1461. 'And Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn' means instruction in cognitions from the Word. This is clear from the meaning of 'Egypt' and from the meaning of 'sojourning'. That 'Egypt' means knowledge comprised of cognitions, and 'sojourning' receiving instruction, will be seen in what follows shortly. That the Lord received instruction in childhood as anybody else does is clear from those places in Luke quoted previously at verse 9 in 1457, and also from what has been stated just above concerning the external man, who cannot possibly be made to correspond and accord with the internal man except by means of cognitions. The external man is seated in the body and the senses, and does not receive anything celestial or spiritual unless cognitions are implanted in it as in the soil. Celestial things are able to utilize these as their own recipient vessels, but those cognitions must be from the Word. Cognitions from the Word are such as lie open from the Lord Himself, for the Word itself comes from the Lord by way of heaven, and the Lord's life is present in every single detail of it, though this is not to be seen in the external form. From this it may become clear that in childhood the Lord wished to take in no other cognitions than those of the Word, which, as stated, was laid open to Him from Jehovah Himself, His Father, with whom He was to be united and become one. And that wish was even stronger for the reason that no statement occurs in the Word that does not inmostly have regard to Him and does not in the first place come from Him. For His Human Essence was purely an addition to His Divine Essence which existed from eternity.

10243. 'They shall wash with water' means purification effected by means of the truths of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'washing' as purification from evils and falsities, dealt with above in 10237; and from the meaning of 'water' as the truths of faith, also dealt with above, in 10238. Anyone who does not know what 'washing' means, nor what 'feet' and 'hands' mean, cannot possibly know what is implied by the following words in John,

Jesus poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the linen towel with which He was girded. And He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him, Do you wash my feet? Jesus answered, What I am doing you do not know as yet; but you will know afterwards. Peter said to Him, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me. Peter said to Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and head. Jesus said to Him, He who has been washed has no need except to wash his feet, but the whole person is clean. Already you are clean. John 13:5-10.

Is there anyone who can know what the real meaning is when the Lord said, 'What I am doing you do not know as yet, but you will know afterwards', also 'If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me', as well as 'He who has been washed has no need except to wash his feet', and 'the whole person is clean'?

[2] These words refer to purification from evils and falsities, but no one can know of this except from the internal sense. From this sense it is evident that 'washing' is used to mean purification from evils and falsities; 'water in a basin' to mean the truth of faith within the natural; 'the linen towel' which the Lord was girded with, and which He used for wiping, to mean Divine Truth emanating from Him; 'feet' to mean the natural level in a person; and 'washing the head, hands, and feet' to mean regeneration, as is 'he who has been washed', so that 'washing the feet' is used to mean purifying the natural level in a person. Unless this level with a person is purified and cleansed while he is living in the world he cannot ever be purified after that. For whatever a person's natural level is like when he dies it remains the same; no improvement takes place afterwards, for it is the level into which interior things, that is, spiritual ones flow, and it is their receptacle. Consequently when it has been perverted the interior things are similarly perverted on flowing in. The situation is like that with the eye or any other sensory organ or a member of the body when it has been damaged; inner abilities to perceive or to act by means of that organ or member are conditioned by the state of reception there.

[3] A person's inability therefore ever to be purified if his natural is not purified in the world is the meaning of the Lord's words, What I am doing you do not know as yet; but you will know afterwards. The fact that nothing except the natural needs to be purified in one who has been regenerated is the meaning of He who has washed has no need except to wash his feet, and of the whole person is clean. And the accomplishment of all purification by the Lord alone is the meaning of If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me. The accomplishment of it by means of the Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord is meant by His wiping with the linen towel with which He was girded.

'A linen towel' means truth from God, see 7601, so that 'the linen towel with which the Lord was girded' is Divine Truth from Himself.

'Water' means the truth of faith, 10238.

'A basin' or a laver with water in it means the natural, 10235.

'Washing the head, hands, and feet' - that is, the whole body - means regeneration, 10239, 'feet' being the natural within a person, 10241.

From all this it again becomes evident that the Lord spoke by means of correspondences, thus in accordance with the internal sense, since He spoke from heaven's point of view, where that sense exists. Consequently there is little understanding of the Lord's Word unless it is understood on that level of meaning.