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Matthew 16

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1 The Pharisees also and the Sadducees came, and, tempting, desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven.

2 He answered and said to them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh for a sign; and there shall no sign been to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he left them, and departed.

5 And when his disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

6 Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said to them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

10 Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spoke not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

12 Then they understood that he did not caution them against the leaven of bread, but against the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

13 When Jesus came into the borders of Cesarea Phillippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am?

14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

15 He saith to them, But who say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon-Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.

18 And I say also to thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.

20 Then he charged his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

21 From that time forth Jesus began to show to his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be to thee.

23 But he turned, and said to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offense to me: for thou savorest not the things that are of God, but those that are of men.

24 Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

25 For whoever will save his life, shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it.

26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

27 For the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he will reward every man according to his works.

28 Verily I say to you, There are some standing here, who shall not taste death, till they shall see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 8409

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8409. As regards 'flesh' and its meaning the proprium in both the genuine and contrary senses, in the highest sense it is the Lord's Divine proprium, which is His Divine Human, and so is the good of His love towards the entire human race. From this in the sense that relates to man 'flesh' means a proprium made alive by the Lord's Proprium; that is, it is the Lord's Proprium present with the person, and so is the good of love to Him. Regarding the meaning of 'flesh' in this sense, see 3813, 7850. But in the contrary sense 'flesh' is the proprium that is man's own, thus the evil of self-love, and consequently the desires of that love, which are cravings, 999, 3813. The proprium that is man's own is nothing but evil, see 210, 215, 694, 874-876, 987, 1023, 1044, 1047, 3812 (end), 5660, 5786. The fact that 'flesh' means the proprium that is man's own, thus evil of every kind, is in addition clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

I will feed your oppressors with their flesh, and they will be drunk with their blood as with new wine. Isaiah 49:26.

'Feeding with flesh' stands for filling with their own evil.

[2] In Jeremiah,

Cursed is the man (vir) who trusts in man (homo), and makes flesh his arm, but his heart departs from Jehovah. Jeremiah 17:5.

'Making flesh his arm' stands for trusting in power that is one's own; therefore eating the flesh of one's arm stands for trusting in self, Isaiah 9:20. In Isaiah,

Egypt is man (homo) and not God, and his horses are flesh and not spirit. Isaiah 31:3.

'Horses of Egypt' stands for factual knowledge belonging to a perverted understanding, 6125; 'flesh' stands for what is dead, and 'spirit' for what is living. This is why the Egyptians 1 are called great in flesh, Ezekiel 16:26. The expression 'what is dead' is applied to evil, since evil leads to spiritual death, and 'what is living' is applied to good, since good leads to spiritual life.

[3] This explains why 'flesh' and 'spirit' are set in contrast to each other in the Word, as in John,

That which has been born of flesh is flesh, and that which has been born from the spirit is spirit. John 3:6.

In the same gospel,

It is the Spirit who bestows life, the flesh does not profit anything. The words which I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. John 6:63.

In the Book of Genesis,

Jehovah said, My spirit will not reprove man forever, in that he is flesh. Genesis 6:3.

'Flesh' here stands for the proprium that is man's own. Similarly in Matthew,

Jesus said, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this, but My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:17.

And in John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood, 2 nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man (vir), but of God. John 1:12-13.

'The will of the flesh' stands for the proprium, the will part, 'the will of man' for the proprium, the understanding part; and 'sons of God' stands for those who have been regenerated. And those undergoing regeneration all receive life from the Lord's Proprium, which is the Lord's Flesh and body and is Divine Goodness itself.

[4] Since 'flesh' in the contrary sense means the proprium that is man's own, and so means evil, it also means craving, for the life of the flesh, which belongs properly to the body, consists of nothing else than the desires of the senses, the delights of the bodily appetites, and cravings. The fact that 'flesh' means craving is clear from the following verses in Moses,

The rabble who were in the midst of the people had a strong craving, and so the children of Israel wept repeatedly and said, Who will feed us with flesh? But now our soul is dry; there is nothing at all except the man[na] for our eyes [to look] at. And Jehovah said to Moses, You shall say to the people, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, in order that you may eat flesh; for you have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who will feed us with flesh, for it was better for us in Egypt? Jehovah will give you flesh to eat - for a whole month, 3 until it comes out of your nose and is loathsome to you. The flesh was still between their teeth, before it could be swallowed when Jehovah's anger flared up against the people, and Jehovah struck the people with an extremely great plague. So he called the name of that place The Craves of Craving, because there they buried the people having the craving. Numbers 11:4, 6, 16, 18, 20, 33-34.

From all this one may now see what 'sitting by a pot of flesh in the land of Egypt' means, namely a life according to their own pleasure and such as they craved for, which is the life of the proprium.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, the children (or sons) of Egypt

2. literally, bloods

3. literally, month of days

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