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John Chapter 5

    Chapter 5

THE INTERNAL SENSE.

  1. AFTER these things there was a feast of the Jews; and jesus went up to Jerusalem.
  2. But there is in Jerusalem at the sheep [market or gate] a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches.

THAT the lord, as to his humanity, initiated himself into the doctrine of the church, which was in connection with the knowledges of good and truth derived from the Word, thus with truths introductory to good, vs 1, 2.

  1. In these lay a great number of the impotent, the blind, the halt, the withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

Which truths are imparted to all those who are made sensible of their natural infirmities and disorders, whether arising from a defect, of intelligence, or from intelligence not yet formed into life, or from faith separate from charity, and thus produce vivification through acknowledgement and faith, vs 3.

  1. For an angel at a certain season went down into the pool, and disturbed the water: whoever then first went in after the disturbance of the water, was made whole of whatever disease he had.

And this in consequence of divine influx, so that whoever receives the knowledges of good and truth with his supreme affection, or love, experiences purification from evil, and restoration of spiritual life, vs 4.

  1. But there was a certain man there who had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
  2. jesus seeing him lying, and knowing that he had been now a long time [there] says to him, Will you be made whole?
  3. The impotent man answered him, lord, I have no man, when the water is disturbed, to put me into the pool, but whilst I am coming, another steps down before me.
  4. jesus says to him, Arise, take up your bed, and walk.

Yet some, by reason of the unsettled state of their wills, make slower progress in purification than others, until they are excited to exploration of their secret purposes and intentions, and have their affections and thoughts thereby elevated, so as to live according to the truth, vs 5, 6, 7, 8.

  1. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked; but the sabbath was on that day.

In which case they also are restored to the life of heaven, whilst the doctrine, in which they believe, is elevated to that life, so as to influence their lives, and thus introduce them into a state of eternal rest and peace, vs 9.

  1. The Jews therefore said to him that was cured, It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to take up the bed.
  2. He answered them, He who made me whole, the same said to me, Take up your bed, and walk.

That they, who are of the perverted church, are offended on this occasion, and are instructed that all elevation of doctrine to conjunction with the life of heaven is an effect resulting from the divine love of the lord, in his divine humanity, vs 10, 11.

  1. Then they asked him, Who is the man who said to you, take up your bed, and walk?
  2. But he that was healed knew not who it was; for jesus silently conveyed himself from the multitude that was in the place.

Hence they are led to seek knowledge concerning that divine humanity, but are not permitted, by reason of the evils and falses in which they are principled, to attain such knowledge, vs 12, 13.

  1. After these things jesus finds him in the temple, and said to him, Behold, you are made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.

That they, who are purified from evils and falses, are cautioned against the danger of profanation, which consists in turning back again to such evils and falses, vs 14.

  1. The man departed, and told the Jews, that it was jesus who had made him whole.

Being therefore thus cautioned, they bear testimony to the lord's divine humanity, as being the only source, of all spiritual and eternal life, vs 15.

  1. And on this account the Jews persecuted jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the sabbath.

But are opposed in this testimony by those of the perverted church, who abide in representative worship, and do not discern how all representatives had reference to the union of the Divine and Human nature in the lord, vs 16.

  1. But jesus answered them, My father works hitherto, and I work.

Wherefore these latter are instructed, that the union of the two natures is effected reciprocally, vs 17.

  1. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only break the sabbath, but said also that god was his father, making himself equal to god.

But this instruction only excites more of evil, being perversely interpreted as tending not only to destroy all representative worship, but also to confound divinity with humanity, and humanity with divinity, vs 18.

  1. Then answered jesus, and said to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the father doing; for what things soever he does, these also does the Son in like manner.

Therefore they are further instructed, that divine truth can do nothing of itself, but from the divine good, and thus divine truth in the lord's humanity always operates in conjunction and agreement with divine good in his divinity, vs 19.

  1. For the father loves the Son, and shows him all things that himself does; and he will show him greater works than these, that you may wonder.

And this in consequence of the divine love, which manifests to its humanity all its purposes, until its humanity is fully glorified, or made divine, that so mankind may be led to adoration, vs 20.

  1. For as the father raises up the dead, and makes alive, so the Son makes alive whomsoever he wills.

And also to the discovery, that by virtue of such glorification, the humanity receives from the divinity the power of imparting spiritual life, and thus of delivering man from the power of evil, vs 21.

  1. For the father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son.

Also the power of arranging the several principles of the human mind, and thus of separating the evil from the good, which cannot be effected by the divine good alone without the divine truth, vs 22.

  1. That all may honour the Son, as they honour the father. He that honours not the Son, honours not the father who sent him.

To the intent that thus the Humanity of the lord may always be seen in union with his divinity, and regarded as an equal object of worship and adoration, since otherwise the divinity itself cannot be worshiped and adored, vs 23.

  1. Verily, verily, I say to you, that whoever hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has eternal life, and shall not come into judgement, but is passed from death into life.

They therefore, who obey the divine truth, and approach the lord in his divine humanity, are admitted into heaven, and never separating truth from good, are raised from a state of damnation to a state of salvation, vs 24.

  1. Verily, verily, I say to you, that the hour comes, and now is, that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of god, and they who hear shall live.

For since the assumption of the Human [principle] by the Divine, all who are in ignorance may learn the truths of faith, and may thus be gifted with spiritual life, vs 25.

  1. For as the father has life in himself, so has he given also to the Son to have life in himself.

Inasmuch as the internal of the lord being jehovah, his Humanity has independent and underived life, alike with his divinity, vs 26.

  1. And has given him power to do judgement also, because he is the Son of Man.

And has also the power of separating evil from good, and thus of arranging all goods and truths, as being itself the supreme truth, vs 27.

  1. Wonder not at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the sepulchres shall hear his voice;
  2. And shall come forth, they who have done good things, to the resurrection of life; but they who have done evil things, to the resurrection of judgement.

So that at his appearing even natural men shall be instructed in the divine truth, and if they obey it, shall attain spiritual life; but if they be disobedient, shall immerse themselves in spiritual death, vs 28, 29.

  1. I can of my own self do nothing; as I hear, I judge; and my judgement is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the father, who sent me.

For the Humanity of the lord operates solely from the divinity in itself, and is thus in divine truth from divine good, because in all things it exalts the divine good, vs 30.

  1. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.
  2. There is another who bears witness of me, and I know that the witness is true which he bears of me.

Therefore divine truth claims no authority to itself separate from divine good, but only in union with that good, vs 31, 32.

  1. You sent to John, and he bear witness to the truth.
  2. But I receive not witness from man; but these things I say that you might be saved.

Neither does it claim authority from human testimony, but from its own divine power of communicating spiritual life, vs 33, 34.

  1. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to be glad for an hour in his light.

Yet the testimony of man in favour of the divine truth is grounded both in good and truth, and has a tendency to impart to others those heavenly principles, vs 35.

  1. But I have a greater witness than John; for the works which the father has given me that I may finish them, the same works that I do, bear witness of me that the father has sent me.

Nevertheless the glorification of the lord's Humanity, the subjugation of the hells, and the consequent redemption of mankind, are the fullest proofs that the lord is one with jehovah, vs 36.

  1. And the father himself who sent me has borne witness of me; you have neither heard his voice at any time, nor have seen his shape.

Thus the divine good, which in itself is invisible, testifies that it is made visible in the divine humanity, which it assumed for that purpose, vs 37.

  1. And you have not his word abiding in you, because whom he has sent, him you do not believe.

But this is not believed by those, who are not enlightened and enlivened by the truth of that good, vs 38.

  1. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they who testify of me.

Therefore all such are exhorted to explore the Holy Word which contains that truth, and which testifies throughout concerning the assumption and glorification of the lord's Humanity, vs 39.

  1. And you will not come to me, that you may have life.

Nevertheless they, who are of the perverted church, will not draw near to and abide in that Humanity, although there is no other source of good and of truth, vs 40.

  1. I receive not glory from men.
  2. But I know you that you have not the love of god in yourselves.

Which Humanity testifies that it is purely Divine, and that they who reject it have no genuine affection of truth, vs 41, 42.

  1. I am come in the name of my father, and you do not receive me: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive.

Therefore they do not approach the eternal in his divine humanity, because they believe the truth to be unconnected with that its divine source, vs 43.

  1. How can you believe, who receive glory one of another, and seek not the glory which is from god alone?

And this in consequence of exalting human authority above the authority of divine truth, vs 44.

  1. Think not that I will accuse you to the father ; there is one who accuses you, [even] Moses, in whom you trust.
  2. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me; for he wrote of me.
  3. But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my sayings?

So that even the truth of the Word, which they profess to believe, condemns them, since that truth testifies concerning the lord's divine humanity, and therefore if its testimony be not admitted, the lord's divine humanity cannot be acknowledged, vs 45, 46, 47,

Translation

1. AFTER these things there was a feast of the Jews; and jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2. But there is in Jerusalem at the sheep [market or gate] a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches.

3. In these lay a great number of the impotent, the blind, the halt, the withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

4. For an angel at a certain season went down into the pool, and disturbed the water: whoever then first went in after the disturbance of the water, was made whole of whatever disease he had.

5. But there was a certain man there who had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

6. jesus seeing him lying, and knowing that he had been now a long time [there] says to him, Will you be made whole?

7. The impotent man answered him, lord, I have no man, when the water is disturbed, to put me into the pool, but whilst I am coming, another steps down before me.

8. jesus says to him, Arise, take up your bed, and walk.

9. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked; but the sabbath was on that day.

10. The Jews therefore said to him that was cured, It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to take up the bed.

11. He answered them, He who made me whole, the same said to me, Take up your bed, and walk.

12. Then they asked him, Who is the man who said to you, take up your bed, and walk?

13. But he that was healed knew not who it was; for jesus silently conveyed himself from the multitude that was in the place.

14. After these things jesus finds him in the temple, and said to him, Behold, you are made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.

15. The man departed, and told the Jews, that it was jesus who had made him whole.

16. And on this account the Jews persecuted jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the sabbath.

17. But jesus answered them, My father works hitherto, and I work.

18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only break the sabbath, but said also that god was his father, making himself equal to god.

19. Then answered jesus, and said to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the father doing; for what things soever he does, these also does the Son in like manner.

20. For the father loves the Son, and shows him all things that himself does; and he will show him greater works than these, that you may wonder.

21. For as the father raises up the dead, and makes alive, so the Son makes alive whomsoever he wills.

22. For the father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son.

23. That all may honour the Son, as they honour the father. He that honours not the Son, honours not the father who sent him.

24. Verily, verily, I say to you, that whoever hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has eternal life, and shall not come into judgement, but is passed from death into life.

25. Verily, verily, I say to you, that the hour comes, and now is, that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of god, and they who hear shall live.

26. For as the father has life in himself, so has he given also to the Son to have life in himself.

27. And has given him power to do judgement also, because he is the Son of Man.

28. Wonder not at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the sepulchres shall hear his voice;

29. And shall come forth, they who have done good things, to the resurrection of life; but they who have done evil things, to the resurrection of judgement.

30. I can of my own self do nothing; as I hear, I judge; and my judgement is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the father, who sent me.

31. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

32. There is another who bears witness of me, and I know that the witness is true which he bears of me.

33. You sent to John, and he bear witness to the truth.

34. But I receive not witness from man; but these things I say that you might be saved.

35. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to be glad for an hour in his light.

36. But I have a greater witness than John; for the works which the father has given me that I may finish them, the same works that I do, bear witness of me that the father has sent me.

37. And the father himself who sent me has borne witness of me; you have neither heard his voice at any time, nor have seen his shape.

38. And you have not his word abiding in you, because whom he has sent, him you do not believe.

39. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they who testify of me.

40. And you will not come to me, that you may have life.

41. I receive not glory from men.

42. But I know you that you have not the love of god in yourselves.

43. I am come in the name of my father, and you do not receive me: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive.

44. How can you believe, who receive glory one of another, and seek not the glory which is from god alone?

45. Think not that I will accuse you to the father ; there is one who accuses you, [even] Moses, in whom you trust.

46. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me; for he wrote of me.

47. But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my sayings?

Exposition

Throughout this chapter it is proved in general that the lord is one with the father, for by the father is every where understood the divine good, and by the Son the divine truth, each in the lord ; from the divine good, which is the father, nothing can proceed or go forth but what is divine, and that which proceeds or goes forth is the divine truth, which is the Son. AC 3704.

Verses 2 to 7. There is at Jerusalem a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, where lay a great number of impotent folk, waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel went down at a certain season and disturbed the water, &c. By moving or disturbing is here signified to vivify or to give divine life, and this is from correspondence, for all motion corresponds to a state of thought; hence progressions, journeyings, and the like, which are acts of motion, in the Word signify states of life; by moving the water therefore, in the above passage, was in like manner signified vivification by acknowledgement and faith, thus also purification by truths; and by healing was represented the restoration of spiritual life. AC 10083.

Verse 8. Jesus says to him, Rise, take up your bed and walk, &c. By healing of the sick is signified the purification of man from evils and the falses of evil; by bed is signified doctrine, and by walking, life. That all healings of diseases by the lord involve purifications from evils and falses, or restorations of spiritual life, may be seen, AC 8364, 9086; that to walk denotes life, see AC 519, 1744, 8420; that bed denotes doctrine, is manifest from the passages in the Word where bed is named, and likewise from representatives in the other life, where, when a bed appears and one lying in it, the doctrine is signified in which he is principled; hence beds appear there most highly ornamented for those who are principled in truths derived from good; but that such things are signified by the above words of the lord, no one can know unless by the internal sense; for the lord spoke by correspondences, thus by significatives, because from the Divine [Being or principle]. AC 10360.

By the lord saying to the sick, Arise, take up your bed and walk, is signified doctrine and a life according to doctrine; bed signifies doctrine, and to walk signifies life, and the sick signify those who have transgressed and sinned, wherefore the lord said to the sick man at the pool of Bethesda, Behold, you are made whole, sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you. They who know nothing of the internal sense of the Word, may believe that the words which the lord spoke involve nothing more than what is extant in the letter, when yet singular the things, which the lord spoke, have a spiritual sense, because he spoke from the Divine [Being or principle] thus before heaven at the same time as before the world. AE 163.

Verse 9. And on the same day was the sabbath. By the sabbath was represented in the supreme sense the union of the Divine and of the Divine Human [principle] in the lord, and in the respective sense the conjunction of the Divine Human [principle] of the lord with the human race; hence the sabbath was most holy; and because it represented those things, it also represented heaven as to the conjunction of good and truth; which conjunction is called the celestial marriage. It was by reason of this representation that so many cures were performed by the lord on the sabbath days; for the diseases, which were cured by the lord, involved spiritual diseases, which come from evil. AC 8495.

All diseases belonging to man have correspondence with the spiritual world; for whatever in universal nature has not correspondence with the spiritual world, it has not existence, having no cause from which it can exist, consequently from which it can subsist; the things which are in nature, are nothing but effects, their causes are in the spiritual world, and the causes of those causes, which are ends, are in the interior heaven. An effect cannot subsist, unless the cause be continually in it, for on the cessation of the cause the effect ceases; an effect considered in itself is nothing but the cause, but the cause so extrinsically clothed, as may serve to enable it to act as a cause in an inferior sphere; and as the case is with an effect in respect to the cause, so also is it with the cause in respect to the end; unless the cause also exist from its cause, which is the end, it is not a cause, for a cause without end is a cause in no order, and where there is no order, there is not any thing effected. Hence then it is evident, that an effect considered in itself is a cause, and that a cause considered in itself is an end, and that the end of good is in heaven, and proceeds from the lord, consequently that an effect is not an effect unless the cause be in it, and be continually in it, and that a cause is not a cause, unless the end be in it, and be continually in it; and that an end is not an end of good, unless the Divine [principle] which proceeds from the lord be in it. Hence also it is evident, that all and singular things in the world, as they have existed from the Divine [Being or principle] exist also from the Divine [Being or principle.] AC 5711.

These observations are made in order that it may be known, that diseases also have correspondence with the spiritual world, not correspondence with heaven, which is the grand man, but with those who are in the opposite, thus with those who are in the hells. By the spiritual world in the universal sense is meant both heaven and hell, for man, when he dies, passes out of the natural world into the spiritual world. The reason why diseases have correspondence with those who are in the hells is, because diseases correspond to the lusts and passions of the mind (animus), these therefore are the origins of diseases; for the origins of diseases in common are intemperance, luxuries of various kinds, pleasures merely corporeal, also envyings, hatreds, revenges, lasciviousness, and the like, which destroy the interiors of man, and when these are destroyed, the exteriors suffer, and draw man into disease, and thereby into death; that man is subject to death by reason of evils, or on account of sin, is a thing known in the church, thus also he is subject to diseases, for these are of death. From these considerations it may be manifest, that diseases also have correspondence with the spiritual world, but with unclean things there, for diseases in themselves are unclean, inasmuch as they originate in things unclean, according to what was said above. AC 5712.

All the infernals induce diseases, but with a difference, by reason that all the hells are in the lusts and cravings of evil, consequently contrary to those things which are of heaven, wherefore they act upon (or into) man from an opposite principle; heaven, which is the grand man, contains all things in connection and safety; hell, as being in the opposite principle, destroys and rends all things to pieces; consequently if the infernals are applied, they induce diseases, and at length death. But it is not permitted them to flow in even into the solid parts of the body, or into the parts which constitute the viscera, the organs, and members of man, but only into the lusts and falsities: only when man falls into disease, they then flow in into such unclean things as appertain to the disease; for, as was said, nothing in any wise exists with man, unless the cause also be in the spiritual world; the natural principle belonging to man, if it was separated from a spiritual principle, would be separated from all cause of existence, thus also from every principle of life. Nevertheless this is no hindrance to man's being healed naturally, for the Divine Providence concurs with such means of healing. That the case is thus, has been given to know by much experience, and this so frequently and of so long continuance, as not to leave a doubt remaining; for evil spirits from such places have been often and for a long time applied to me, and according to their presence they induced pains, and also diseases; it was shown me where they were, and what was their quality, and it was also told me whence they were. AC 5713.

There were three reasons why faith in the lord healed the sick in the gospel, the first was, their acknowledging his Divine Omnipotence, and that he was god : the second was, because faith is acknowledgement and from acknowledgement contemplation, and all contemplation from acknowledgement causes another to be present, which is a common thing in the spiritual world, in this case, therefore, contemplation from the acknowledgement of the lord's Omnipotence, which was the acknowledgement from which they were first to view the lord, when a new church should be established by him; hence it may appear, what is there understood by faith: the third reason was, that all the diseases which the lord healed, represented and thence signified spiritual diseases, to which natural diseases correspond, and spiritual diseases cannot be healed except by the lord, and indeed by looking to his Divine Omnipotence, and by repentance of the life, wherefore also he sometimes said, your sins are remitted you, go and sin no more; this faith also was represented and signified by their miraculous faith: but the faith whereby spiritual diseases are healed by the lord, can only be given by truths from the Word, and by a life according to them, the truths themselves and the life according to them constituting the quality of the faith. AE 815.

Verse 14. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. By the worse thing is here meant profanation, the worst kind of which consists in first acknowledging divine truths, and living according to them, and afterwards receding from and denying them, in which case holy things are mixed with profane in such a manner that they cannot be separated, and yet they must be separated, before the spirit can be either in heaven or in hell; and inasmuch as this cannot be effected, every intellectual and voluntary human principle is destroyed, and they who are guilty of this kind of profanation become no longer men. This kind of profanation is understood by these words in John, Sin no more, lest a worse thing come to you. DP 231; see also NJHD 172.

Verses 19 to 27. The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do, &c. From the words of this and the following verses, three arcana appear bright to those who are in the internal sense, first, that the Divine Human [principle] of the lord existed from the Divine [principle] itself; secondly, that the Divine Human [principle] of the lord was not only conceived, but also born of jehovah, hence the lord as to the Divine Human [principle] is called the Son of god and the Only-begotten; thirdly, that the Divine Human [principle] of the lord is the name of jehovah, that is, his quality. AC 2628.

The divine truth, which proceeds from the lord, does nothing from itself, but from the divine good, which is the Divine [principle] itself, for divine good is the esse, but the divine truth is the existere thence derived, wherefore the esse must be in the existere, that the latter may be something, and hence something may be done. The lord, when he was in the world, was divine truth, and in this case the divine good in him was the father ; but when he was glorified, then he was made divine good even as to the Human [principle;] the divine truth which then proceeded from him, is called the Comforter, or Spirit of truth. He who is acquainted with these two arcana, if he be in illustration from the lord, when he reads the Word, may be able to comprehend several things, which the lord himself spoke concerning the father and concerning himself, which otherwise would be incomprehensible mysteries, as what is said in John, "The Son cannot do any thing of himself, unless he sees the father do it; for whatever things he does, these also in like manner does the Son: as the father has life in himself, so has he given to the Son to have life in himself," verses 19 to 26. AC 8724; see also AC 2798.

Verse 21. As the Father raises up the dead, and vivify, even so the Son vivify whom he will. By vivification and vivifying is signified spiritual life, or new life by regeneration, as may appear from this consideration alone, that the spirituality of the Word cannot be any thing else; there is natural life and there is spiritual life; natural life is understood in the sense of the letter, but spiritual life in the internal sense, and likewise in many passages, by vivifying and by life, spiritual life itself is understood in the sense of the letter, as in John, As the Father raises up the dead, and makes alive, so likewise the Son makes alive whomsoever he wills. AC 5890.

By raising up the dead and vivifying, is not only understood resurrection into life by natural death, but also by spiritual death; resurrection into life is effected by reformation and regeneration, and these by the removal and separation of evils which damn man, which is spiritual death. AE 899.

Verse 22. For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgement to the Son. It is manifest from the Word that judgement appertains to the Divine Human [principle] and the holy proceeding of the lord ; that it appertains to the Divine Human [principle] is evident from John, vs 22, where by the Son is meant the Divine Human [principle.] AC 2320.

By judging is signified arrangement, the reason is, because divine truth does not judge any one, but flows in and arranges that it may be received; from reception afterwards is effected judgement according to the laws of order; this is understood by the lord's judgement, Matt 25:31 to the end; John 5:22, 26, 27, 30; 9:39; that this is understood, is manifest from the lord's words, where he says that he judges no one, John 3:17-21. AC 8685.

That divine good does not judge any one, but divine truth, is understood by these words of the lord, The Father does not judge any one, but has given judgement to the Son, where by the Father is meant divine good, and by the Son divine truth. Nevertheless it is to be understood, that the lord does not judge any one by divine truth, but divine truth considered in itself judges the man who does not receive, but rejects it, as may be manifest from these words of the lord, " jesus said, If any one hear my words, yet believes not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world; he who despises me, and receives not my words, has one who judges him; the word which I have spoken shall judge him in the last day," John 12:47, 48; also John 3:17.

He who is unacquainted with the spiritual sense of the Word, and at the same time with the genuine truths of the church, may believe that when the last judgement shall come, the lord will sit on a throne, and around him other judges also upon thrones, but he who is acquainted with the spiritual sense of the Word, and at the same with the genuine truths of the church, knows that the lord will not then sit on a throne, nor other judges around him, yea, that the lord will not judge any one to hell, but will cause that the Word shall judge every one whilst he moderates that all things may be done according to justice; the lord indeed says, that "The father does not judge any one, but has given all judgement to the Son, and has given him power to do judgement, because he is the Son of Man," John 5:22, 27. But he says in another place, "I came not to judge the world, but to save the world; the Word which I have spoken it shall judge him in the last day," John 12:47, 48; these two passages are in agreement, when it is known that the Son of Man is the lord as to the Word; wherefore the Word is about to judge, whilst the lord moderates. AR 233.

Verse 24. He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but is passed from death to life. Heaven is here called eternal life, in other passages simply life, by reason that the lord is life itself, and whoever receives his life, is in heaven. AC 2658. By death in the above passage is meant spiritual death, or damnation. AC 6119. By hearing the word of the Lord, and believing on him who sent him, are meant similar things as above, for the lord by the father understood the divine [principle] which was in himself by conception, thus himself; not to come into judgement, signifies not to be damned; to pass from death into life, signifies resurrection and life in heaven; from death not only signifies from natural death into eternal life, thus resurrection, but also from spiritual death, which is damnation, into life eternal, thus also resurrection, for in the Word, there is a natural sense, and a spiritual sense. AE 899.

Verse 25. The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live. The dead denote those, who from ignorance of the truth of faith have not as yet attained spiritual life; to hear the voice of the Son of God denotes to be instructed in the truths of faith, and to obey them; to live denotes to be gifted with spiritual life by those truths. AC 9311.

Voice in this passage is the divine truth of the lord from his Word. AR 37.

To hear the voice of the Son of God denotes to have faith in the words of the lord, and to will them; they who have will-faith receive life, wherefore it is said, they who hear shall live. AC 3869.

By the dead are here signified those who are in evils and thence in falses, but are liberated from them by reformation; that they are to rise again, is understood by the above words; for in such case they are no longer dead, but alive, being such as hear the voice of the Son of God, thus who live according to his precepts. AE 899.

Verse 26. As the Father has life in himself, so has he given to the Son to have life in himself. The internal of the lord was jehovah himself, inasmuch as he was conceived of jehovah, who cannot be divided and become another's, as of a son who is conceived of a man father; for the Divine [Being or principle] is not divisible as the human, but is one and the same, and remains; with this internal the lord united the human essence: and because the internal of the lord was jehovah, it was not a form recipient of life, as the internal of man, but the life itself; his human essence likewise by unification in like manner was made the life, wherefore the lord so often said that he is the life, as in John 5:26; 1:4; 6:33, 35, 48. So far therefore as the lord was in the human [principle] which he received hereditarily from the mother, so far he appeared distinct from jehovah, and adored jehovah, as another from himself; but so far as he put off this human [principle] so far the lord was not distinct from jehovah, but one with him; the former state was the state of the lord's humiliation, but the latter the state of his glorification. AC 1999. See also AC 1607, 2658.

By the above words is meant, that as the Divine [principle] itself, which was from eternity, lives in itself, so likewise the human [principle] which it assumed in time, lives in itself: life in itself is the real and only life, from which all angels and men live. Human reason can see this from the light which proceeds from the sun of the natural world, that this light is not creatable, but that forms receiving it are created, for the eyes are its recipient forms, and the light flowing in from the sun causes them to see; the case is similar with life, which is the light proceeding from the sun of the spiritual world, that this is not creatable, but that it flows in continually, and as it illuminates, it also vivifies the understanding of man. Let every one therefore take heed to himself, how he persuades himself to believe that he lives from himself, also that he is wise, believes, loves, perceives truth, and wills and does good from himself; for in proportion as any one so persuades himself, in the same proportion he casts his mind down from heaven to earth, and from spiritual becomes natural, sensual, and corporeal, for he closes up the superior regions of his mind. TCR 40. See also TCR 718.

Verses 28, 29. All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, &c. It is not meant by these words that the graves shall be opened, and all shall come forth in the day of the last judgement, but by the graves which shall be opened, are understood the places in the lower earth, where they are reserved and kept by the lord, who have heretofore lived the life of charity, and have acknowledged the Divine [principle] of the lord, and on the day of the last judgement, and after it, were elevated into heaven. These places are signified by graves in the spiritual sense; that it is not meant that graves in the earth shall be opened, and that the dead shall come forth from them in the day of the last judgement, is evident from this consideration, that all men immediately after death come into the spiritual world, and there live in a human form in like manner as in this world, thus that every one comes into resurrection immediately after death, they who have done good into the resurrection of life, and they who have done evil into the resurrection of judgement. AE 899.

By the resurrection of the dead is not only meant the resurrection of those who die naturally, for these rise again immediately after death, but also of those who [die] spiritually, and have been vivified by the lord. AE 899.

Salvation or damnation is here signified by judgement. AC 9857.

That man does not rise again as to his natural body, but as to his spiritual body, is abundantly proved in the work on heaven and hell, 432—520.

That graves or sepulchres signify things unclean, consequently also things infernal, by reason of the carcases and bones which are therein, appears from various passages in the Word: as in Isaiah, "A people who provoke me to anger before my faces continually, who burn incense upon bricks, who sit in the sepulchres, and pass the night in waste places, who eat the flesh of swine," Is 65:3, 4. To provoke jehovah to anger before his faces, signifies to sin against the truths and goods of the Word, and to recede from the worship there commanded, the faces of jehovah are the things revealed in the Word; to burn incense upon bricks, signifies worship from falses of doctrine, bricks denoting falses of doctrine, and to burn incense denoting worship from them; to sit in the sepulchres, signifies to be in filthy loves; to pass the night in waste places, signifies to remain and live in falses, waste places denoting where there are no truths; to eat the flesh of swine, signifies to appropriate to themselves infernal evils: so in Moses, "Whosoever shall touch upon the surface of the field one slain with the sword or dead, or the bone of a man, or a sepulchre, he shall be unclean seven days, and afterwards he shall be purified," Numb 19:16, 18; by touching, in the Word, is signified to communicate; wherefore lest falses and evils should be communicated, and thus appropriated, it was prohibited to touch things unclean, as in this case the slain by the sword, the dead, the bone of a man, and a sepulchre; because by the slain with the sword are signified those who perish by falses, and are thence condemned to hell; and by the dead are signified those who perish by evils; by the bone of a man is signified infernal falses, and by sepulchre, infernal evil; again in Ezekiel, "Wail over the multitude of Egypt, and make her go down with them that go down into the pit: they shall fall by the sword in the midst of the slain; there is Ashur and his whole congregation, his sepulchres are about him, all the slain who fell by the sword to whom sepulchres were given in the sides of the pit, and his congregation is about his sepulchre; Elam and all his multitude is about his sepulchre, all the uncircumcised, slain with the sword," Ez 32:18, 20, 22, 23, 24; by the multitude of Egypt are signified scientifics of the natural man, which are dead, because they descend not and are not formed as effects, conclusions, and confirmations, from the truths of the spiritual man; by Ashur are signified ratiocinations from such scientifics; wherefore by, wail over the multitude of Egypt, and make her go down with them that go down into the pit, is signified grief on account of the damnation of those who are therein principled, the pit denoting the hell where such dead scientifics prevail, that is, scientifics separate from truths, because applied to confirm falses of doctrine and evils of life; by the slain with the sword, here as above, are signified those who are condemned to hell by falses; there is Ashur and his whole congregation, signifies ratiocinations from those falses; by the sepulchres which are about Ashur and in the sides of the pit, where Elam is, and all the uncircumcised slain with the sword, are signified the hells where those falses are, i.e. those who are in such falses. It is to be observed, that falses and evils of every kind correspond to whatever is unclean and hideous in the natural world, and the more dire falses and evils to stinking cadaverous and also to excrementitious substances, and those of a milder kind to marshy places; hence it is that the dwellings of those in the hells who are in such falses and evils, appear like pits and sepulchres; and if you are disposed to believe it, such evil genii and spirits also dwell in the sepulchres, privies, and marshes which are in our world, although they are ignorant of it; the reason is, because they correspond, and things which correspond conjoin. The same may be concluded also from this consideration, that nothing is more delightful than cadaverous stenches to those who have been assassins and poisoners, likewise to those who perceived delight in violating women; and there is also nothing more delightful than excrementitious stenches to those who have been eaten up with the love of ruling imperiously, likewise to those who took delight in adulteries and not in marriages; and there is nothing more delightful than a marshy and likewise a urinous stench to those who have confirmed themselves in falses, and extinguished in themselves the affection of truth: hence it is that the hells in which they are, appear according to the correspondent delights, some as pits, and some as sepulchres. From these considerations it may also appear whence it was, "That they who were obsessed by demons were in the sepulchres and came out thence," Matt 8:28, and following verses; Mark 5:2, 3, 5; Luke 8:27: namely because they who obsessed, whilst they lived in the world were in falses from evil, or in knowledges frosi the Word which they made dead by applying them to confirm evils, and likewise to destroy the genuine truth of the church, especially the truths concerning the lord, concerning the Word, and concerning a life after death, which dead knowledges in the Word are called traditions; hence it was that those who were obsessed by such after they had become demons, were in the sepulchres, and the demons themselves were afterwards cast out into the swine, who precipitated themselves into the sea, the reason whereof was, because they had lived in the world in sordid avarice, which swine correspond to and thence signify; the reason why they precipitated themselves into the sea, was, because the sea there signified hell. AE 659.

Concerning Judgement, and the Last Judgement, how it is to be understood, see chap. 3:17, 19, Exposition.

Verse 37. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. See Extracts at chap. 1:18.

Verse 39. Search the Scriptures, &c. The necessity of searching the Scriptures may appear from considering the conjunction of the truths of the church with its scientifics, and the manner in which it is effected; for a principle is not to be drawn from scientifics, so that the truths of faith may by them be entered into, since the scientifics belonging to man are derived from things sensual, thus from the world, whence result innumerable fallacies. But a principle is to be derived from the truths of faith, namely by this method; first the doctrinals of the church are to be learned, and afterwards exploration is to be made from the Word whether they be true, since they are not true, because the rulers of the church have pronounced them so, and their followers confirm them to be so, for thus the doctrinals of all churches and of all religions would be pronounced true merely on the authority of the soil in which they are propagated, and of their birth-place; thus not only the doctrinals of the papists, and also of the Quakers, would be true, but also of the Jews, and likewise of the Mahometans, because their leaders have pronounced them so, and their followers confirm the same; from which considerations it is evident, that the Word ought to be searched, and examination to be made from the Word whether the above doctrinals be true; when this is done from the affection of truth, then man is enlightened by the lord, so as to apperceive, without knowing whence, what is true, and he is confirmed therein according to the good in which he is principled. Afterwards when he is confirmed, and thus in an affirmative principle from the Word that they are the truths of faith, it is then allowable for him to confirm them by all the scientifics he possesses, of whatever name and nature, for then, inasmuch as a principle of affirmation reigns universally, he accepts the scientifics which are in agreement, and rejects those which, by reason of the fallacies they contain, disagree. AC 6047. Verse 40. And you will not come to me, that you might have life. It is not possible that more than one single fountain of life can exist, whence the life of all things is derived; and it is not possible that any life can exist, which is truly life, except by faith in the lord, who is real essential life itself; nor can faith exist in which is life, except from him, consequently except he be in it: wherefore in the Word the lord alone is called living, and is named the living Jehovah, Jeremiah 5:2, 12:16, 16:14, 15, 23:7; Exekiel 5:11; Living for ever, Dan 4:24; Rev 4:10, vs 14 10:6; A fountain of life, Psalm 36:9; A fountain of living waters, Jeremiah 17:13. Wherefore heaven, which lives by or from him, is called the land of the living, Isaiah 37:11, 57:8; Ezekiel 26:20, 32:23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32; Psalm 27:13, 142:5. And they are called living, who are in faith in the lord, as in David, "Who holds our soul amongst the living" Psalm 66:9; and they who are in faith are said to be in the book of lives, Psalm 69:28, and in the book of life, Rev 13:8, 20:15; wherefore also they are said to be made alive who receive faith in him, Hosea 6:2; Psalm 85:6. On the contrary, they who are not in faith are called dead, as in Isaiah, "The dead shall not live; the deceased shall not rise, because you have visited and destroyed them," Is 26:14; where the dead signify those who are puffed up with self-love; and to rise signifies to enter into life, they are also said to be thrust through, [confossi] Ezekiel 22:23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31; and hell is called death, Isaiah 25:8, 28:15; they are also called dead by the lord, Matt 4:16; John 5:25, 8:21, 24, 51, 52. AC 290.

The lord alone is love itself, because he is life itself, and angels and men are recipients of life from the lord. The lord, who is the god of the universe, is uncreate and infinite, whereas man and angel is created and finite; and because the lord is uncreate and infinite, he is being [esse] itself, which is called jehovah, and he is life itself or life in himself. From the uncreate, infinite esse itself and life itself, no being can be immediately created, because the Divine is one and not divisible, but from created and finite substances, so formed that the Divine may be in them, beings may be created. Inasmuch as men and angels are such beings, they are recipients of life: wherefore if any man suffers himself so far to be misled, as to think that he is not a recipient of life, but life itself, he cannot be withheld from thinking that he is a god. That man feels as if he were life itself, and thence believes that he is, is grounded in fallacy, for in the instrumental cause the principal cause is no otherwise perceived than as one with it. That the lord is life in himself, he himself teaches in John, "As the father has life in himself, so has he given to the son to have life in himself," John 5:26; and, "that he is the life," John 11:25, 14:6. Now inasmuch as life and love are one, as appears from what has been said above, HH 1, 2, it follows that the lord, because he is life itself, is love itself.

But in order that this matter may be rightly apprehended, it is necessary to be known, that the lord, inasmuch as he is love in its very essence, that is, Divine love, appears before the angels in heaven as a sun, and that from that sun proceed heat and light, and that the heat thence proceeding, in its essence, is love, and the light thence proceeding, in its essence, is wisdom; and that the angels, in proportion as they are recipients of that spiritual heat and spiritual light, are loves and wisdoms, not loves and wisdoms from themselves, hut from the lord. This spiritual heat and spiritual light not only descend by influx into angels and affect them, but descend also by influx into men and affect them, altogether in proportion as they become recipients, and they become recipients according to their love of the lord, and their love towards their neighbour. This sun itself, or Divine love, cannot by its heat and light create any one immediately from itself, for in that case he would be love in its essence, which is the lord himself, but it can create beings from substances and materials so formed, as to be capable of receiving its heat itself and light itself, comparatively as the sun of this world cannot, by its heat and light, immediately produce germinations in the earth, but it can produce them from earthly materials, in which it may be present by its heat and light, and give vegetation. That the Divine love of the lord appears as a sun in the spiritual world, and that therefrom proceed spiritual heat and spiritual light, from whence the angels have their love and wisdom, may be seen in the work concerning "heaven and hell," HH 116 to 140.

Since therefore man is not life, but a recipient of life, it follows that the conception of a man from his father is not a conception of life, but only a conception of the first and purest form capable of receiving of life, to which, as a stamen or beginning, successively accede, in the womb, substances and matters in forms adapted to the reception of life in their order and degree. DLW 4—6.

Verse 46. For Moses wrote of me. In the Word, both the prophetical and historical, every thing that is written was written concerning the lord ; hence the Word is divine. In the rituals of the Israelitish church, as in the burnt-offerings and sacrifices, also in the sabbaths and festivals, and in the priesthood of Aaron and the Levites, many arcana of the glorification of the lord are contained; in like manner in the other things written by Moses, which are called laws, judgements, and statutes. This also is meant by the lord's words to his disciples, that he must fulfill all things which were written in the law of Moses concerning him, Luke 24:45; likewise by his words to the Jews, that Moses wrote of him. Doc. of the Lord, 14. See also 8, 9, of the same work.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.

Verse 2. But there is in Jerusalem at the sheep [market or gate] a pool, &c. The original term here rendered sheep [market or gate] is probatike, which is an adjective in the feminine gender, derived from the substantive probaton, which signifies sheep or cattle, and therefore denotes something relating to sheep or cattle, but whether that something be market or gate, is doubtful.

Verse 29. They who have done good things to the resurrection of life, but they who have done evil things to the resurrection of judgement. It is remarkable that doers, or they who have done, in the above passage, are expressed in the original by two different terms, for when the doers of good are spoken of, the term poiesantes is used, but when the doers of evil are spoken of, the term praxantes is used, whence it may be inferred, that the term poieo, from which poiesantes is derived, has a more interior signification than the term prasso, from which praxantes is derived.

Verse 35. He was a burning and shining lamp, &c. In the common version of the New Testament, what is here called lamp is rendered light, but the original Greek is luxnos, which properly means a lamp, and is distinguished from phos or light, as a lamp is distinguished from the light which it receives and gives. That a lamp and light are distinct things, and consequently denote distinct principles, and therefore ought not to be confounded, is plain from what is written in the Psalms, Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path, Psalms 119:105, where a lamp to my feet denotes divine truth in the natural principle, and a light to my path denotes the faith and intelligence thence derived. This lamp is here called burning and shining to denote the heavenly marriage of good and truth from which it was formed, burning having relation to divine good, and shining to divine truth.

Verse 35, latter part. And you were willing to be glad for an hour in his light. In the common version of the New Testament, these words are rendered thus, And you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light, but it is to be noted, that what is here called for a season, is expressed in the original by pros oran, which is literally for an hour; and what is called to rejoice, is expressed in the original by agalliasthenai, which signifies to exult, or to be glad, and is accordingly rendered by Swedenborg to exult. To the careless reader it may possibly seem a matter of little importance whether the term be rendered by rejoicing, or by being glad, but the spiritual and intelligent reader will immediately see the necessity of distinguishing between these terms, because he will see that the distinction is preserved in the Scriptures throughout, in order to discriminate between the gratification imparted to the mind by the principle of good in the will, and by the principle of truth in the understanding, and thus to mark the heavenly marriage. Hence so frequent mention is made of joy and gladness, and hence in the Revelation it is said, Let us rejoice and be glad, [chairomen agalliometha] for the marriage of the Lamb is come, &c. 19:7, the verb chairo having respect to the gratification derived from the good of love in the will, whilst the verb agallio or agalliomai has respect to the gratification derived from the truth of wisdom in the understanding. Yet in the common version of the New Testament the verb chairo is rendered to be glad, and the verb agallio to rejoice, because probably the translators were either not aware of the distinct meaning of the two terms, or thought it of no importance to be attended to.

Verse 41. I receive not glory from men. Verse 44. How can you believe, which receive glory one of another, and seek not the glory which is from God alone? In the common version of the New Testament, the term here rendered glory is called honour, as if there was no distinction between the two terms, when yet a distinction is plainly made in the Revelations, where it is written, When those beasts give glory and honour, 4:9; and again at verse 11, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour, &c. in which passages the original Greek, here rendered glory and honour, is doxian k timen, the former term being more expressive of the divine truth, and the latter more expressive of the divine good. It is therefore of importance that the distinct spiritual meaning of the two terms should be attended to, and consequently that the terms themselves should never be confounded.

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