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Matthew 12

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1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath through the cornfields; and his disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the ears and to eat.

2 But the Pharisees, seeing [it], said to him, Behold, thy disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on sabbath.

3 But he said to them, Have ye not read what David did when he was hungry, and they that were with him?

4 How he entered into the house of God, and ate the shewbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those with him, but for the priests only?

5 Or have ye not read in the law that on the sabbaths the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

6 But I say unto you, that there is here what is greater than the temple.

7 But if ye had known what is: I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

8 For the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath.

9 And, going away from thence, he came into their synagogue.

10 And behold, there was a man having his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath? that they might accuse him.

11 But he said to them, What man shall there be of you who has one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath, will not lay hold of it and raise [it] up?

12 How much better then is a man than a sheep! So that it is lawful to do well on the sabbath.

13 Then he says to the man, Stretch out thy hand. And he stretched [it] out, and it was restored sound as the other.

14 But the Pharisees, having gone out, took counsel against him, how they might destroy him.

15 But Jesus knowing [it], withdrew thence, and great crowds followed him; and he healed them all:

16 and charged them strictly that they should not make him publicly known:

17 that that might be fulfilled which was spoken through Esaias the prophet, saying,

18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul has found its delight. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall shew forth judgment to the nations.

19 He shall not strive or cry out, nor shall any one hear his voice in the streets;

20 a bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, until he bring forth judgment unto victory;

21 and on his name shall [the] nations hope.

22 Then was brought to him one possessed by a demon, blind and dumb, and he healed him, so that the dumb [man] spake and saw.

23 And all the crowds were amazed and said, Is this [man] the Son of David?

24 But the Pharisees, having heard [it], said, This [man] does not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub, prince of demons.

25 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not subsist.

26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom subsist?

27 And if *I* cast out demons by Beelzebub, your sons, by whom do they cast [them] out? For this reason *they* shall be your judges.

28 But if *I* by [the] Spirit of God cast out demons, then indeed the kingdom of God is come upon you.

29 Or how can any one enter into the house of the strong [man] and plunder his goods, unless first he bind the strong [man]? and then he will plunder his house.

30 He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathers not with me scatters.

31 For this reason I say unto you, Every sin and injurious speaking shall be forgiven to men, but speaking injuriously of the Spirit shall not be forgiven to men.

32 And whosoever shall have spoken a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming [one].

33 Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt. For from the fruit the tree is known.

34 Offspring of vipers! how can ye speak good things, being wicked? For of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

35 The good man out of the good treasure brings forth good things; and the wicked man out of the wicked treasure brings forth wicked things.

36 But I say unto you, that every idle word which men shall say, they shall render an account of it in judgment-day:

37 for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

38 Then answered him some of the scribes and Pharisees, saying, Teacher, we desire to see a sign from thee.

39 But he, answering, said to them, A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it save the sign of Jonas the prophet.

40 For even as Jonas was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, thus shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

41 Ninevites shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, more than Jonas [is] here.

42 A queen of [the] south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, more than Solomon [is] here.

43 But when the unclean spirit has gone out of the man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and does not find [it].

44 Then he says, I will return to my house whence I came out; and having come, he finds [it] unoccupied, swept, and adorned.

45 Then he goes and takes with himself seven other spirits worse than himself, and entering in, they dwell there; and the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. Thus shall it be to this wicked generation also.

46 But while he was yet speaking to the crowds, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him.

47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren are standing without, seeking to speak to thee.

48 But he answering said to him that spoke to him, Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?

49 And, stretching out his hand to his disciples, he said, Behold my mother and my brethren;

50 for whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in [the] heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

   

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Dumb

  

To be dumb, or unable to speak, as in Exodus 4:11 and Isaiah 35:6, signifies people who cannot confess the Lord because they are ignorant of the truth. (Arcana Coelestia 6988, Apocalypse Explained 455)

In Mark 9:25, this signifies one who does not want to perceive and understand truth. (Apocalypse Explained 556)

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Arcana Coelestia # 4060

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4060. Therefore the words quoted above [in 4056] mean the state of the Church at that time as regards good, that is, as regards charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord. This is clear from the internal sense of these words, which is as follows:

But immediately after the affliction of those days means the state of the Church as regards the truth of faith, which is dealt with in the verses immediately before this. In the Word desolation of truth is called 'affliction' in various places - 'days' being states, see 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785. From this it is evident that these words mean that once faith no longer exists neither will any charity exist. For faith leads to charity because it teaches what charity is, and charity acquires its particular character from the truths of faith. The truths of faith however receive their essence and life from charity, as has been shown many times in previous volumes.

[2] The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light means love to the Lord, which is 'the sun', and charity towards the neighbour, which is 'the moon'. 'Being darkened' and 'not giving light' mean that that love and charity will not be in evidence and so will disappear. For 'the sun' means the celestial kind of love and 'the moon' the spiritual kind; that is, 'the sun' means love to the Lord, and 'the moon' charity towards the neighbour which comes through faith, see 1053, 1529, 1530, 2120, 2441, 2495. The reason why the sun and the moon have these meanings is that the Lord is seen in the next life as a sun by those in heaven who are governed by love to Him and are called celestial, and as a moon by those who are governed by charity towards the neighbour and are referred to as spiritual, see 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643.

[3] The sun and the moon in heaven, or the Lord, are never darkened, nor do they lose their light but are shining unceasingly. Thus in heaven there is no darkening or loss of light in the love which celestial angels have for the Lord or in the charity which spiritual angels show towards the neighbour. Nor on earth is there any in people with whom angels are present, that is, in people who are governed by love and charity. But those who are not governed by any love or charity, only by self-love and love of the world, and consequently by feelings of hatred and revenge, bring that kind of obscurity to themselves. It is like the sun of this world which is shining constantly; yet when clouds intervene the sun is not visible, see 2441.

[4] And the stars will fall from heaven means that cognitions of good and truth will perish. When mentioned in the Word 'stars' have no other meaning than those cognitions, 1808, 2849.

And the powers of the heavens will be shaken means the foundations of the Church which are said to be shaken and jolted when those cognitions perish. This is because the Church on earth is heaven's foundation; for the influx of good and truth from the Lord through the heavens culminates ultimately in the goods and truths present with the member of the Church. Consequently when the state of the member of the Church is so perverse that he no longer allows good or truth to flow into him 'the powers of the heavens' are in that case said 'to be shaken'. That being so, the Lord always provides for some vestige of the Church to be left. And when the old Church perishes a new one is established.

[5] And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven means the manifestation of Divine truth - 'sign' meaning a manifestation, 'the Son of Man' the Lord as regards Divine truth, see 2803, 2813, 3704. This manifestation, or this 'sign', is what the disciples asked for when they said to the Lord,

Tell us, when will those things take place; what especially will be the sign of Your coming and of the close of the age? Matthew 24:3.

For they knew from the Word that when the age drew to a close the Lord would come, and they knew from the Lord that He would be coming again, by which they understood the Lord's coming a second time into the world since they were not yet aware of the fact that the Lord had come as often as the Church had been brought to ruin. Not that any of these comings had been a coming in person, as was the case when, through birth in the world, He took on the Human and made this Divine. Rather, those comings had been made through appearances or manifestations of Himself, such as when He appeared in Mamre to Abraham, in the bush to Moses, on Mount Sinai to the Israelites, and to Joshua when he entered the land of Canaan. There were other comings of a less visible nature, such as those at times when inspiration was received and the Word was given by means of it, and later on through the Word itself. For the Word has the Lord present within it; every detail there comes from Him and has reference to Him, as may be recognized from what has been shown many times up to now. This is the kind of appearance that is meant here by 'the sign of the Son of Man' and is the subject in the present verse under consideration.

[6] And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn means that all in whom the good of love and the truth of faith dwell will experience grief. This is what is meant by 'mourning', see Zechariah 12:10-14; and 'the tribes' means all aspects of good and truth, that is, of love and faith, 3858, 3926, and so consequently those in whom these things dwell. The phrase 'the tribes of the earth' is used because those inside the Church are meant - 'the earth' being the Church, see 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2928,

[7] And they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory means that at that time a revelation of the internal sense of the Word - the sense in which the Lord is present - will take place. 'The Son of Man' means Divine truth within the Word, 2803, 2813, 3704, 'the clouds' the literal sense. 'Power' has reference to the good and 'glory' to the truth present there. For this meaning of 'seeing the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven', see Preface to Genesis 18. This is the kind of coming of the Lord that is meant here, not a literal manifestation of Him in clouds. Next follows a reference to the establishment of a new Church, which takes place once the old has been brought to ruin and cast aside.

[8] He will send out His angels with a trumpet and a loud voice means election - not by visible angels, still less by trumpets and by loud voices, but by an influx of holy good and of holy truth from the Lord through angels, so that the expression 'angels' in the Word means something essentially the Lord's, 1925, 2821, 3039. In this instance it means things which come from the Lord and have reference to the Lord. 'A trumpet and a loud voice' means the proclamation of the Gospel, as in other places in the Word.

[9] And they will gather the elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other end of them means the establishment of a new Church, 'the elect' being people in whom the good of love and faith dwell, 3755 (end), 3900, 'the four winds' from which they will be gathered being all states of good and truth, 3708, and 'one end of the heavens to the other' the internal and the external features of the Church. These are the considerations that are meant by these words spoken by the Lord.

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