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Matthew 9

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1 And he entered into a boat, and passed over, and came into his own city.

2 And behold, they brought to him a man sick with the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven thee.

3 And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.

4 And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Why think ye evil in your hearts?

5 For which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?

6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick with the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go to thy house.

7 And he arose, and departed to his house.

8 But when the multitude saw it, they marveled, and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

9 And as Jesus was passing from thence, he saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith to him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at table in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

12 But when Jesus heard that, he said to them, They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are sick.

13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples fast not?

15 And Jesus said to them, Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they will fast.

16 No man putteth a piece of new cloth to an old garment: for that which is put in to fill it up, taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

18 While he was speaking these things to them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshiped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she will live.

19 And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.

20 (And behold, a woman who was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment.

21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.

22 But Jesus turned himself about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.)

23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,

24 He said to them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they derided him.

25 But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

26 And the fame of this went abroad into all that land.

27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us.

28 And when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith to them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said to him, Yes, Lord.

29 Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it to you.

30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus strictly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.

31 But they, when they had departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.

32 As thy went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a demon.

33 And when the demon was cast out, the dumb spoke: and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.

34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out demons, through the prince of the demons.

35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness, and every disease among the people.

36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

37 Then saith he to his disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 478

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478. The mystery of God would be concluded, as He declared to His servants the prophets. This symbolically means that then will appear what was foretold in the Word of both Testaments and previously concealed, that after the Last Judgment upon those people who have destroyed the church, the Lord's kingdom will come.

To be concluded means, symbolically, to be fulfilled, to come to an end, and then to reappear. The mystery of God declared to the prophets symbolizes something foretold by the Lord in the Word and previously concealed. To declare good news means, symbolically, to proclaim the coming of the Lord and His kingdom, for the gospel is happy news. That this would come about after the Last Judgment was executed on the people who destroyed the church was also foretold in the Word. Therefore this, too, is symbolically meant.

It can be seen from this that all of these meanings are contained in these words.

[2] First we must say something here about the Lord's advent and His kingdom's being foretold in the Word of both Testaments:

In the Word of the Old Testament, in the spiritual sense of the prophetic portion, and also in its natural sense wherever the spiritual sense shines through, the subject is the Lord alone, namely, His advent in the fullness of time, a time when the goodness of charity and the truth of faith would no longer be present in the church, whose state then is called a consummation, a being laid waste, a desolation, and a cutting off. It includes as well His battles with the hells and victories over them, which constitute also the last judgment that He executed, and after that the creation of a new heaven and the establishment of a new church, which are the Lord's kingdom to come. All of this is found in the Word of the New Testament, too, in the portion called the Gospels, and in particular in the book of Revelation.

[3] That it is the Lord's kingdom that would be declared in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel is apparent in the next chapter (chapter 11) from the following:

Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" And the twenty-four elders... fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God..., who are and who were and who are to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. (Revelation 11:15-17)

[4] This mystery, in almost the same words as in Revelation here, is described in Daniel, where we find the following:

I heard the man clothed in linen..., when he held up his (hands) to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a set time of set times and a half..., when... all these things shall be finished... But he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." (Daniel 12:7, 9)

Till the time of the end refers to the present time. That the Son of Man would then receive His kingdom - this Daniel foretells in these words:

I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! ...Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages will worship Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one which shall not perish. (Daniel 7:13-14)

[5] That declaring good news symbolizes the Lord's advent and His kingdom then, is apparent from the following passages:

Get up into the... mountain, O Zion, who brings good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, who brings good tidings... Say..., "Behold your God!" Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming with strength, and His arm shall rule for Him. (Isaiah 40:9-10)

How delightful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of goodness, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your King shall reign!" (Isaiah 52:7, cf. Nahum 1:15)

Sing to Jehovah, bless in His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day... ...Jehovah, for He is coming... (Psalms 96:2, 13)

The Spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon Me; therefore Jehovah has anointed Me to bring good tidings to the poor..., to proclaim liberty to the captives..., to proclaim the year of Jehovah's good pleasure... (Isaiah 61:1-2)

The angel said to (Zacharias), "(Behold)..., your wife... will bear... a son..., (who) will go before (the Lord God) in the spirit and power of Elijah..., to prepare a people for the Lord... I am Gabriel..., and I was sent... to bring you these glad tidings." (Luke 1:13, 17, 19)

...the angel said to (the shepherds), "Do not be afraid, ...behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy... For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11)

The Lord brought good tidings of the kingdom of God: Matthew 4:23; 9:35; Mark 1:14-15. So did John the Baptist: Luke 3:18.

The Lord also said to the Disciples,

Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

This, too, is the everlasting good news or gospel that "the angel flying in the midst of heaven" had "to proclaim to the those who dwell on the earth" (Revelation 14:6).

[6] Our being told that the mystery of God would be concluded means that something would be fulfilled that was not fulfilled before, namely, the coming of the Lord's kingdom. It was not fulfilled by the Jews because they did not acknowledge the Lord. Neither has it been fulfilled by Christians because they do not acknowledge the Lord to be God of heaven and earth even in respect to His human element; for they regard this as being like anyone else's human element. Consequently they do not turn to Him directly, even though He is Jehovah who came into the world.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.