He had been paralysed for 38 years, it requires faith for him to follow the command of Jesus. The result of his obedience is the healing of illness.
Why Was the Man Healed?
As we read this story we will wonder “Why did Jesus heal this man only? There are many who are waiting around the pool, why only this particular man? “
To be honest, we need to ask ourselves this “How many are willing to come before Jesus and to believe in him?” But if we were to read the story, you will notice that no one was willing to come before Jesus.
For Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath and it is something that was illegal under the Jewish law, many must have seen Jesus transgressing the law and concluded that he cannot come from God.
There are many who choose not to believe the miracle even if they see with their own eyes. The healing of this man is not a result of an act of partiality, it is not because Jesus was not merciful enough, but rather there are no one else who would listen to him.
That is why they miss the opportunity to receive this grace from Jesus, for Jesus will not be by the pool everyday. He will need to go somewhere else on another day.
Seizing The Opportunity To Follow Christ
Let us seize the opportunity to listen and believe in Christ. Let us be bold and courageous, ignoring the mocking of others. Let us not allow problems to prevent us from believing in the Lord
For Jesus is indeed God and we must worship him.
The first miracle where Jesus turn water into wine, tells us of his power to create something out of nothing. No one can turn water to wine instantly, and Jesus had the power to create. Through his words, this universe is created.
Let us learn to worship God for Jesus had the power to create.
But let us bring this miracle to the modern context and learn from it.
The Spiritual Bethesda Of the Modern Era
Spiritually, there are many Christians who are just laying beside the pool of Bethesda. There are Christians whoa re spiritually paralysed. lame and the blind. There are also some who have withered away as well.
Christians who are spiritually bedridden and cannot continue their walk with God.
Christians who are blind, unable to discern between right and wrong
Christians that are lame and are unable to follow the words of the Lord
Christians that have withered, having no strength and spirit behaving like dead man
Very often we fall under the last category, for whenever we gather to read the bible and worship we appear lifeless and dead. Our life and vitality returns immediately when we leave the church hall.
Even though we are all physically healthy, our spiritual life feels as if we are by the pool of Bethesda. Now when Jesus come by the place and he asks us “Do you want to be made well? Do you want to improve your situation?”
Will we choose to lie down and wither away, or will we choose to get up and walk? The way that lead to eternal life is difficult, it is a path we must all tread. That is why Jesus tells us plainly
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able”- Jesus (Lk 13:24)
We need to be willing to rise up and to follow Christ .Let us not allow our spiritual life to wither by the pool of Bethesda. let us walk out of there, to follow Christ and to enter Eternal life.
Heeding The Warning Of Jesus
Jesus gave a warning to the man who was healed.
“See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”- Jesus (Jn 5:14-15)
The man did not know who Jesus was, after his healing, he departed happily and he forgot to find out who his healer was. He did not come back to seek him.This man never found out who was the great man who healed him. He did not make an attempt to thank him.
When the Jewish leaders ask him why he was carrying his bed on the Sabbath, he only replied
“He who made me well said to me, ‘ Take up your bed and walk.’”- Man From Bethesda
He is an ungrateful man who received a great grace from God, yet he did not turn back and offer his thanks.
Though some may argue that Jesus never gave him a chance to know him. Jn 5:13 tell us that Jesus had withdrawn from that place. But I am sure Jesus was travelling with a huge party, and he could be found if he seek him. But this man did not seek Jesus, it was Jesus who seek him out on purpose.
When Jesus found him in the temple, he exhort him to sin no more, to walk on a new path and follow the path of salvation. He exhort him not to return to the way of sin. Yet this man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who made him well.
Betraying The Lord
The Author Of Hebrew warns us
“Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.” – Author Of Hebrews (Heb 12:15-17)
We often say that Esau sold his birth right out of greediness, but there are Christians who betray the Lord for various reasons . Some did it for the sake of benefits and pleasure.
But the Author of Hebrew warns us that there are 2 types that will betray the Lord.
Heb 12:16 – These are the fornicators, the immoral people that betray out of lust Heb 12:15 – People who fall short of the grace of God, allowing root of bitterness to grow
The root of bitterness is to go against the words of Christ, the teaching that brings salvation. it will deceive and defile people who are not discerning in their faith. It will turn them away from the truth so we would not hold on to it.
As Christians we ought to be weary of these two type of problems and not to allow the root of bitterness to grow within us. Let us not fall short of the grace of God nor give way to lust like Esau.
This miracle remind us to obey the words of God, to not to allow our faith to be bedridden. Let us continue to walk in the way of the Lord once again.
In our previous blog post, we have discussed the fundamental difference between trials and temptation. Out of which we gathered the following main points
1. Trials are from God, Temptation Are From Devil 2. Trials Are Meant To Benefit While Temptations Are Meant To Stumble 3. Trial produces faith and temptation destroys faith
We also went on to think about 2 question
1. Can Temptation Come In A Midst of a Trial? 2. Can Trials come in the midst of temptation? ?
This lead to the first concept that James teaches regarding trials and temptation.
Concept No 1 : The Importance Of Discerning Trials And Temptation
Let us learn to be submissive to God and be patient in a trial. But let us learn to resist and overcome our temptation. Since we now know the difference between the two, let us consider the first concept about facing trials and temptation.
“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. “ – James (Jas 1:13)
James here tells us the need to differentiate between trials and temptation. He tells us not to say things like, “I am tempted by God” for God does not tempt anyone, but yet we say that God can trial a person. But then are there any between trials and temptation?
Is it possible that In the midst of Gods trial, can the devil tempt a person?
The answer is yes Let us consider the incident in the garden of Eden.
The Trial And Temptation In The Garden Of Eden
Let us consider one example of a temptation happening in the midst of a trial.
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” – YHWH (Gen 2:16-17)
The story of the garden of Eden often clause many Christians to debate and question God. Why then did God make a forbidden tree laced with forbidden fruit? Why is it that God allow all the fruits to be good for food except for this one? Why did God call this tree tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
There are some Christian who thinks that the fruit of the tree will allow man to be like God who knows good and evil. They think that God did not allow Adam to eat it for he did not want Adam to know good and evil. But these people did not notice that those are the words of the devil.
“You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”- serpent (Gen 3:4-5)
Those were the words of the devil, he claims that God prevented them from eating it so that they cannot be like him. God wanted to prevent them from becoming like him. But that is what the devil said and is that really true?
Many of these people believed that it is true because of Gen 3:6. For “the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise,”
But is that a true statement? Perhaps it is true that the tree was good for food and was pleasant to the eyes. But it certainly did not make one wise. It was Eve who thinks that’s the fruit can make one wise. It was the perspective of Eve that was deceived by the devil.
Those words are not from God and God clearly said that if one were to eat of the fruit they will surely die. God warning is meant to protect lives but the devil twisted the explanation of God.
His point is “God is threatening you, he did not one you to eat it so that you can be like him to know good and evil.” Unfortunately Eve fell for the words of the devil and she allowed her perspective of God to change. That is why she thinks that the fruit could make one wise.
Those words of deception are the words of the devil. He used it as a method to tempt the victim so that they will doubt the love of God and interpret the words of God wrongly.
The Trial Of the Garden Of Eden
Therefore, let us not be deceived by the words of the devil and believe that Adam and Eve received the knowledge of Good and evil by eating from the tree. But yet this leaves us with another question “Why is the fruit forbidden?”
The tree is in fact a trial from God, he wanted to see if Adam and Eve will keep his commandment. God applied that same concept when he led the children of Israel in the wilderness .
“Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. “- Moses (Deut 8:1-2)
Moses told the people to keep the commandments given by the Lord. For they are good and they are meant to preserve life, in fact God trialled them to see if they will keep this commandment. God indeed test the people to see if they will keep his commandment.
When God gave a absolute command to Adam and Eve, they could freely eat from any of the trees in the garden, except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is the tree that could determine if one is good or evil.
If they believe in he words of God , they will not eat it, than they will be good in the eyes of god. For they regard the commands od God as good and they will keep them and be willing to remain on the side of God
On the other hand, if they ate of the fruit, then that means that they agree with the devil and they choose to listen to him. By eating the fruit, they are choosing to believe that God is not good, and God wanted to prevent them from becoming like him. This is evil.
he English bible called the tree “The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil” but the word of knowledge הדעת (H1847) . Can also means to know or to be aware. Therefore it is also fair to say that it is “A Tree That Can Discern Good And Evil”
The tree is able to tell if one is good from evil .If one do not eat the fruit from this tree, he is able to keep the commands of God. He will be good in the eyes of the Lord. But if one eats of it, he is evil, for he choose to disobey God.
That is the trial that God had given to Adam and Eve. While God is giving them the trial, the devil chooses to deceive them at the same time, as the result of that deception, Eve though that the devil is telling the truth, and that God gave the rule so that he could prevent them from becoming like him.
Are We Persuaded By God Or the Others?
I hope that by now we can see how the devil twisted the words of God and allow man to have a misconception. God commands are clear and direct, if we choose to believe in the words of God, we will choose to listen and we will not be swayed no matter what others say.
But if we choose to be persuaded by the words of others, we will doubt God, we will think that if what they say is true, than we would choose to disobey and we would rather die than to submit to the tyranny of God.
But actually the case for the garden of Eden is obvious. Assuming if its true that the fruit can make one wise and our God knew it, why then will he leave it there so that man can find it? Why even create the risk where his creation to become like him? That would have been silly and impossible.
The Result Of Disobeying God
Adam and Eve only knew that they had been deceived when they ate of the fruit. After eating, they did not know good and evil, nor were they like God? But in fact they can see their own evilness and they can see it plainly.
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” – Moses (Gen 3:7)
that is when they knew the concept of shame, they are ashamed because they knew the deed they did were shameful and it is something evil. Their conscience told them of their sin. They used to be naked and they are not ashamed (Gen 2:25)
But after eating the fruit, they started to know shame and they wanted to cover themselves, for they knew that had done evil.
Secondly when they heard the sound of God in the garden, they were afraid and they hid from the presence of God. They did something wrong and they were afraid that God knew about it.
That is when they realise they are deceived, and they knew that they are evil. But that regret came too late.
Let us learn to be diligent to keep the word of God. Let us believe in his words and not believe in the lies of the devil. Let us not listen to those who wanted to twist the words of God.
Can Trial Comes In the Midst Of Temptation?
What would we think when we ponder over the question above? Can God make use of a temptation to bring forth a trial? The Answer is yes we read it in Matt 4:1
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” –Matthew (Matt 4:1)
We are often told to run away from temptation, it is a good way to avoid temptation no doubt. But here the Holy Spirit led Jesus to be tempted by the devil. Interestingly, the Holy Spirit did not bring Jesus away from this temptation, but yet we know that God does not tempt man. In fact God is using this as a opportunity to trial man.
Job is a good example as well, the devil wanted to tempt Job and God allowed it to happen. Why then will God allow it since he does not tempt anyone? Likewise God wanted to make use of that opportunity to start his trials for Job.
But yet there is one difficulty that most will find it hard to accept
So Do God And Devil Collaborate With Each Other?
Sometimes man will make use of their own intelligence and propose the idea that God and Devil are in fact working together. Then they think that in this case a temptation can be a trial and vice versa. Then they started to mock God claiming that he is cooperating with the devil.
But is this a correct view? James in fact gave a warning not to say that God is tempting them. But we cannot run away from the fact that God allowed the Devil to tempt Job and it appears as if they are working together.
This seem reasonable in mans mind, but James say that God will not be tempted by evil. God will not tempt anyone nor will he collaborate with the devil to tempt anyone. God simply allow the devil to carry out his temptation as he wanted.
God is in fact not collaborating with the devil, he wanted to work together with his people to overcome the temptation of the devil. God wanted to make use of the temptation from the devil to help make his children a more complete believer. He wanted them to mature in faith just like in the case of Job.
Concluding The First Concept
In the end we see God cooperating with Job, and God turn this temptation into a trial to allow Job to be more complete in his faith and more perfect in his character.
The first concept from James is an important concept which is why we are spending so much effort into looking at it. There is a need for us to differentiate between a trial and a temptation. We need to believe in Gods word and to endure in faith during the times of trial. But in temptation we need to rely on God to overcome it.
By doing so we can be victorious in faith and overcome all the difficultly in life. May God help us
“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”- John (Jn 20:30-31)
John tells us that there are many miracles performed by Jesus which were not recorded in the gospel. But He had specially chosen 7 for us to read. He did that so that we can believe that Jesus is indeed the Christ and we can have life through his name.
So far we have taken a look at his first miracle
1. Jesus turning water into wine (Part 1, Part 2) 2. Jesus Healing The Nobleman’s son (Part 3, Part 4)
Let us continue the study by looking at the 3rd Miracle
The Miracle By The Pool Of Bethesda
“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.
In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.
For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had” – John (Jn 5:2-4)
The legend of pool of Bethesda is a hope for the sick, that is why many gathered in. But is this legend a true legend? Will God send an angel to stir the pool to heal someone?
I believe God will not do that for that would not conform to his teaching. Such healing does not confirm to the teaching of God and it makes no distinction in faith. It does not matter if one is good or evil as long as he fights to get in first, he can be healed.
Such healing cannot be the will of God, and one could easily picture the scene at the pool. The moment the water stir, the strong will fight with the weak and the weak and little would never had a chance to get near the water.
Such healing does not agree with Gods mercy and righteousness. Therefore God would not have sent angels to stir water to heal a person. But the fact is that the water did stir and there are people who recovered. Many historian tried to identify the location, but most of the locations listed are mere speculations.
It is possible that it is a pool that springs up sulphuric water and its water is good for people with skin diseases. But i guess its healing properties are overrated and not all illnesses can be healed there. These legends are probably born after exaggeration.
The Hope And Pain At The Pool Of Bethesda
For the poor who cannot afford a doctor, the pool of Bethesda is an opportunity , that is why many come to the pool with a hope that they can be healed. But it is also a place of weeping and disappointment for some. For if the legend is true, than there will not be many sick people waiting around it
“Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” – Man by the pool (Jn 5:7)
Over here is a man who was sick for 38 years, and from his words we can hear his hopelessness. For when the water stirs, no one would put him into the water. He had hope that someone would help him, especially from those who are healed from the pool.
But no one is willing to help him all 38 years of his life, he had to bear with the pain and that feeling of abandonment.
One would imagine that since all who gathered at Bethesda were sick, they should have empathy and pity for each other, but the truth is, those around the pool need to fight in order to get into the water first. For the legend says that only the man who step in first receive the healing.
Therefore it is a place where its “Every man for himself” and one need to fight with others in order to be healed. Whenever the water stir there will be crying, shouting and swearing.
Assuming if a lucky man receive the healing, how would the others react to him?
Bethesda is a place of hope as well as a place for grief for many people.
Jesus Coming to The Pool On His Own Accord
“Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.”- John (Jn 5:8-9)
Jesus perform many miracles and wonders, those miracles proved his power and authority as well as the fact that he is the Messiah. It tells us that he is God coming in the form of flesh.
But sadly, many would rather believe in their superstitions and legends, they would rather wait for the water to stir then to believe in Jesus. Yet Jesus was full of grace and mercy, he went to Bethesda to heal this man.
The truth is that this man did not even know Jesus, and he is not with good conduct. If we were to continue reading the chapter, we will see this man doing something bad. But yet we wonder why did God give his grace to such a man.
In fact, this man did not even approach Jesus to help him, but it was Jesus who asked “Do you want to be healed?”
This story tells us about that the grace of salvation is from the Lord, it was not given to man because of his good works. Paul tells us that while we are still sinners, Christ came to prepare salvation for all of us. He came into our world, and died for our sins, he did it so that whoever who believe in him will have their sin forgiven. They could receive eternal life and enter the kingdom of God.
It is God who came to save us through his own initiative, he did it even when we did not know him, he did it even though our actions are unworthy. We have nothing that makes us worthy for his salvation. The Grace of salvation is given to us for free.
Even though grace is free, but sinners must be willing to accept this grace. It is our choice whether to cling to our own superstitions or to hear the gospel.
Sometimes in our daily walk of faith,it is inevitable that we will run into trials as well as temptation. Therefore it is important for Christians to understand trails and temptation and knowledge of it can give us the strength to overcome trials and temptation
The book of James contains important concept that a Christian need to know regarding trails and temptation, these series of blog entries will cover them bit by bit.
The Fundamental Difference Between Trials And Temptation
I believe that the first approach to the question is first to understand the fundamental difference between Trials and Temptation. From the bible,we could find 3 differences between Trials and Temptations. Let us take a look at them
1. Trials Are From God, Temptations are From the Devil
God had once spoken through Prophet Zechariah
“I will bring the one–third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’””-YHWH (Zech 13:9)
Over here God tells us that he will trial his people like a man refining silver and gold. Yet we see that temptation is clearly from the devil.
“ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” – Matthew (Matt 4:1,3)
Here the tempter is obviously Satan and we need to differentiate between the two. Trials are from God and temptation is from the devil.
2. Trials Are Meant To Benefit While Temptations Are Meant To Stumble
Trials are meant to provide a good outcome, Trials are good because they originated from a God that is good. When God trial a person that trial was done out of a good intent. For God will not do it for the sake of torturing someone.
If we understood the fact that trials are good, we will subject ourselves under it, but if we think that God is sadistic and he wants to torture us, than we will not subject ourselves to it. But yet sometime we wonder, even though Trials are good, but yet the suffering that comes with it are bad. How then can one see the benefits of it?
Let us consider an operation, it is indeed full of pain and suffering, at the same time it costs us an arm and a leg. But yet man willingly go through the suffering for we know that the doctor did not perform the operation so as to be sadistic towards us. It is a type of bodily harm done so that our lives will be preserved.
We will even be willing to pay the price and suffer, at the end of it we would even give the doctor our gratitude for we know that the suffering is meant to help us.
The same attitude must be adopted when Christian undergo trials for we know that our God is good, he had a good intention to put us into trials, perhaps it is true that suffering comes alongside the trial but we know it is for our good, and our attitude towards it will be different.
Temptation on another hand, is meant to stumble us and to harm us. The devil had an ill intent when he temps us, he wanted us to doubt God and to leave him. He wanted us to go against God. That is why we should reject temptation
3. Trial produces faith and temptation destroys faith
God’s purpose is to trial his children so that he can produce believers that are perfect. He wanted these believers to be more matured with a complete faith. On the other hand the devil tempts us so that he can destroy the faith of the believers. It will make us disobey God and eventually to leave the faith. The end result of temptation is that our souls will be faced with judgement and it will perish eventually.
A Short Conclusion
So far we have looked into the differences between Trials and Temptation. Before we start looking at the first concept on dealing with the issues of Trial and temptation I would like all the readers to consider a few question
1. Can Temptation Come In A Midst of a Trial? 2. Can Trials come in the midst of temptation? ?
If we were to think about these two question, one will inevitably arrive at a difficulty. The 3rd question is for those who manage to go to that level.
3.So Does God collaborate with the devil to bring forth trials and temptation?
I remember hearing this song when i was a kid, during that time, it was sang by Teresa Teng and recently when i check her discography, that tune was almost as old as me.
Yet later on in my teens I heard it sang by Faye Wong as a tribute to Teresa Teng.
As a teen, I actually did not do very well for my Chinese language and I couldn’t really under understand the lyrics very well. During that time I thought that it was meant to be a love song.
Later on as an adult I read it up and found a interesting information about the song.
Facts About Su Shi and The Song
The original lyrics dated to the song Dynasty by a man known as 苏轼 . I guess most Chinese would have known him as Su Dongpo out of which the famous dish 东坡肉 is named after.
He was a writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and a statesman of the Song Dynasty. He was eventually exiled from office. The lyrics of the song known as 水调歌头 and it was a poem that was written to be sung with a melody.
However the melody was lost over time and in the 1980s there were some musicians that reconstructed a new tune for the poem. That is the tune that we are familiar with now.
However, the modern singers omitted the very first few lines of the poem. Later on in life I realised that the song was actually written by Su Shi for his brother 子由 (AKA 苏辙) at the time the poem was written the brothers had not met for 7 years.
My Recent Encounter With The Lyrics
Recently I came across the lyrics while preparing some notes and in it i quoted 2 lines from the poem
“人有悲欢离合
月有阴晴圆缺”
Translated :
Man would encounter Sorrow and Joy, meeting and parting.
Just like the moon which could appear in clouds and clear, full or in crescent”
There are many changes in life and they bring a lot Indeed there are many things in life we encounter, there are joys, tears, happiness and sadness. Just as what King Solomon once shared at the end of his life
“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven;
……..
What profit has the worker from that in
which he labors? I have seen the God-given
task with which the sons of men are to
be occupied.” – Solomon (Ecc 3:1, 9-10)
So how should Christians react to all these things that we have encounter? How can we find peace in the times of sorrow? King Solomon tells us that sometimes God allow us to encounter them to keep us occupied, so that we will understand that nothing on earth last forever.
That is why we ought to hold on to what is good and the thing that will never change. That is God.
But nonetheless. All I wanted to do is to share the lyrics. so here goes
Lyrics
Title : 但愿人长久
Artist: Teresa Teng, Faye Wong ,Jacky Chueng, China Flowers
Lyrics :苏轼
Translation:
How frequent does the moon appears bright?
Raising my cup I asked the heavens.
Not knowing the grand palaces in heavens.
Which year is it tonight?
For I desire to return with the winds
But I fear for this jade palace which I dwell.
For it is lonely at the top
So I begin my dance with my clear shadow
Can anything on earth compare to that!
Twirling around the vermilion pavilion
Beneath the silk gate
shining through my sleeplessness
not having regrets
But why must the moon be full when we are parted?
For man encounters sorrow and joy, meeting and parting.
Like the moon appears in clouds and clear, full or in crescent
For this had never been perfect
I wish that that we will meet forever
For we share the moon even when miles apart
Personally with my low standard of Chinese it would be impossible for me to translate the song fully. But I found a translation that i like from a YouTube clip but I reworded some of them on this blog.
The Hesitant Prize Fighter 