5081. Against his two courtministers. That this signifies that it averted itself from the sensuous things of the body, of both kinds, is evident from the signification of “courtministers,” who here are the butler and the baker, as being the sensuous things of both kinds (of which above, n. 5077, 5078). The sensuous things of the body, namely, the sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, are as it were ministers of the court relatively to the interior man, who is their lord the king; for they minister to him, so that from the things in the visible world and in human society he may come into the teachings of experience, and may in this way acquire intelligence and wisdom. For man is not born into any knowledge, still less into any intelligence or wisdom, but only into the capability of receiving and becoming imbued with them. This is effected in two ways, namely, by an internal way, and by an external way. By the internal way flows in what is Divine, by the external way flows in what is of the world. These meet within man, and then insofar as he suffers himself to be enlightened by what is Divine, he comes into wisdom. The things which flow in by the external way, flow in through the sensuous things of the body; although they never flow in of themselves, but are called forth by the internal man to serve as a plane for the celestial and spiritual things which flow in by the internal way from the Divine. From this it is evident that the sensuous things of the body are like the ministers of a court. In general, all exterior things are ministers relatively to interior things. Relatively to the spiritual man the whole natural man is nothing else.

[2] In the original language the term here used means a minister, courtier, chamberlain, or eunuch; in the internal sense it signifies, as here, the natural man as to good and truth, but specifically the natural man as to good; as in Isaiah:

Let not the son of the stranger, that cleaveth to Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah will surely separate me from His people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold I am dry wood. For thus hath said Jehovah to the eunuchs that keep My sabbaths, and choose that wherewith I am delighted, and are holding My covenant; I will give them in My house and within My walls a place and a name, a good better than sons and daughters; I will give them a name of eternity that shall not be cut off (Isaiah 56:3-5);

here a “eunuch” denotes the natural man as to good, and the “son of the stranger” the natural man as to truth; for the church of the Lord is external and internal, and they who are of the external church are natural, while they who are of the internal church are spiritual. They who are natural, and yet are in good, are “eunuchs,” and they who are in truth are the “sons of the stranger;” and as the truly spiritual or internal are to be found only within the church, therefore also by the “sons of the stranger” are signified those who are outside the church, or the Gentiles, and yet are in truth according to their religiosity (n. 2049, 2593, 2599, 2600, 2602, 2603, 2861, 2863, 3263); and by “eunuchs,” those who are in good.

5078. And the baker. That this signifies in those things in the body which are subject to the will part, is evident from the signification of a “baker,” as being that external sensuous, or sensuous of the body, which is subordinate or subject to the will part of the internal man. A “baker” has this signification because everything that serves for food, or that is eaten, such as bread, food in general, and all the work of the baker, is predicated of good, and therefore bears relation to the will part; for all good is of this part, just as all truth is of the intellectual part (as was said just above, n. 5077). (That “bread” is the celestial, or good, may be seen above, n. 1798, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976)

[2] The reason why here and in the following verses of this chapter the external sensuous things of both kinds are treated of in the internal sense is that in the previous chapter the subject treated of was the Lord, and how He glorified or made Divine the interiors of His natural; here therefore the subject treated of is the Lord, and how He glorified or made Divine the exteriors of His natural. The exteriors of the natural are what are properly called the bodily things, or the sensuous things of both kinds together with their recipient organs, for these together constitute what is called the body (as s hown above, n. 5077). The Lord made the very bodily in Himself Divine, both its sensuous things and their recipient organs; and He therefore rose again from the sepulcher with His body, and likewise after His resurrection said to the disciples:

Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; feel Me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have (Luke 24:39).

[3] Most of those who are of the church at this day believe that everyone is to rise again at the last day, and with his body; which opinion is so universal that from doctrine scarcely anyone believes otherwise. But this opinion has prevailed because the natural man supposes that it is only the body that lives; and therefore unless he believed that the body would receive life again, he would deny the resurrection altogether. But the truth of the matter is this. Man rises again immediately after death, and he then appears to himself in a body just as in this world, with a similar face, members, arms, hands, feet, breast, belly, and loins; so that when he sees and touches himself, he says that he is a man as in the world. Nevertheless what he sees and touches is not his external which he carried about in the world, but it is the internal which constitutes that very human which is alive, and which had an external about it, or outside of every part of it, by which it could be in the world and be adapted for acting and performing its functions there.

[4] The earthly bodily part is no longer of any use to him, he being in another world where are other functions, and other powers and abilities, to which the nature of his body there is adapted. This body he sees with his eyes, not those which he had in the world, but those which he has there, which are the eyes of his internal man and by which through the eyes of the body he had before seen worldly and earthly things. This body he also feels with the touch, not with the hands or the sense of touch which he enjoyed in the world, but with the hands and the sense of touch which he enjoys there, which is that from which his sense of touch in the world came forth. Moreover, every sense is more exquisite and more perfect there, because it is the sense of the internal of man freed from the external; for the internal is in a more perfect state, because it gives to the external the power of sensation; but when it acts into the external, as is the case in the world, sensation is dulled and obscured. Moreover, it is the internal which is sensible of the internal, and the external which is sensible of the external. Thus it is that men after death see one another, and are in company together according to their interiors. In order that I might be certain in regard to this matter, it has been given me to touch the spirits themselves, and often to converse with them about it (see n. 322, 1630, 4622).

[5] Men after death, who are then called spirits, and if they have lived in good, angels, marvel exceedingly that the man of the church believes that he is not to see eternal life until the last day when the world shall perish, and that he is then to be clothed again with the cast-off dust; when yet the man of the church knows that he rises again after death; for when a man dies, who does not then say that his soul or spirit is in heaven or else in hell? And who does not say of his children who have died that they are in heaven? And who does not comfort a sick person, or one appointed to die, by the assurance that he will shortly come into the other life? And he who is in the agony of death and is prepared, believes no otherwise; nay, from this belief many also claim for themselves the power of delivering others from places of damnation, and of admitting them into heaven, while saying masses on their behalf. Who does not know what the Lord said to the thief, “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), and what He said of the rich man and Lazarus, that the former was carried into hell, but the latter borne by the angels into heaven (Luke 16:22-23)? And who does not know what the Lord taught concerning the resurrection, that “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Luke 20:38)?

[6] A man knows these things, and so thinks and speaks when he thinks and speaks from his spirit; but when he thinks and speaks from his doctrine, he says very differently-that he is not to rise again till the last day; when yet the last day to everyone is when he dies, and then also is his judgment, as indeed many say. What is meant by “being encompassed with skin, and from the flesh seeing God” (Job 19:25-26), may be seen above (n. 3540 at the end). These things are said in order that it may be known that no man rises again in the body with which he was clothed in the world; but that the Lord alone so rose, and this because He glorified His body, or made it Divine, while He was in the world.