Commentary

 

Why Did Jesus Come to Earth as a Baby?

By Curtis Childs

This painting by Richard Cook  of the newborn baby Jesus, with Mary and Joseph, evokes the spiritual power of this long-awaited advent.

Could there be reasons for the humble, vulnerable beginnings of Jesus’s life?

In this video from his Swedenborg and Life web series, host Curtis Childs and featured guests explore how the Divine design may have been at play from the very beginning of Christ's life.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 706 [12]; Luke 2:8-12; The Word 7; True Christian Religion 89, 90, 96, 766)

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This video is a product of the Swedenborg Foundation. Follow these links for further information and other videos: www.youtube.com/user/offTheLeftEye and www.swedenborg.com

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #5887

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5887. 'And now, do not be grieved' means anxiety in the heart or will. This is clear from the meaning of 'grief' as anxiety, existing indeed in the heart or will. For the words that immediately follow 'do not have any anger in your eyes' mean sadness in the spirit or understanding. The expressions 'in the heart or will' and 'in the spirit or understanding' are used because 'the heart' has reference through correspondence to desires in the will, for it has reference to what is celestial, which is the good of love. But 'the spirit', which is associated with the lungs, has reference to ideas in the understanding, for it has reference to what is spiritual, which is the truth of faith, see 3635, 3883-3896.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.