28
ⲚⲦⲞϤ ⲆⲈ ⲠⲈϪⲀϤ ⲚⲀⲨ ϪⲈ ⲞⲨϪⲀϪⲈ ⲚⲢⲰⲘⲈ ⲠⲈⲚⲦⲀϤⲈⲒⲢⲈ ⲘⲠⲀⲒ ⲚⲦⲞⲞⲨ ⲆⲈ ⲠⲈϪⲀⲨ ⲚⲀϤ ϪⲈ ⲔⲞⲨⲰϢ ϬⲈ ⲈⲦⲢⲈⲚⲂⲰⲔ ⲚⲦⲚⲤⲞⲞⲨϨⲞⲨ ⲈϨⲞⲨⲚ.
Matthew 13:28
Arcana Coelestia # 2371
2371. 'And they said, Did not this one come to sojourn' means people with different teaching and a different life. This is clear from the meaning of 'sojourning' as receiving instruction and living, and so as doctrine and life, dealt with in 1463, 2025. Here the nature of the state of the Church around the last times is described, when faith is no more because charity is no more, that is to say, when the good of charity is rejected on doctrinal grounds as well, because it has severed all connection with life.
[2] The people described here are not those who falsify the good of charity by explaining things to their own advantage. They are not those who, so that they may be very great and may possess all the world's goods, make the good of charity the earner of merit. Nor are they those who assume the right to dispense rewards, and in so doing defile the good of charity by various devices and misleading means. Instead the subject is those who do not wish to hear anything about the goods of charity, that is, about good works, only about faith separated from those works. And this they wish to hear from the argument that man has nothing but evil within him and that even the good which springs from himself is in itself evil, and so contains nothing of salvation; and from the argument that no one can merit heaven by means of any good, nor accordingly be saved by it, only by means of a faith whereby they acknowledge the Lord's merit. This is the teaching which flourishes in the last times when the Church starts to breathe its last, and which is enthusiastically taught and favourably accepted.
[3] But to maintain from all this that anyone can lead an evil life and at the same time possess a faith that is good is a false conclusion. It is also a false conclusion to say that because man has nothing but evil within him, good from the Lord - which has heaven within it because it has the Lord within it, and blessedness and happiness within it because heaven is within it - cannot exist there. Finally it is a false conclusion to say that because nobody can merit [heaven] by any good, heavenly good from the Lord in which [self-] merit is regarded as something monstrous has no existence. Such good exists with every angel, such good exists with every regenerate person, and such good exists with those who perceive delight, and indeed blessedness, in good itself, that is, in the affection for it. The Lord speaks of this good or charity in the following way in Matthew,
You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. [But] I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who hurt and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? And if you salute only your brothers, what more are you doing [than others]? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? Matthew 5:43-48
Similar words occur in Luke, with this addition,
Do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. Luke 6:27-36.
[4] Here good which is derived from the Lord is described and the fact that it does not carry any thought of repayment. Consequently people who are governed by that good are called 'sons of the Father who is in heaven', and 'sons of the Most High'. Yet because that good has the Lord within it there is also a reward: in Luke,
When you give a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbours, lest perhaps they invite you back in return, and you are repaid. But when you give a feast invite the poor, the maimed, the blind, and you will be blessed, for they have nothing with which to repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. 1 Luke 14:12-14.
'Dinner', 'supper', or 'feast' means the good that flows from charity, in which the Lord dwells together with man, 2341. Here it is described therefore, and it is plainly evident, that recompense lies within good itself since this has the Lord within it, for it is said that 'you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just'.
[5] People who strive to do good from themselves because the Lord has commanded it to be done are the ones who at length receive this good and who after receiving instruction then acknowledge in faith that all good comes from the Lord, 1712, 1937, 1947. And they are now so opposed to self-merit that they are saddened by the mere thought of merit and perceive that blessedness and happiness with them is that much diminished.
[6] It is quite different in the case of those who fail to do good and instead lead an evil life, while teaching and professing that salvation resides in faith separated from charity. These people are not even aware of the possibility of such good. And what is remarkable the same people in the next life, as I have been given to know from much experience, wish to merit heaven on the basis of all the good deeds they recall their having done, for they are now aware for the first time that no salvation lies in faith separated from charity. But these are the ones whom the Lord refers to in Matthew,
They will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by Your name, and by Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many mighty works? But then will I declare to them, I do not know you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. Matthew 7:22-23.
With these people it is also seen that they had paid no attention at all to any one of the things which the Lord Himself taught so many times about the good that flows from love and charity. Instead those things had been to them like clouds sailing by or like things seen in the night, such as the things recorded in:
Matthew 3:8-9; 5:7-48; 6:1-20; 7:16-20, 24-27; 9:13; 12:33; 13:8, 23; 18:21-end; 19:19; 22:35-40; 24:12-13; 25:34-end;
Mark 4:18-20; 11:13-14, 20; 12:28-35;
Luke 3:8-9; 6:27-39, 43-end; 7:47; 8:8, 14-15; 10:25-28; 12:58-59; 13:6-10;
John 3:19, 21; 5:42; 13:34-35; 14:14-15, 20-21, 23; 15:1-8, 9-19; 21:15-17.
These then, and other things like them, are what were meant by the words 'the men of Sodom' - that is, those immersed in evil, 2220, 2246, 2322 - 'saying to Lot, Did not this one come to sojourn, and will he surely judge?' that is, Will people with different teaching and a different life teach us?
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. The Latin means the dead; but the Greek means the just, which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.
John 13
1
Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2
During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,
3
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came forth from God, and was going to God,
4
arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
5
Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6
Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?"
7
Jesus answered him, "You don't know what I am doing now, but you will understand later."
8
Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I don't wash you, you have no part with me."
9
Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!"
10
Jesus said to him, "Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you."
11
For he knew him who would betray him, therefore he said, "You are not all clean."
12
So when he had washed their feet, put his outer garment back on, and sat down again, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you?
13
You call me, 'Teacher' and 'Lord.' You say so correctly, for so I am.
14
If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
15
For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.
16
Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither one who is sent greater than he who sent him.
17
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
18
I don't speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.'
19
From now on, I tell you before it happens, that when it happens, you may believe that I am he.
20
Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me."
21
When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, "Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me."
22
The disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke.
23
One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was at the table, leaning against Jesus' breast.
24
Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, and said to him, "Tell us who it is of whom he speaks."
25
He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus' breast, asked him, "Lord, who is it?"
26
Jesus therefore answered, "It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
27
After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
28
Now no man at the table knew why he said this to him.
29
For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, "Buy what things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor.
30
Therefore, having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night.
31
When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.
32
If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately.
33
Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you can't come,' so now I tell you.
34
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another.
35
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
36
Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "where I am going, you can't follow now, but you will follow afterwards."
37
Peter said to him, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."
38
Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly I tell you, the rooster won't crow until you have denied me three times.
