There once was a man named George Thomas, a pastor in a small New England town.
One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old birdcage, and set it by the pulpit.
Several eyebrows were raised; and as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to speak. "I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright.
I stopped the lad and asked, "What you got there son?"
"Just some old birds," came the reply.
"What are you gonna do with them?" I asked.
"Take them home and have fun with them," he answered. "I'm gonna tease them and pull out their feathers to make them fight. I'm gonna have a real good time."
"But you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?"
"Oh, I got some cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take them to them."
The pastor was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those birds, son?"
"Huh??!!! Why, you don't want the birds, mister. They're just plain old field birds. They don't sing - they ain't even pretty!"
"How much?" the pastor asked again.
The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, "$10?"
The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten-dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's hand. In a flash, the boy was gone.
The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.
Well, that explained the empty birdcage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this story.
One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation.
Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"
"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.
Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"
"And what will you do when you get done with them?" Jesus asked.
"Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly. "How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked.
"Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you!!
You don't want those people!!"
"How much?" He asked again.
Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your tears, and all your blood."
Jesus said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price.
The pastor picked up the cage, he opened the door and he walked from the pulpit.
空的鸟笼（爱的赎价）
在新英格兰的一个小镇上，有一位名叫乔治·托马斯的牧师。
复活节的早晨，托马斯牧师到教堂去主持礼拜的时候，手里提着一个破旧的、锈迹班驳的鸟笼。他走上圣坛，把鸟笼放在讲台上，教堂里的弟兄姊妹们都愕然了。这时，托马斯牧师缓缓开口讲了他昨天的经历。
昨天他穿过镇子的时候，迎面碰上个小男孩，手中就晃荡着这个鸟笼。几只小鸟瑟缩在笼子里，寒冷和恐惧使它们全身都在颤抖。
他拦住那个男孩问道：“孩子，你手里拿的是什么呀？”
“只不过是几只上了年纪的野鸟。”男孩回答说。
“那你要把它们怎么样呢？”牧师又问。
“带回家去找点乐子。”他说，“我要好好折腾它们，把它们弄得筋疲力尽，再一根根地拔掉它们的羽毛。我想这一定挺有意思。”
“但你迟早会玩儿厌了的，那时你又要怎么处理这些小鸟呢？”
“啊，我养了几只猫。”男孩子怪笑着说，“它们可喜欢小鸟了。”
托马斯牧师沉默片刻，忽然说道：“我想买下这些小鸟，你开个价吧，孩子。”
“什么？”男孩子简直不敢相信自己的耳朵，“得了吧，牧师，您不会喜欢这些鸟的，它们只是些普普通通的野鸟，又老又笨又难看，叫声也不好听。”
“开个价吧。”牧师又重复了一遍。
男孩子怀疑地打量着牧师，似乎在琢磨着他是不是疯了，“10美元，怎么样？”
牧师立刻从衣袋里掏出一张10美元的钞票递给他，男孩子扔下鸟笼兴冲冲地跑了。牧师小心翼翼地提起笼子，向街心公园走去――那里有一棵大树，树下是绿茵茵的草坪。
他把鸟笼放在草坪上，打开笼门，轻轻地拍着栅栏，柔声哄出笼中的小鸟，把它们放飞了。
这就是鸟笼的由来。
然后，托马斯牧师又讲了另一个故事︰
有一天，耶稣踫上了刚刚从伊甸园回来的撒但。那魔鬼手中拎着一个以罪和死为栅栏的笼子，幸灾乐祸地狂笑道︰“看哪，我把全世界的人都抓进这个笼子了！这些人都经不起我的试探和引诱，统统掉进了陷阱！整个儿世界的人都掉进去了！”
“那你要把他们怎么样呢？”耶稣问道。
“拿他们找点乐子啊！我要教他们怎样玩弄感情、背信弃义，怎样纵情声色、沉沦堕落，怎样彼此诋毁侮辱，怎样相互仇恨；我还要教他们如何制造和发明各种致命的武器，训练他们互相残杀这该多有意思啊！”
“然后呢？”耶稣又问。
“啊哈！”撒但狂傲地瞥了他一眼，“然后就把他们都杀掉！”
“我要买下这些人，你开个价吧。”耶稣平静地说。
“得了吧！你不会喜欢这些人的，他们都坏透了，简直是十恶不赦，而且全都忘恩负义，你救他们，得到的报答只会是他们的仇恨！他们会对您你施尽凌辱唾骂，还会把你钉死在十字架上的！没有谁会愿意救赎这样的罪人！”撒但嘲笑道。
“开个价吧。”耶稣仍旧平静地重复道。
撒但的脸上露出阴森森的冷笑︰“他们的赎价就是你的鲜血、眼泪和你的全部生命，怎么样？”
“成交吧。”耶稣无惧地回答。
然后，就付出了这赎价这爱的赎价，付出了他的鲜血、眼泪和的全部生命。
托马斯牧师讲完这个故事，没有再说什么。他提起那个鸟笼，默默地走下了圣坛。
血液汗水和泪花
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