151. These things saith the Son of man. That this signifies the Lord as to the Divine Human, from which is that constituent of the church, is evident from the signification of the Son of God, as denoting the Lord as to His Divine Human, and as to Divine truth, inasmuch as the latter proceeds from Him (concerning which see above, n. 63). That it also denotes from whom is that constituent of the church, that is, the opening of the internal or spiritual man and its conjunction with the external, is, that everything of the church pertaining to man is from the Lord's Divine Human. For everything of love and faith constituting the church proceeds from the Divine Human of the Lord, and not immediately from the Divine itself; for what immediately proceeds from the Divine itself does not enter into any thought or affection of man, and consequently not into faith and love, because it is far above them, as is evident from the fact that a man cannot think of the Divine without connecting with such thought the human form, unless he thinks of nature, as it were, in its minutest parts. The thought which is not directed to some particular form is diffused in all directions, and what is thus diffused is dissipated. This it has been specially granted me to know, from those in the other life who come from the Christian world, and who have thought only of the Father, and not of the Lord, that they make nature in its minutest parts their God, and at length fall away from any idea of God, consequently from the idea and faith of all things of heaven and the church.

[2] It is different with those who have thought of God in the human form; all these have their ideas directed to the Divine, nor do their thoughts, like those of the former, wander in every direction. And, inasmuch as the Divine under a human form, is the Divine Human of the Lord, therefore the Lord bends and determines their thoughts and affections to Himself. Because this is the essential of the church, therefore it continually flows in from heaven with man, consequently it is, as it were, implanted in every one to think of the Divine under a human form, and thus inwardly in themselves to see the Divine, except in the case of those who have extinguished this impression in themselves (as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 82). It is therefore evident why all men after death, however vast their number, when they become spirits, are turned to their own loves, and that hence those who have worshipped the Divine under the human form turn to the Lord, who is seen by them as a Sun above the heavens. But those who have not worshipped Him under the human form are turned to the loves of their own natural man, all of which have reference to the loves of self and of the world; thus they turn backwards from the Lord; and to turn themselves backwards from the Lord, is to turn towards hell. (That all turn themselves to their own loves in the spiritual world, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 17, 123, 142-145, 151, 153, 255, 272, 510, 548, 552, 561.

[3] All those who lived in ancient times, and worshipped the Divine, saw the Divine, in thought, under a human form, and scarcely any one thought of an invisible Divine; and the Divine under the human form, even at that time, was the Divine Human. But because this Divine Human was the Lord's Divine in the heavens and passing through the heavens, when heaven became weakened for the reason that men, of whom heaven consists, from internal became successively external, and thus natural, it therefore pleased the Divine Himself to put on the Human, and to glorify this, or make it Divine, that thus from Himself He might affect all, both those who are in the spiritual world and those who are in the natural world, and save those who acknowledge and worship His Divine in the Human.

[4] This is manifest from many passages in the Prophets of the Old Testament, and also in the Evangelists, from which we shall adduce only the following in John:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world knew him not. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory" (1:1-14).

That the Lord as to the Human is there meant by the Word, is quite clear, for it is said, "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory;" and that the Lord made His Human Divine, is also plain from these words, "the Word was with God, and God was the Word," and this was made flesh, that is, man. And whereas all Divine truth proceeds from the Divine Human of the Lord, and this is His Divine in the heavens, therefore by the Word is also signified Divine truth; and it is said, He was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Light also is Divine truth; and because men, from being internal, became external or natural, because they no longer acknowledged Divine truth, or the Lord, therefore it is said that the darkness comprehended not the light, and that the world acknowledged Him not. (That the Word is the Lord as to the Divine Human, and Divine truth thence proceeding, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 263 and 304. That light is Divine truth, and that darkness denotes the falsities in which those are who are not in the light, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 126-140, 275.)

[5] That those who acknowledge the Lord, and worship Him from love and faith, and are not in the loves of self and of the world, are regenerated and saved, is also taught in these words,

"As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, to them that believe in his name; which were born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man (vir), but of God" (1:12, 13).

Those who are born of bloods, are those who destroy love and charity; the will of the flesh denotes all evil derived from the loves of self and of the world, and is man's voluntary proprium, which in itself is nothing but evil; the will of man is falsity derived from that voluntary proprium. That those who are not in these loves receive the Lord, are regenerated and saved, is meant by them that believe in His name becoming the sons of God, and being born of God. (That to believe in the name of the Lord, is to acknowledge His Divine Human, and to receive from Him love and faith, may be seen above, n. 102, 135. That bloods denote those things that destroy love and charity, see Arcana Coelestia 4735, 5476, 9127: that flesh denotes the voluntary proprium of man, which in itself is nothing but evil, n. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 4328, 8480, 8550, 10283-10286, 10731; and that man's proprium is the love of self and the love of the world, n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660. That man (vir) denotes the Intellectual, and hence truth or falsity, because the Intellectual is from the one or the other, see n. 3134, 3309, 9007, thus the will of man (vir) denotes the intellectual proprium, which, when it exists from the voluntary proprium, which in itself is nothing but evil, is nothing but falsity; for where evil is in the will there falsity is in the understanding. That to be born of God is to be regenerated by the Lord, may be seen inThe Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 173-184. Moreover, that all in the universe, from influx out of heaven, and from revelation, worship the Divine under the human form, may be seen in the small work, The Earths in the Universe 98, 121, 141, 154, 158, 159, 169; and likewise all the angels of the higher heavens, in the work, Heaven and Hell 78-86.)

[6] From these considerations it is now evident that the all of the church, thus also the all of heaven pertaining to men, is from the Lord's Divine Human. It is on this account that the Son of Man, who is the Divine Human, is described, in the first chapter of the Apocalypse, by various representatives, and afterwards from that description are taken the exhortations to the several churches (as may be seen above, n. 113), and specifically to this church, in writing to which this great essential of the church is treated of, that is, the conjunction of the internal and external, or the regeneration of the man of the church; for it is said to the angel of this church, "These things saith the Son of man, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire."

9127. 'There shall be no bloodguilt for him' means that he is not guilty of the violence done. This is clear from the meaning of 'blood' in the highest sense as Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, and in the internal sense springing from this as the truth of good, dealt with in 4735, 6378, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7846, 7850, 7877. Consequently 'shedding blood' means doing violence to God's truth or the truth of good, and also to good itself. For anyone who does violence to truth does it also to good, since truth is wedded so closely to good that one is never without the other. Therefore if violence is done to one it is also done to the other. From all this it is evident that 'there shall be no bloodguilt for him' means not being guilty of the violence done to truth or to good.

[2] A person who has no knowledge of the internal sense of the Word can only think that 'blood' in the Word means blood, and that 'shedding blood' simply means killing someone. But the internal sense does not deal with the life of a person's body, only with that of his soul, that is, with his spiritual life, which will go on living forever. This life is described in the Word, in the sense of the letter, by means of such things as constitute the life of the body, namely flesh and blood. And since a person's spiritual life springs from and is maintained by the good that belongs to charity and the truth that belongs to faith, the good belonging to charity is meant in the internal sense of the Word by 'flesh' and the truth belonging to faith by 'blood'. In an even more internal sense the good belonging to love to the Lord is meant by 'flesh' and the good belonging to love towards the neighbour by 'blood'. In the highest sense however, in which solely the Lord is the subject, 'flesh' is the Lord's Divine Good, thus the Lord Himself in respect of Divine Good, while 'blood' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, thus the Lord in respect of Divine Truth. These things are understood in heaven by flesh and blood when a person reads the Word. And the same things are understood when the person attends the Holy Supper, though in this the bread is the flesh and the wine is the blood; for 'the bread' has exactly the same meaning as flesh and 'the wine' exactly the same meaning as blood.

[3] But those who think only on the level of the senses, as most people in the world do at the present day, do not understand any of this. Therefore let them keep to the faith they have, so long as they believe that the Holy Supper and the Word have a holiness within them because they come from God. Maybe they do not know where that holiness lies; even so, let those who are endowed with some inner degree of perception, that is, who can think on a level above the senses, consider whether 'blood' is used to mean blood and 'flesh' to mean flesh in Ezekiel,

Son of man, thus said the Lord Jehovih, Say to every bird of the air, to every wild animal of the field, Assemble and come, gather yourselves from all around to My sacrifice which I am sacrificing for you, a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, so that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of the mighty, and [drink] the blood of the princes of the earth. And you will drink blood till you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I will sacrifice for you. You will be glutted at My table with horse and chariot, and with the mighty, and with every man of war. Thus will I set My glory among the nations. Ezekiel 39:17-21.

Also in John, in Revelation,

I saw an angel standing in the sun, who called out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying in the middle of heaven, Gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and those seated on them, and the flesh of all, free men and slaves, small and great. Revelation 19:17-18.

It is obvious that in these places 'flesh' is not used to mean flesh or 'blood' to mean blood.

The same applies then to the Lord's 'flesh' and 'blood' in John,

The bread which I shall give is My flesh. Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you will have no life in you. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. This is the bread which came down from heaven. John 6:50-58.

The Lord's flesh is the Divine Good of His Divine Love, and His blood is Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Good. This may be recognized from the consideration that they are the food which nourishes a person's spiritual life.

[4] This explains why He goes on to say, 'My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink', and also, 'This is the bread which came down from heaven'. And since a person is joined to the Lord through love and faith, He also says, 'He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him'. But as stated above, this matter can be understood only by those who are able to think on a level above the bodily senses, in particular by those who believe in and love the Lord, because the Lord raises them from the life of their bodily senses up to the life of their spirit. That is, He raises them from the light of the world into the light of heaven, the light in which conceptions of things that are material, that is, impressions in the mind that are acquired by the body fade from view.

[5] Anyone therefore who knows that 'blood' means God's truth coming from the Lord can also see that 'shedding blood' in the Word does not mean killing or taking a person's physical life but killing or taking the life of his soul, that is, destroying his spiritual life, which consists of faith in and love to the Lord. When 'blood' is used to refer to blood shed unlawfully it means God's truth destroyed by falsities arising from evil, as is evident in the following places: In Isaiah,

When the Lord will have washed the excrement of the daughters of Zion and washed away the blood ¹ of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgement and by a spirit of purging ... Isaiah 4:4.

In the same prophet,

Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Isaiah 59:3, 7.

In Jeremiah,

Yes, in your skirts the blood of poor innocent souls is found. Jeremiah 2:34.

In the same prophet,

... for the sins of the prophets, the iniquities of the priests who shed in the midst of Jerusalem the blood of the righteous. They went astray blind in the streets, they are defiled with blood. Things which have no power they touch with their garments. Lamentations 4:13-14.

In Ezekiel,

I passed by you and saw you weltering in your blood, ¹ and I said, Live in your blood; ¹ I indeed said to you, Live in your blood. ¹ I washed you with water and washed away your blood ¹ from upon you, and anointed you with oil. Ezekiel 16:6, 9.

In the same prophet,

You, son of man, will you dispute with the city of blood? ¹ Declare to her all her abominations. By your blood which you have shed you have become guilty, and by the idols which you have made you are defiled. Behold, the princes of Israel, each according to his power, ² have been among you and have shed blood. Men of intrigue have been among you, [ready] to shed blood, and among you have eaten on the mountains. Ezekiel 22:2-4, 6, 9.

In Joel,

I will give portents in heaven and on earth, blood and fire, and a column of smoke. The sun will be turned into thick darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day [of Jehovah] comes. Joel 2:30-31.

And in John,

The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became like blood. Revelation 6:12.

In the same book,

The second angel sounded, and so to speak a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third part of the sea became blood. Revelation 8:8.

In the same book,

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of one dead, from which every living soul died in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and into the fountains of water, and blood was made. Revelation 16:3-4.

[6] In these places 'blood' is not used to mean the life-blood of the human body when it has been shed, but the blood of spiritual life, which is God's truth, when violence has been done to it by falsity arising from evil. 'Blood' has a similar meaning in Matthew,

On you will come the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel even to the blood of Zechariah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. Matthew 23:35.

These words mean that from earliest times down to the present the Jews had been doing violence to the truths of the Word, to such an extent that they were unwilling to accept any inner, heavenly truth at all. Therefore they did not accept the Lord either. The shedding of His blood by them was a sign of their total rejection of God's truth; for the Lord was Divine Truth itself, which is the Word made flesh, John 1:1, 14. Their total rejection of God's truth that came from the Lord and was the Lord is meant by the following in Matthew,

Pilate washed his hands before the people, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person; you yourselves see [to it]. And answering, all the people said, His blood be on us and on our children. Matthew 27:24-25.

This accounts for the following incident described in John,

One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. He who has seen has testified, and the testimony is true; and he knows that he is saying things that are true, so that you may believe. John 19:34-35.

The reason why water also came out is that 'water' means God's truth in its outward form, the kind of truth that the letter consists of. For the meaning of 'water' as truth, see 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568.

[7] All this also shows what is meant by being made pure by the Lord's blood, namely accepting the truth of faith from Him, 7918, 9088. Thus it also shows what is meant by the following in John, in Revelation,

They conquered the dragon by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their ³ testimony. Revelation 12:11.

'The blood of the Lamb' is Divine Truth that comes from the Lord, as also is 'the word of their testimony'. 'The blood of the lamb' is innocent blood, for 'a lamb' means innocence, 3519, 3994, 7840. God's truth emanating from the Lord in heaven has innocence at the centre of it; for none other than those possessing innocence have any feeling for it, 2526, 2780, 3111, 3183, 3495, 3994, 4797, 6013, 6107, 6765, 7836 (end), 7840, 7877, 7902.

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