Explaining the Inner Meaning of John 1

Verses 1:1, 2. That the Lord, as to his Divine Human [principle], which is divine truth, existed from eternity, in undivided union with the divine good, which is Jehovah.

Verse 1:3. That by divine truth from the Lord was effected the all of creation, both natural and spiritual, thus the production of the all of outward nature, and likewise the regeneration of man, and the establishment of the church.

Verse 1:4. That divine truth is always in union with divine love, and by virtue of that union is the source of all wisdom, intelligence, and rationality, amongst mankind.

Verse 1:5. But that mankind had so immersed themselves in external and natural things, and thus in false principles, that they no longer acknowledged divine truth.

Verses 1:6, 7, 8, 9. That divine truth has its appointed representatives here on earth, amongst those who are principled in charity and faith, whose office it is to testify concerning the Lord's Divine Humanity, and thus to lead mankind to acknowledge and receive it, as the only source of all wisdom, intelligence, and rationality.

Verses 1:10, 11, 12, 13. That the Lord, by his divine truth, or the Word, was present with the Jewish church, but that he was not in general known and acknowledged, yet that all, who did know and acknowledge him, were made regenerate, and thus delivered from the guilt of doing violence to charity, and of profaning truth, being cleansed from all the principles of evil and error.

Verse 1:14. That the Lord, by assuming the human nature, and thus becoming a man, made himself divine truth in ultimates, as he had before been divine truth in first principles, and thus gained fuller access to man, by imparting a fuller measure of his divine love and wisdom.

Verses 1:15, 16, 17. Therefore all, who are principled in charity and faith, acknowledge from the heart, that the Lord in his Divine Humanity is the eternal God, and that all good and truth are from him, and that he came into the world to open those interior things of his Word, for the benefit of mankind.

Verse 1:18. They acknowledge also, that no right apprehension can be had of the invisible Jehovah, but by or through the visible humanity, which he assumed and glorified for that purpose.

Verses 1:19, 20, 21, 22. 23. Thus they testify concerning themselves, to those of the perverted church who are inquisitive about them, that they possess no truth or good of themselves, but only from the Word, and that from the Word all in the vastated church are admonished to prepare themselves to receive the Lord in his Divine Humanity.

Verses 1:24, 25, 26. They testify further, that they can teach only external truth, but that the truth itself is the Lord as to his Divine Humanity, who is yet unacknowledged, although he is the very central life of all truths.

Verse 1:27. And has thus pre-eminence over all, since the lowest order of internal truth is above the highest of what is external.

Verses 1:28, 29. Such is the testimony of external truth, derived from the letter of the Word, which testimony presently conducts to a view of internal truth as it is in connection with the Lord's Divine Humanity, by virtue of which internal truth confession is made that the Lord in his Divine Humanity is the purest innocence, and that human disorder can never be removed, only so far as that innocence is implanted in human minds.

Verses 1:30, 31. Confession is further made from internal truth, that the Lord, in his Divine Humanity, is the eternal god, and that all good and truth are from him, and that he is to be made known to the church by the teaching of external truth from the Word.

Verses 1:32, 33, 34, 35. Which truth testifies, that all the good and truth of faith, thus all purification and regeneration, are from the Divine Humanity of the Lord, and that consequently all internal truth is from the same source.

Verses 1:35, 36, 37. That they who are principled in charity, and in the faith of charity, have their spiritual sight opened to behold and to confess the Lord in his Divine Humanity, whom therefore they immediately acknowledge and obey as the only God.

Verses 1:38, 39. And being led by an internal dictate in their own minds to explore and examine the end of all truth, or knowledge, they are led further to inquire after the good of love and charity, to which all truth and knowledge point, and thus attain conjunction with the Lord in that good.

Verses 1:40, 41, 42. That they who are principled in the good of charity instruct those who are principled in the good of faith, concerning the Lord in his Divine Humanity, and thus conduct them to the Incarnate God, by whom they are taught that they, who are principled in truth derived from good, ought to attach themselves to divine truth, or to truth proceeding from, and in conjunction with, the Lord's Divine Humanity.

Verses 1:43, 44, 45. That they of the church, who are principled in intelligence, are next instructed to acknowledge all intelligence to be derived from the Lord's Divine Humanity, and that when they are so instructed, they again instruct those who are principled in charity and its faith, that the Lord is manifested in his Divine Humanity, as was predicted.

Verses 1:46, 47, 48, 49. Which instruction is received with doubt, until conviction is worked of the divine wisdom of that Humanity, by the distinction which it makes between spiritual good and natural good, and by setting the former above the latter.

Verses 1:50, 51. That this distinction, however, does not produce a conviction equal to that which arises in the course of regeneration, when the internal man is opened to see the several orders of truth in their connection with their divine source, by virtue of which man's ascent to God is first effected, and afterwards the descent of God to man.

2534. 'For he is a prophet' means that thus it was to be taught. This is clear from the meaning of 'a prophet'. One reads the word 'prophet' many times in the Word, and in the sense of the letter it means those to whom revelation is given, and also - abstractedly from persons - revelation itself. But in the internal sense that word means one who teaches, and also - abstractedly - doctrine itself. And because, as has been stated, the Lord is doctrine itself, or the Word which teaches, He is called 'a Prophet', as also in Moses,

Jehovah your God will raise up a Prophet like me from the midst of you, from your brothers; Him shall you obey. Deuteronomy 18:15, 18.

The words 'like me' are used because the Lord was represented by Moses, as He also was by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and many more. And because people awaited Him it is therefore said in John,

When the people saw the sign which Jesus had done, they said, This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world. John 6:14.

[2] Since the Lord in the highest sense is 'the Prophet' and 'the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy', Revelation 19:10, 'a prophet' therefore means in the internal sense of the Word a person who teaches, and also - abstractedly - doctrine, as becomes quite clear from the following places: In Luke,

You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High. Luke 1:76.

Zechariah said this in reference to his son, John the Baptist, who was not the prophet but one preparing the way by teaching and preaching the good news about the Lord's Coming, as he himself says,

They asked him, What are you? Are you Elijah? But he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, No. Therefore they said to him. Who are you? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord. John 1:21-23.

[3] In Matthew,

Many will say on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Matthew 7:22.

Here it is evident that 'prophesying' means teaching. In John,

You must again prophesy over many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. Revelation 10:11.

'Prophesying' stands for teaching. What 'peoples', 'nations', 'tongues', and 'kings' mean has been stated and shown in various places. In the same book,

The nations will trample the holy city for forty-two months, but I will grant My two witnesses to prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. Revelation 11:2-3.

Here also 'prophesying' stands for teaching. In Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. Exodus 7:1.

Here 'prophet' stands for one teaching or saying what Moses would have to say. In Joel,

I will pour out My spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Joel 2:28.

'They will prophesy' stands for they will teach.

[4] In Isaiah,

Jehovah has poured out over you a spirit of sleep, and has closed your eyes; the prophets and your heads, the seers, He has covered; and the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a sealed book which men give to one who is able to read, saying, Read this, now; and he will say, I cannot, for it is sealed. Isaiah 29:10-11.

Here 'the prophets' is used to mean those who teach truth, and 'the seers' those who see truth. Their heads are said to be 'covered' when they know no truth at all and see none at all. Because in ancient times those who taught were called prophets, they were also called 'seers', for 'seeing' meant understanding, 2150, 2325. The fact that they were called 'seers', see 1 Samuel 9:9; 2 Samuel 24:11. They were also called 'men (vir) of God' because of the meaning 'man' carried, dealt with in 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517. The fact that they were called 'men of God', see 2 Kings 1:9-16; 4:7, 9, 16, 21-22, 25, 27, 40, 42; 5:8, 14, 20; 13:19; 23:16-17.

[5] That 'prophets' means in the internal sense those who teach is clear in the whole of Jeremiah 23 and the whole of Ezekiel 13, where prophets are referred to specifically, and also in many other places where they are mentioned. This also explains why 'pseudoprophets' means those who teach falsities, as in Matthew,

At the close of the age many pseudoprophets will arise and lead many astray. False Christs and false prophets ¹ will arise and will show great signs, and will lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Matthew 24:11, 24; Mark 13:22.

No others are meant here by 'pseudoprophets' and 'false prophets', nor likewise by the pseudoprophet in Revelation 16:13; 19:20; 20:10.

[6] How much the internal sense of the Word is obscured by ideas that have been conceived from the representatives of the Jewish Church becomes clear from the fact that every time a prophet is mentioned in the Word the idea of prophets like those who lived in those times immediately springs to mind, an idea which impedes greatly any discernment of what is meant by them. But the wiser anyone is, the more easily is an idea conceived from such representatives banished. For example, when the temple is mentioned, people who are more wise in their thinking do not envisage the temple in Jerusalem but the temple of the Lord; when Mount Zion, or simply Zion, is mentioned, they do not envisage a location in Jerusalem but the Lord's kingdom; and when Jerusalem is mentioned, they do not envisage the Jerusalem situated in the tribe of Benjamin and Judah but the holy and heavenly Jerusalem.

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