The Sick Healed in the Land Of Gennesareth.

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The Sick Healed in the Land Of Gennesareth.

And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesareth. And when the men of that place had knowledge of Him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought to Him all that were diseased, etc.

Q. WHAT do you understand here by their going over, and coming into the land of Gennesareth?

A. According to the letter of the history, these words relate only to the passage of the blessed Jesus and His disciples across the lake, and their arrival at the land on the other side; but according to the spiritual sense, the words have respect to a change of state in the church, in consequence of the knowledges of good and truth which had been imbibed, and which are represented by the ship in which they had sailed; For there is no circumstance in the life of the blessed Jesus, as it is recorded in the gospel, howsoever trivial it may appear, but what involves in it some spiritual and edifying instruction relative to Himself and to the new church which He came to establish. Besides, all the places in the land of Canaan are significative and representative, like the land of Canaan itself, which, it is well known, is significative and representative of the heavenly Canaan, or of the kingdom of heaven. This observation is true of the Land of Gennesareth here mentioned, which therefore is to be understood as having a spiritual signification and representation, like all other places recorded in the gospel history. What its signification and representation is, may be known in some degree from the name itself, which properly signifies the garden of the prince; and since the term garden, wheresoever it occurs in the sacred history, is always applied to denote spiritual intelligence, and especially the intelligence derived from the word of god, therefore by Jesus and His disciples coming into the land of Gennesareth is to be understood the church's advancement to a state of intelligence, effected by the knowledges of truth which had been previously admitted.

Q. But it is written, that when the men of that place had knowledge of Him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought to Him all that were diseased — what do you conceive to be the meaning of these words?

A. According to the letter of the history, the above words relate to the men of Gennesareth informing all the country round about of the arrival of the blessed Jesus, and to their bringing to Him all that were afflicted with bodily diseases, that they might be healed. But according to the spiritual sense of the history, the words have reference to those in the church who are principled in intelligence, and who from the light of intelligence have knowledge of the Divine Omnipotence of the incarnate god, and are therefore eager to bring every spiritual infirmity and disorder under the operation of that omnipotence, that so it may be removed, and the church thus restored to the blessed order and image of heaven and its god. For such is the nature of all true intelligence, that it is always employed in looking, by virtue of the light of heaven which it receives, first at the divine perfections, as made manifest in the blessed Jesus ; and secondly at human imperfections, weaknesses, errors, and disorders, to the intent that as far as possible the latter may be operated upon by the former, and thus may make more manifest the divine mercy and omnipotence.

Q. And what do you learn from the words which follow, where it is written, And besought Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment, and as many as touched were made perfectly whole?

A. By the garment of the blessed Jesus, as was shown in treating of the miracle concerning the bloody issue, (Matt. 9:20-23), is signified and represented the divine truth of His holy word; this being as a garment containing and investing the divine good of His love. By the hem of His garment is therefore to be understood the lowest or outermost principle of that truth, which principle is the letter or literal sense of the word; and to touch this hem of course means to have communication with the blessed Jesus by means of that literal sense. When therefore it is said of the men of Gennesareth, that they besought Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment, it is to denote the strong desire of those in the church who are intelligent, that every infirmity, error, and disorder of human nature may be submitted to the rule and guidance of the eternal truth, even in its lowest or outermost principles, as is the case when the letter of the holy word is seen and considered according to its proper sanctity, as being the sacred receptacle and basis of the treasures of the divine wisdom and love stored up within it. It is therefore added, that as many as touched were made perfectly whole, to denote, that if the letter of the holy word be held in proper reverence, by regarding it as the consecrated tabernacle of all that is divine, thus as the residence and abode of the eternal and the infinite, of all His attributes, and of all His perfections, it then never fails to communicate a healing virtue, of efficacy sufficient for the removal of every infirmity and disorder of the human mind, so that they, who before were spiritually blind, deaf, diseased and infirm, are by degrees restored to the perfection of spiritual sight, hearing, health, and virtue.

Q. What then is the general instruction which you learn from this history?

A. I learn from this history, that the church, in advancing towards perfection of life, which is the conjunction of love and wisdom, and thus conjunction with the lord, has to pass through several states, which may be called states of its regeneration, and that one of these states is a state of spiritual intelligence, figured by the land of Gennesareih, and resulting from the knowledges of what is good and true, derived from the word of god. I learn further, that this state of intelligence conducts to the knowledge of the incarnate god, signified by the men of Gennesareth having knowledge of Jesus, and that they who are in that knowledge from a perception of the divine perfections, are ever desirous to submit all human infirmities and disorders to the control of the divine mercy and omnipotence. Lastly, I learn that in this state of spiritual intelligence, a discovery is made of the divine virtue and presence ever operative in the letter of the holy word, and that by means of that operation, the all of evil and of error is gradually removed in the minds of the penitent and the faithful, who are willing to admit its healing influence. I am resolved therefore now on, to apply myself diligently and devoutly to the study of the pages of the eternal truth, that so, through the divine mercy, I may attain to a state of spiritual intelligence, and thus be led to a discovery, not only of the perfections of the incarnate god, but also of the interior evils and disorders of my own mind and life, which, without the light of such intelligence, must for ever remain hid, unacknowledged, and consequently unremoved. And I am further resolved to believe, like the men of Gennesareth, that a divine and holy virtue is ever present from the great and holy god in the letter of His revealed word; and that consequently, if by a right faith and pure life I maintain communication with that divine virtue, by submitting all my natural evils and errors to its purifying and controlling influence, I may then indulge the consolatory hope that sooner or later every disorderly affection, appetite, thought, word or work, will give place to the blessed order, purity and peace of the divine love and wisdom in my own happy bosom, amen.

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