Bible

 

Matthew 15

Studie

   

1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying,

2 "Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don't wash their hands when they eat bread."

3 He answered them, "Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?

4 For God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.'

5 But you say, 'Whoever may tell his father or his mother, "Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,"

6 he shall not honor his father or mother.' You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition.

7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

8 'These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

9 And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.'"

10 He summoned the multitude, and said to them, "Hear, and understand.

11 That which enters into the mouth doesn't defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."

12 Then the disciples came, and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?"

13 But he answered, "Every plant which my heavenly Father didn't plant will be uprooted.

14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit."

15 Peter answered him, "Explain the parable to us."

16 So Jesus said, "Do you also still not understand?

17 Don't you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body?

18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.

19 For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies.

20 These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn't defile the man."

21 Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon.

22 Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely demonized!"

23 But he answered her not a word. His disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away; for she cries after us."

24 But he answered, "I wasn't sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

25 But she came and worshiped him, saying, "Lord, help me."

26 But he answered, "It is not appropriate to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

27 But she said, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

28 Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that hour.

29 Jesus departed there, and came near to the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there.

30 Great multitudes came to him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and they put them down at his feet. He healed them,

31 so that the multitude wondered when they saw the mute speaking, injured whole, lame walking, and blind seeing--and they glorified the God of Israel.

32 Jesus summoned his disciples and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away fasting, or they might faint on the way."

33 The disciples said to him, "Where should we get so many loaves in a deserted place as to satisfy so great a multitude?"

34 Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish."

35 He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;

36 and he took the seven loaves and the fish. He gave thanks and broke them, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.

37 They all ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.

38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39 Then he sent away the multitudes, got into the boat, and came into the borders of Magdala.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 9086

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

9086. 'And an ox or an ass falls into it' means, which perverts good or truth in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'falling' as perverting, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'an ox' as an affection for evil in the natural, thus evil there, dealt with above in 9065; and from the meaning of 'an ass' as truth in the natural, dealt with in 2781, 5492, 5741, 7024, 8078. The fact that 'falling into a pit' - when these words refer to good and truth in the natural, which are meant by 'an ox and an ass' - means perverting is evident from the contents of the next verse. These describe amendment made through truth, which can be accomplished with forms of good or truths that have been perverted, but not with those which have been wiped out. For when good or truth is perverted it still remains, but is misrepresented. 'Falling' also means slipping through error.

[2] Because this was meant by 'falling into a pit', the Lord therefore said,

Which of you, having an ass or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull it out on the sabbath day? Luke 14:5.

The Lord said this when He healed someone with dropsy on the sabbath day. In that Church the sabbath day was the holiest because it was a sign of the heavenly marriage, which is the joining together of goodness and truth from the Lord, 8495, 8510. This explains why healings were performed by the Lord on the sabbath day; for healing implied the healing of spiritual life, and dropsy implied the perversion of truth and good, so that the healing of perverted truth implied amendment and restoration. All the Lord's miracles implied and were signs of states of the Church, 8364, as is true of all Divine miracles in general, 7337. So it is then that the Lord said, 'Which of you, having an ass or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull it out on the sabbath day?' by which in the spiritual sense what has just been stated was meant. For whatever the Lord spoke He spoke from the Divine; and since it came from the Divine every detail has an internal sense within it, 9049, 9063 (end). 'A well' in what He said is similar in meaning to 'a pit', namely falsity, 1688. And since 'a pit' means falsity the Lord also said, when talking about the falsities of the Church,

When the blind leads the blind both fall into a pit. Matthew 15:14.

'The blind' is someone with wrong ideas, and 'falling into a pit' means perverting truth. These words were used to make a comparison; but all comparisons in the Word were drawn from among objects used as signs of spiritual things, 3579, 8989.

[3] There are people who believe that the Divine holiness which the Word contains lies hidden on a level no higher than the meaning apparent in the letter. Such people's vision of holiness in these words spoken by the Lord and in everything else in the Word arises solely from their belief that everything there is Divinely inspired, and that the things which no one can explain are arcana known only to God. But people who do not share that belief spurn the Word, solely because of its style, which is in appearance less polished than a style adopted to conform to the spirit of the age, such as that adopted by very many ancient and modern authors. But let these people know that Divine holiness lies in each and every detail of the Word. It consists however in this, that each and every detail has the Lord as its subject, also His kingdom and Church. All its details are extremely holy because they are Divine, received from the Lord, and so hold eternal life within them, as accords with the Lord's words in John,

The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. John 6:63.

But the things that are Divine and holy are clearly visible to angels in heaven because they do not understand the Word in a natural way according to the literal sense, only in a spiritual way according to the internal sense. The latter sense could also be understood by people in the world if they were to lead an angelic life, that is to say, a life of faith and love. The things contained in the internal sense of the Word are one and the same as those which the genuine teachings of the Church present. Those which the genuine teachings of the Church present are the Lord, faith in Him, love to Him, and a love of the good that comes from Him, which love is charity towards the neighbour, 6709, 6710, 8123. Those who lead this angelic life, and no others at all, are enlightened by the Lord and see the holy things of the Word; see Preface to Genesis 18.

  
/ 10837  
  

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