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Matthew 14

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1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,

2 and said to his servants, This is John the baptist: *he* is risen from the dead, and because of this these works of power display their force in him.

3 For Herod had seized John, and had bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias the wife of Philip his brother.

4 For John said to him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.

5 And [while] desiring to kill him, he feared the crowd, because they held him for a prophet.

6 But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod;

7 whereupon he promised with oath to give her whatsoever she should ask.

8 But she, being set on by her mother, says, Give me here upon a dish the head of John the baptist.

9 And the king was grieved; but on account of the oaths, and those lying at table with [him], he commanded [it] to be given.

10 And he sent and beheaded John in the prison;

11 and his head was brought upon a dish, and was given to the damsel, and she carried [it] to her mother.

12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and came and brought word to Jesus.

13 And Jesus, having heard it, went away thence by ship to a desert place apart. And the crowds having heard [of it] followed him on foot from the cities.

14 And going out he saw a great crowd, and was moved with compassion about them, and healed their infirm.

15 But when even was come, his disciples came to him saying, The place is desert, and [much of] the [day] time already gone by; dismiss the crowds, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.

16 But Jesus said to them, They have no need to go: give *ye* them to eat.

17 But they say to him, We have not here save five loaves and two fishes.

18 And he said, Bring them here to me.

19 And having commanded the crowds to recline upon the grass, having taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed: and having broken the loaves, he gave [them] to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the crowds.

20 And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was over and above of fragments twelve hand-baskets full.

21 But those that had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

22 And immediately he compelled the disciples to go on board ship, and to go on before him to the other side, until he should have dismissed the crowds.

23 And having dismissed the crowds, he went up into the mountain apart to pray. And when even was come, he was alone there,

24 but the ship was already in the middle of the sea tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

25 But in the fourth watch of the night he went off to them, walking on the sea.

26 And the disciples, seeing him walking on the sea, were troubled, saying, It is an apparition. And they cried out through fear.

27 But Jesus immediately spoke to them, saying, Take courage; it is *I*: be not afraid.

28 And Peter answering him said, Lord, if it be *thou*, command me to come to thee upon the waters.

29 And he said, Come. And Peter, having descended from the ship, walked upon the waters to go to Jesus.

30 But seeing the wind strong he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught hold of him, and says to him, O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?

32 And when they had gone up into the ship, the wind fell.

33 But those in the ship came and did homage to him, saying, Truly thou art God's Son.

34 And having crossed over they came to the land of Gennesaret.

35 And when the men of that place recognised him, they sent to that whole country around, and they brought to him all that were ill,

36 and besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment; and as many as touched were made thoroughly well.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 10083

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10083. 'And you shall wave them as a wave offering before Jehovah' means the life from God which comes as a result of this. This is clear from the meaning of 'waving a wave offering' as endowing with life, thus the life [present in something]; and since it says from 'before Jehovah' the life from God is meant. The fact that 'waving a wave offering' means endowing with life, that is, imparting the life from God, is clear from places in the Word where 'waving a wave offering' is spoken of, as in Moses,

When you bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, he shall wave the sheaf before Jehovah, so that you may be acceptable; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. Leviticus 23:10-11.

'Harvest' means a state when the truth of faith springing from good exists, thus a state when good is present, 9295; 'a sheaf of the firstfruits' means all collectively constituting that state. 'Being waved by the priest' therefore means being endowed with life to receive a blessing; for every blessing, to be a blessing, must have life from God within it.

[2] In the same author,

Aaron shall wave the Levites before Jehovah as a wave offering 1 from among the children of Israel, that they may be used in the service of Jehovah. You shall stand the Levites before Aaron and before his sons, and you shall wave them as a wave offering to Jehovah. After that the Levites shall go in to serve in the tent of meeting; and you shall purify them, and wave them as a wave offering. And when the Levites had been purified, Aaron waved them before Jehovah as a wave offering, and Aaron expiated them to purify them. Numbers 8:11, 13, 15, 21.

These verses show what 'waving a wave offering' means, namely endowing with life through acknowledgement, which is the first phase of faith, and so the first phase of life from God with a person. Knowledge, it is true, comes before acknowledgement, but knowledge has none of God's life within it until it becomes acknowledgement and then faith. The Levites represented truths serving good, while Aaron represented the good they served; that is why they were 'waved', that is, were endowed with life. This also accounts for its being said that they were to be purified. For truths must have life from God within them if they are to serve good, and that life first flows in through acknowledgement.

[3] Much the same is meant by 'a wave offering of gold' in Moses,

They came, the men with the women ... they brought brooches, nose-jewels, rings, girdles 2 , all vessels of gold; and every man who waved a wave offering of gold to Jehovah. Exodus 35:22.

'Waving a wave offering of gold to Jehovah' means endowing with life through the acknowledgement that it was Jehovah's, that is, the Lord's. 'Waving a wave offering' means such things by virtue of what that action corresponds to; for every motion corresponds to a state of thought. In the Word therefore advancing, travelling on, and like movements mean states of life, see 3335, 4882, 5493, 5605, 8103, 8417, 8420, 8557.

[4] In John,

At the pool of Bethesda lay a large multitude of sick people; and an angel went down at a certain time to the pool and stirred up the water. Then whoever stepped in first after the movement of the water was cured of whatever disease he had. John 5:2-7.

'Stirring up the water' here was in like manner a sign of the endowment of life through acknowledgement and faith, and therefore also a sign of purification by means of truths.

'Movement' means states of life, see 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882, 5605, 7381, 9440, 9967.

'Water' means the truths of faith, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 8568, 9323.

All purification is accomplished by means of the truths of faith, 2799, 5954 (end), 7044, 7918, 9088.

Healings represented the restoration of spiritual life, 8365, 9031 (end).

[5] Since 'the waving on Aaron's palms' means the endowment of life through acknowledgement of the Lord and the acknowledgement that all things come from Him, something brief must be stated with regard to that acknowledgement and resulting faith. The Lord often said, when sick people were being healed, that they should have faith, and, 'Let it be to you according to your faith', as in Matthew 8:10-13; 9:2, 22, 27-29; 13:57-58; 15:28; 21:21-22, 31-32; Mark 5:34, 36; 10:49, 52; 16:16; Luke 7:9, 48-50; 8:48; 17:19; 18:42-43. The reason why He said it was that the very first thing a person needs to do is to acknowledge that the Lord is the Saviour of the world; for unless he acknowledges this no one can receive any truth or good at all from heaven, or therefore receive faith from there. And since it was the very first and most essential thing, therefore in order that He might be acknowledged when He came into the world the Lord questioned the sick, when He healed them, about their faith; and those who had faith were healed. This faith was that He was the Son of God who was to come into the world, and that He had power to heal and save. Furthermore every healing of sickness by the Lord when He was in the world served to mean a healing of spiritual life, thus served to mean the things that belong to salvation, 8364, 9031(end), 9086.

[6] Since acknowledgement of the Lord is the first thing of all belonging to spiritual life and is the most essential feature of the Church, and since no one, unless he acknowledges Him, can receive any truth of faith or good of love at all from heaven, the Lord also often says that whoever believes in Him has eternal life, and whoever does not believe in Him does not have it, as in John 1:1, 4, 12-13; 3:14-16, 36; 5:39-40; 6:28-30, 33-35, 40, 47-48; 7:37-38; 8:24; 11:25-26; 20:30-31. But at the same time He also teaches that they have faith in Him who live according to His commandments, so that the life which results from doing so goes to compose their faith. These things have been stated to cast light on and corroborate the truth that acknowledging the Lord and acknowledging that all salvation comes from Him constitute the beginning of the life from God with a person. That beginning of it is meant by the offering waved on Aaron's palms.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. i.e. the Levites were to be offered to Jehovah as though they were a wave offering

2. i.e. bracelets, necklaces, etc

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