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Matthew 11

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1 And it came·​·to·​·pass when Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He passed·​·on thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

2 And John, hearing in the prison the works of the Christ and sending two of his disciples,

3 says to Him, Art Thou He who comest, or should we expect another?

4 And Jesus answering, said to them, Go, report to John what you hear and see:

5 the blind receive· their ·sight and the lame walk, the lepers are·​·cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised·​·up and the poor have·​·the·​·gospel·​·announced to them.

6 And happy is he, whoever shall not be offended in Me.

7 And as they went, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, What did you come·​·out into the wilderness to observe? A reed shaken with the wind?

8 But what did you come·​·out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, they who wear soft things are in kings’ houses.

9 But what did you come·​·out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to·​·you, and more·​·than a prophet.

10 For this is he about whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall make·​·ready Thy way before Thee.*

11 Amen I say to you, There has not arisen among those who are born of women a greater than John the Baptist; but the least in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he.

12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens presses, and they who·​·press seize upon it.

13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John,

14 and if you will to accept it, he is Elijah who was·​·going to come.

15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

16 But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like little·​·boys sitting in the markets, and summoning their fellows,

17 and saying, We have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have lamented to you, and you have not wailed.

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon.

19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a man, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! And wisdom has been justified by her children.

20 Then He began to reproach the cities in which most of His works of power were·​·done, because they did not repent.

21 Woe to thee, Chorazin! Woe to thee, Bethsaida! Because if the works of power had been·​·done in Tyre and Sidon that were·​·done in you, they would have repented long·​·ago in sackcloth and ashes.

22 But I say unto you, It shall be more·​·tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you.

23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted up·​·to heaven, shalt be thrust·​·down even·​·to hell; for if the works of power which have been·​·done in thee had been·​·done in Sodom, it would have remained even·​·to this·​·day.

24 But I say to·​·you that it shall be more·​·tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for·​·thee.

25 At that time Jesus answering said, I profess Thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and hast revealed them to infants.

26 Yes, Father; for so it was for good·​·pleasure before Thee.

27 All things are delivered·​·up to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; neither knows anyone the Father, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son intends to reveal Him.

28 Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened, and·​·I will give· you ·rest.

29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.

30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Heaven and Hell # 352

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352. By pseudo-intelligence and wisdom we mean not seeing and grasping what is true and good (and therefore what is false and evil) from within oneself, but only believing that things are true and good or false and evil because someone else says so, and then ratifying it. Since such people are not seeing what is true on the basis of its truth but only on someone's authority, they can just as well latch onto something false as something true and believe it, and even rationalize it until it actually seems to be true. Whatever is rationalized takes on the appearance of truth, and there is nothing that cannot be rationalized. Their deeper levels are open only downward, and their outer levels are opened to the extent that they have made up their minds. So the light they see from is not heaven's light but the world's light, which is called "natural illumination." In this light, false things can shine as though they were true. In fact, once they have become matters of complete conviction, they can even glow, though not in heaven's light.

The less intelligent and wise people of this sort are those who have convinced themselves of a great many opinions, and the more intelligent and wise are the ones who have convinced themselves of fewer.

We can see from all this what pseudo-intelligence and wisdom are.

[2] However, this category does not include people who as children believed as true what they heard from their teachers, if in later youth, when they began to think on their own, they did not hang on to these opinions but had a longing for truth, sought it because of their longing, and were moved inwardly when they found it. Because they are moved by truth for its own sake, they see what is true before they make it a matter of conviction. 1

[3] An example may serve to illustrate this. Some spirits were engaged in a conversation about the reason why animals are born into all the knowledge that is appropriate to their natures, while humans are not. They were told that this is because animals are wholly engaged in the pattern appropriate to their lives, while we are not; so we have to be led into that pattern by means of insights and information. If we were born into the pattern of our lives, which is loving God above all and our neighbor as ourselves, we would be born into intelligence and wisdom and therefore into a trust in everything true to the extent that our insights built up. The good spirits immediately saw and grasped that this was so, simply from the light of truth. However, some spirits who had convinced themselves of faith alone and had therefore pushed love and thoughtfulness aside could not understand it, because the light of false convictions obscured the light of truth for them.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] The part of wisdom is to see and grasp whether something is true before one ratifies it, not to ratify what we are told by others: 1017, 4741, 7012, 7680, 7950. Seeing and grasping what is true before it is ratified is granted only to people who are moved by truth for its own sake and for the sake of their lives: 8521. The light of ratification is a natural and not a spiritual light; it is a sensory light that can be found among evil people as well: 8780. Anything can be rationalized, even false things, so as to appear to be true: 2482 [2477?], 2490 [2480?], 5033, 6865, 8521.

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