| Previous: The Devil Cast Out From the Daughter of the Woman of Canaan | Up: Miracles | Next: The Miracle Of The Seven Loaves And Fishes. |
Matt. 15:30 to 32
And great multitudes came to Him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at jesus's feet, and He healed them, etc.
Q. WHAT do you here understand by great multitudes?
A. By great multitudes, according to the sense of the letter, are to be understood great multitudes of people or persons; but according to the spiritual sense are to be understood multitudes of principles and persuasions ; which principles and persuasions were disordered, according to the description given in the history of this miracle, some being lame, some blind, some dumb, some maimed, with many other disorders.
Q. And what do you mean by principles and persuasions of these several characters?
A. A principle and persuasion is lame, when it has no orderly connection with the fountain of life, being destitute of that knowledge of genuine truth which is necessary to give it such connection, for without genuine truth, the fountain of life cannot descend into the life of man, neither can the life of man ascend to the fountain of life. Man therefore, in such case, is spiritually lame, in like manner as he is corporeally lame, when a limb or member of the body has no orderly connection with the fountain of its life. Again, a principle or persuasion is spiritually blind when it is without the intelligence of truth, or, what amounts to the same, without the light of heaven, since as the body is blind, which has no eye capable of discerning the things of this world, in like manner the soul is blind, which has no understanding capable of discerning the things of another world. Again, a principle or persuasion is dumb, when it can-not speak the praises of its maker, and tell of all his wondrous works, since as the bodily mouth is dumb, when it cannot give utterance to natural thoughts, so as to communicate them to others, for the same reason the spiritual mouth is dumb, when it cannot communicate to others its spiritual thoughts. Lastly, a principle or persuasion is maimed, when it is destitute of the love of the supreme good; in other words, when natural love is separated from spiritual love, since as the body is maimed when injury is done to any of its members, so that the connection is broken between them and the heart, in like manner the spirit is maimed, when any perverse affection separates any of its members from the influences of heavenly love and charity.
Q. And what do you understand by what is further written, where it is said, That they cast them down at jesus's feet, and He healed them?
A. According to the sense of the letter, by these words is to be understood, that the lame, the blind, the dumb, and the maimed, were really laid at the bodily feet of Jesus , and that he healed them; but according to the above spiritual sense of this miracle is to be understood that the spiritually lame, the spiritually blind, the spiritually dumb, and the spiritually maimed, had access to the natural humanity of the blessed Jesus, and had thereby communication with the healing virtue flowing forth from the divinity which dwelt in that humanity, and was one with it. For as the feet of man are the lowest parts of his body, on which the higher parts stand and operate, they are therefore figurative and representative of the lower principles of his spirit, which principles are called natural, as being In the nearest connexion with the world of nature. Accordingly the term feet is frequently applied in the sacred Scriptures to express the lower principles of man's natural life, as where it is written, Your word is a lamp to my feet, (Ps. 119:105). He shall pluck my feet out of the net, (Ps. 25:15). You have set my feet in a large room, (Psalm 31:8). He has set my feet on a rock, (Ps. 40:2). He suffer eth not our feet to be moved, (Ps. 66:9). As for me my feet were almost gone, (Ps. 73:2). I turned my feet to your testimonies, (Ps. 119:59), together with numberless other passages to the same purpose, all tending to prove that by feet, when the term occurs in the sacred Scriptures, are not to be understood the bodily feet only, but those external natural principles, which are as feet to the mind. Accordingly, the great redeemer is described in the Revelations as to His feet, which are said to be like fine brass, (Rev. 1:15), to denote the purity of His natural principle, when it was glorified, or made divine.
Q. But it is written that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see; and they glorified the god of Israel — what instruction do you learn from these words?
A. From the wondering of the multitude, I am instructed that nothing excites so much astonishment and adoration in the devout mind, as the contemplation of the operations of the almighty, especially when those operations are exercised in the removal of man's spiritual disorders; and in his restoration thus to the order and life of heaven. This removal and restoration are signified by the dumb speaking, the maimed being whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, for under these four classes of infirmity and disorder, and of recovery, are involved all the evils and errors to which the nature of man is exposed, and from which, through the divine mercy, he hopes for deliverance. It is therefore added, They glorified the god of israel, because by the god of israel, the same thing is understood as by the feet of the blessed Jesus, namely. His natural humanity, which is then said to be glorified, when it is devoutly approached as the only fountain of all spiritual life, virtue, power, and salvation. It is further to be observed concerning this appellation, The god of israel, that in the Old Testament it is assumed by jehovah himself, who calls Himself The god, of israel, as being the Saviour of those who are signified by Israel, namely. His spiritual church, and who could not have been saved, unless they could have approached their god as a man, and thus have attained conjunction with Him as a man. Such a man was the great redeemer as to His natural humanity, which humanity He successively glorified until It became one with His divinity, and thus He gives to His spiritual children perpetual access to and conjunction with Himself, whilst they, in their turn, receiving from His divine body a cure for all their spiritual disorders, glorify Him as the god of israel; and in so doing, acknowledge Him to be the same identical Being with the great jehovah.
Q. What then is the general instruction which you learn from the combination of miracles here recorded?
A. I learn that in the church in general, and in every individual member of the church in particular, there are numberless and nameless principles and persuasions, many of which are in a state of infirmity and disorder, answering to the four classes recorded in the above history, called the lame, the blind, the dumb, and the maimed. I learn further, that it is the wisdom of the church in general, and of every member of the church in particular, to lay these disordered principles and persuasions at the feet of the blessed Jesus; in other words, to submit them to the blessed influence and control of His divine humanity, as the only medium of their access to and conjunction with the supreme divinity who is one with it. Lastly, I learn that the blessed Jesus, in this His divine humanity, is ever near, and infinitely willing to administer a remedy from himself for every infirmity, disorder, evil, and error, to which the nature of man is subject, whether consisting in lameness, which is the want of genuine truth, or in blindness, which is the want of spiritual intelligence, or in dumbness, which is the want of spiritual utterance, or in being maimed, which is the want of genuine affection, and that the view of this His nearness and willingness, and of the blessed effects thereby produced, begets in the devout mind sentiments at once of astonishment and of adoration. I am resolved therefore from now on to imitate the multitudes above described, by looking attentively into the interiors of my own mind, and there discovering all that is lame, blind, dumb, maimed, with every other infirmity and disorder, and by laying them, when discovered, at the feet of the blessed Jesus, and thus submitting them to the influence and control of His divine mercy, wisdom, and omnipotence, as manifested in His divine humanity. Thus may I humbly hope, like the wondering multitude of old, to be excited to astonishment at the redeeming power of my god and saviour, when I behold the dumb speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and thus too, with them, observing that all these blessed effects are derived from His divine humanity, I may be admitted to the honour and happiness of glorifying with them the god of israel. amen.
| Previous: The Devil Cast Out From the Daughter of the Woman of Canaan | Up: Miracles | Next: The Miracle Of The Seven Loaves And Fishes. |