JOHN 11
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THE INTERNAL SENSE. |
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THAT the good of life in the church amongst the Gentiles was infested with evils and falses, being in external truth, derived from the affections of good and truth, vs 1. |
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And that from the affection of good they acknowledged the lord with love, and from truth grounded in that love had faith in his divine humanity, vs 2. |
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Therefore they confess to the lord the infestation under which they labour, and are consoled with the assurance that it would not terminate in their eternal destruction, but would tend only to make more manifest the divine truth of the lord's divine humanity, to which the affections of good and truth, and also the good of life thence derived, are conjoined by love, vs 3, 4, 5. |
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Nevertheless it is necessary that the infestation should continue for a longer period, both as to good and as to truth, before it is removed, after which period preparation is made by the divine good and truth for its removal, notwithstanding the opposition of false persuasions, vs 6, 7, 8. |
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On which occasion the church is admonished concerning all the several states of truth, and concerning the necessity of living according to them, since by so doing man escapes all false persuasions, whereas by neglecting to do so, he is ensnared in them, vs 9, 10. |
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In which latter case the good of the church is immersed in mere natural ideas, whilst it is the divine intention to communicate spiritual ideas, vs 11. |
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And such natural ideas are supposed to be conducive to spiritual good, whereas the divine truth teaches that, when separated from spiritual ideas, they destroy that good, vs 12, 13, 14. |
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Nevertheless, out of this destruction the lord in his divine humanity provides blessing for the church, by confirming the principle of a divine faith, when by divine presence and operation the good is revived, vs 15. |
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Inspiring thus a desire in those, who are principled in the truths of the church, to experience the same revival, vs 16. |
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That at the lord's coming to establish the church, it is discovered that all the good of life is perished, even to the conjunction of the principle of evil and of what is false, vs 17. |
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And that even in the vastated church are some, who are made sensible of this mischief, and who attach themselves to the affections of truth and good in order to remedy it, vs 18, 19. |
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On which occasion they first apply themselves to the lord's divine humanity under the impulse of the affection of truth, whilst the affection of good is apparently quiescent, vs 20. |
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Confessing from the former affection, that the destruction of the good of life in the church is a consequence of not cherishing the influence of divine good, and yet convinced that if the divine good be implored through the divine humanity, in which it dwells, the good of life may still be restored, vs 21, 22. |
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Wherefore they are comforted with the persuasion, instilled by the divine humanity, that the good of life shall be restored, and this not at the end of the church, but at its commencement, since the lord in his divine humanity is the all both of truth and of good in the church, and therefore by faith in him, even they, who were destitute of good, receive good, and if to their faith they join a good life, that good can never perish, vs 23, 24, 25, 26. |
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Hence the faith of the church in the lord's divine humanity is confirmed, together with the devout acknowledgement that his coming into the world had been predicted, vs 27. |
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The affection of good also is excited, under a sense of the divine presence and tenderness, and is elevated to conjunction with the lord's divine humanity, vs 28, 29. |
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Nevertheless, conjunction was not yet worked with the exterior truths of the church, but only with the affection of truth, and with those who were in the affection of good, and obedient to that affection, vs 30, 31. |
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Which conjunction produces deep humiliation, together with the acknowledgement of the divinity of the lord's humanity, and that the destruction of the good of life in the church is owing to a want of that acknowledgement, vs 32. |
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Hence the divine compassion and tenderness is the more excited, together with inquisition into the state of the good of life in the church, vs 33, 34, 35. |
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Which is regarded by some as a proof of the divine love towards that good, whilst others are perplexed with the thought, that if that good had been an object of divine regard, it would then have been preserved from destruction, vs 36, 37. |
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Still the divine compassion applies itself to the state of that good, discovering it to be in an obscure state, in consequence of the prevalence of false persuasions, and therefore first requires that those false persuasions should be removed, vs 38, and part of 39. |
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Nevertheless they, who are in the affection of truth, think it impossible to restore the good of life, when it is so far destroyed as to be succeeded by the conjunction of what is evil and false; but they are reproved for their want of faith in the divine promise, vs latter part of the 39th, 40. |
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Therefore they renounce all false persuasions, on which occasion they are instructed, that the lord united his humanity to his divinity for the sake of mankind, that they might have access to him in his humanity thus glorified, or made divine, vs 41, 42. |
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In which humanity he is ever operative by his divine truth, proceeding from his divine good, to vivify in his church the good of life, which being thus vivified, is at first destitute of freedom both internal and external, by reason of the false persuasions with which it was infested, but presently recovers that freedom through instruction in the Divine Word, vs 43, 44. |
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Hence many in the perverted church, who were in the affection of good, and in illustration from the lord, become accepting of faith in his divine humanity, whilst others neglect such faith, and excite persecution against it, vs 45, 46. |
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On which occasion they, who are more principled in self-love and hypocritical worship, unite their endeavours to check the operation of the lord in his divine humanity, under an alarm for their own authority, vs 47, 48. |
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In which persecution they encourage themselves by the prediction, that it is of divine appointment, that the lord in his Humanity should be made a sacrifice, not for the Jewish nation only, but for all the faithful throughout the earth, that they may become his church and people, vs 49, 50, 51, 52. |
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Therefore they are intent on the destruction of that humanity, which on that account is hid from the perverted church, and made manifest to those of the new church, who are in the intelligence of truth, but obscurely, vs 53, 54. |
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Nevertheless, by representative worship, and the purification which it enjoined, many in the perverted church are inquisitive about the lord's Humanity, whilst they, who are principled in self-love and hypocritical worship, still plot his destruction, vs 55, 56, 57. |
Translation
1. BUT there was a certain sick [person] Lazarus, from Bethany, of the village of Mary and Martha her sister.
2. But Mary was she who anointed the lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus, was sick.
3. Then the sisters sent to him, saying, lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.
4. But jesus hearing, said, This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of god, that the Son of god might be glorified by it.
5. But jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
6. When therefore, he heard that he was sick, then he abode still two days in the place where he was.
7. Then after that he says to the disciples, Let us go into Judea again.
8. The disciples say to him, Rabbi, the Jews just now sought to stone you, and go you thither again?
9. jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours of the day? If any one walk in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10. But if any one walk in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.
11. These things he said, and after this he says to them, Lazarus, our friend, sleeps; but I go, that I may awake him.
12. Then his disciples said, lord, if he sleep, he will be preserved.
13. But jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he spoke of the sleeping of sleep.
14. Then said jesus to them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
15. And I rejoice on your account that I was not there, that you may believe; but let us go to him.
16. Then said Thomas, who is called Didymus, to his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
17. Then jesus coming, found that he had lain four days already in the sepulchre.
18. But Bethany was near to Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.
19. And many of the Jews came to those about Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20. Then Martha, when she heard that jesus was coming, went to meet him; but Mary sat in the house.
21. Then said Martha to jesus, lord, if you hadst been here, my brother had not died.
22. But even now I know, that whatever you shall ask of god, god will give to you.
23. jesus said to her, Your brother shall rise again.
24. Martha says to him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection in the last day.
25. jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
26. And whoever lives and believes in me, shall never die. Believe you this?
27. She says to him, Yea, lord, I believe that you are the christ, the Son of god, which should come into the world.
28. And when she had said these things she went away, and called Mary her sister privately, saying, The Master is come, and calls you.
29. As soon as she heard, she arose quickly, and came to him.
30. But jesus was not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him.
31. The Jews then, which were with her in the house, and comforted her, seeing Mary that she arose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goes to the sepulchre to weep there.
32. Then when Mary came where jesus was, seeing him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, lord, if you hadst been here, my brother had not died.
33. jesus then, when he saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, groaned in spirit and was troubled.
34. And said, Where have you laid him? They say to him, lord, come and see.
35. jesus wept.
36. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him.
37. But some of them said, Could not this [man] who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this [man] should not have died?
38. jesus then again groaning in himself, comes to the sepulchre; but it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
39. jesus says, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, says to him, lord, by this time he stinks, for he has been [dead] four days.
40. jesus says to her, Said I not to you, that if you would believe, you should see the glory of god?
41. Then they took away the stone [from the place] where the dead was laid. But jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42. But I know that you hearest me always; but because of the multitude standing by I said [it] that they may believe that you have sent me.
43. And saying these things, he cried out with a great voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44. And he that was dead came forth, bound feet and hands with grave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. jesus says to them, Loose him, and let him go.
45. Then many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw the things which jesus did, believed in him.
46. But some of them went away to the Pharisees, and told them what things jesus had done.
47. Then the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together a council, and said, What do we? For this man does many signs.
48. If we let him thus alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come, and take away both our place and nation.
49. But one of them, Caia-phas, being high priest that same year, said to them, You know nothing at all;
50. Neither do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
51. But this he said not of himself; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that jesus was about to die for that nation;
52. And not for that nation only, but that he should also gather together into one the children of god that were scattered abroad.
53. Then from that day they consulted together, that they might put him to death.
54. jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but departed thence into the country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.
55. But the passover of the Jews was near, and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, that they might purify themselves.
56. Then they sought jesus, and said one to another as they stood in the temple, What think you, that he will not come to the feast?
57. But both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if any one knew where he were, he should declare [it] that they might lay hold of him.
exposition.
The resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, which is the subject of this chapter, involves in it the resuscitation of a new church amongst the Gentiles, for all the miracles, which were worked by the lord, as being divine, involved states of his church. AC 2916.
Verse 1. But there was a certain sick person, Lazarus, &c. The reason why the poor man in the parable, (Luke 16:19, 20, 21) is called Lazarus, was from the Lazarus who was raised up by the lord, of whom it is said, that the lord loved him, John 11:1,2,3,36; and that he was his friend, verse 11; and that he sat with the lord at table, John 12:2. AC 9231. See also SS 40, and TCR 215, where also it is added, that the Gentiles are meant by Lazarus, because they were loved of the lord like Lazarus.
The reason why Antipas my faithful martyr signifies those who are had in hatred on account of the acknowledgement of the Divine Human [principle] of the lord, is, because at that time one Antipas was on this account slain, wherefore by him are understood all who are had in hatred on that account: as by Lazarus, who lay at the threshold of the rich man, and desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from his table, are understood all whom the lord loves, because they desire truths from a spiritual affection, as may be seen above, AE 118; that the lord loved a certain person called Lazarus, whom also he raised from the dead, is evident in John 11:3, 5, 36; and that he sat with the lord at table, chap. xii. wherefore he is called Lazarus by the lord, who desired to be fed with the crumbs falling from the table of the rich man, whereby is signified a desire for truths from a spiritual affection, as may be seen above, AE 118; as Lazarus was named on that account, so Antipas is here mentioned, because he became a martyr for the name of the lord, that is for the acknowledgement of his divine human [principle.] That such are had in hatred by all those who do not think of the divine [principle] of the lord together with his human, cannot be known from those who are in the world, but from the same in the other life, where all such burn with so much hatred against those who approach the lord alone, as cannot be described in a few words, for there is nothing which they desire more, than to kill them; the reason is, because all who are in the hells are against the lord, and all who are in the heavens are with the lord, and they who are of the church, and do not acknowledge the divine [principle] of the lord in his human, act as one with the hells, whence it is that they have so great hatred: It has been often told them, that they do evil, because they know from the Word, "that the lord has all power in the heavens and in the earths," Matt 28:18; thus that he is the god of heaven and earth: likewise, "that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the father but by him," John 14:6; as also that "he who sees the lord sees the father, because he is in the father, and the father in him," John 14:7-11; and "that no one has seen the father's shape, nor heard his voice, but the lord alone, who is in his bosom, and is one with him," John 1:18; 5:37; besides many other places; which when they hear they avert themselves, for they cannot deny, but are offended, and even breathe the murder of all who profess the lord, as was said above, by reason that hatred is implanted in their life, as may be seen above, AE 114. That they would bear hatred against all on account of the lord, was predicted by the lord in certain passages; as in Matthew, "In the consummation of the age they shall deliver you into affliction, and shall kill you, and you shall be had in hatred by all on account of my name," Matt 24:9, 10; and in John, "jesus said, If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you; if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; all these things will they do to you on account of my name," John 15:18-25; see moreover the passages adduced above, AE 122. These things are said, that it may be known what is understood by Antipas, my faithful martyr, who was slain with you, namely, they who are had in hatred, because they profess the Divine Human [principle] of the lord. AE 137.
Verse 9. Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? &c. Twelve hours denote all the states of truth; to walk in the day denotes to live in the truth; and to walk in the night denotes to live in what is false. AC 6000.
By day is signified illustration in truths derived from good, and by twelve hours of the day all things of truth derived from good, and by walking is signified to live; hence by the above words in the spiritual sense is signified, that he who lives in any kind of truth derived from good is in illustration and does not wander into falses. AE 430.
Verse 10. But if any one walk in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. In this passage night denotes the false derived from evil; light denotes the truth derived from good; for as all the light of truth is from good, so all the night of what is false is derived from evil. AC 2352.
Verse 25. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life, &c. The internal of the lord was jehovah himself, inasmuch as he was conceived of jehovah himself, who cannot be divided and become another's, as a son who is conceived by a man-father; for the Divine [principle], like the Human, is not divisible, but one and the same, and remains; with this internal the lord united the Human essence; and whereas the internal of the lord was jehovah, it was not a form recipient of life, as the internal of a man, but was life itself; his Human essence likewise by unification became in like manner life, wherefore the lord so often says that he is the life. AC 1999.
I am the resurrection and the life, signifies that from him is both resurrection and life, and not from another; he that believes in me, signifies who believes in his divinity, and that he is the omnipotent and only god; and whereas no one can believe this, but he who lives the life of charity, therefore this also is meant by believing on him; though he die he shall live, signifies although he be naturally deceased, yet he shall rise again into life; and every one who lives, and believes on me, shall not die eternally, signifies that he who is reformed shall not spiritually die, that is, be damned, but shall rise again into life eternal; hence it is evident that by dying is not meant to die, but to rise again into life. AE 899.
Verse 25. He that believes in me, though he were dead,, yet shall he live. Inasmuch as the acknowledgement of the lord is the first of all things of spiritual life, and the most essential principle of the church, and since without it no one can receive any thing from heaven of the truth of faith and of the good of love, therefore the lord also frequently says, that whoever believes in him, has eternal life; at the same time he also teaches, that they have faith in him, who live according to his precepts, so that life thence enters faith. AC 10083.
That the salvation of the human race depends on the acknowledgement of the essential Divine [principle] in the human of the lord, consequently that that acknowledgement is an essential of the church and of its worship, the lord teaches in several passages, as in the above. AC 10370.
translator's notes and observations.
Verse 19. And many of the Jews come to those about Martha and Mary, &c. In the common version of the New Testament, the words, those about, in this passage, are omitted, but in the original Greek it is expressed, pros tas peri, to those about, or to the female attendants, with a view possibly to the internal sense, though it may not be easy to discern what that sense is.
Verse 25. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life, &c. The lord here makes a distinction between resurrection and life, because in the internal or spiritual sense the term resurrection has reference to the divine truth, whilst the term life has reference to the divine good ; for man is first raised from the spiritual death of sin by the reception of heavenly truth, and he is afterwards gifted with spiritual or eternal life by the reception of heavenly good. Accordingly a similar distinction follows in this verse, and at verse 26, where mention is first made of believing in the lord, and afterwards of living and believing in him, because believing has reference to the reception of heavenly truth, whilst living and believing have reference to the reception of heavenly good in truth. It is therefore said of him that believes, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and of him who lives and believes, he shall never die; for man, by the reception of heavenly truth, begins to live, though he was before dead in sin, and by the reception of heavenly good in truth, he is perfected and confirmed in heavenly life, thus, according to the divine promise, he can never again become dead in sin.
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