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Matthew 10

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1 And having called to him his twelve disciples, he gave to them power over unclean spirits, so as to be casting them out, and to be healing every sickness, and every malady.

2 And of the twelve apostles the names are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James of Zebedee, and John his brother;

3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax-gatherer; James of Alpheus, and Lebbeus who was surnamed Thaddeus;

4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who did also deliver him up.

5 These twelve did Jesus send forth, having given command to them, saying, `To the way of the nations go not away, and into a city of the Samaritans go not in,

6 and be going rather unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7 `And, going on, proclaim saying that, the reign of the heavens hath come nigh;

8 infirm ones be healing, lepers be cleansing, dead be raising, demons be casting out -- freely ye did receive, freely give.

9 `Provide not gold, nor silver, nor brass in your girdles,

10 nor scrip for the way, nor two coats, nor sandals, nor staff -- for the workman is worthy of his nourishment.

11 `And into whatever city or village ye may enter, inquire ye who in it is worthy, and there abide, till ye may go forth.

12 And coming to the house salute it,

13 and if indeed the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it; and if it be not worthy, let your peace turn back to you.

14 `And whoever may not receive you nor hear your words, coming forth from that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet,

15 verily I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

16 `Lo, I do send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore wise as the serpents, and simple as the doves.

17 And, take ye heed of men, for they will give you up to sanhedrims, and in their synagogues they will scourge you,

18 and before governors and kings ye shall be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.

19 `And whenever they may deliver you up, be not anxious how or what ye may speak, for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak;

20 for ye are not the speakers, but the Spirit of your Father that is speaking in you.

21 `And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and father child, and children shall rise up against parents, and shall put them to death,

22 and ye shall be hated by all because of my name, but he who hath endured to the end, he shall be saved.

23 `And whenever they may persecute you in this city, flee to the other, for verily I say to you, ye may not have completed the cities of Israel till the Son of Man may come.

24 `A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his lord;

25 sufficient to the disciple that he may be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord; if the master of the house they did call Beelzeboul, how much more those of his household?

26 `Ye may not, therefore, fear them, for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed, and hid, that shall not be known;

27 that which I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light, and that which you hear at the ear, proclaim on the house-tops.

28 `And be not afraid of those killing the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but fear rather Him who is able both soul and body to destroy in gehenna.

29 `Are not two sparrows sold for an assar? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father;

30 and of you -- even the hairs of the head are all numbered;

31 be not therefore afraid, than many sparrows ye are better.

32 `Every one, therefore, who shall confess in me before men, I also will confess in him before my Father who is in the heavens;

33 and whoever shall deny me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in the heavens.

34 `Ye may not suppose that I came to put peace on the earth; I did not come to put peace, but a sword;

35 for I came to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,

36 and the enemies of a man are those of his household.

37 `He who is loving father or mother above me, is not worthy of me, and he who is loving son or daughter above me, is not worthy of me,

38 and whoever doth not receive his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me.

39 `He who found his life shall lose it, and he who lost his life for my sake shall find it.

40 `He who is receiving you doth receive me, and he who is receiving me doth receive Him who sent me,

41 he who is receiving a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward, and he who is receiving a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward,

42 and whoever may give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say to you, he may not lose his reward.'

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4677

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4677. 'And he made him a tunic of various colours' means the resulting appearances of truth by which the spiritual of the natural is recognized and distinguished. This is clear from the meaning of 'a tunic' as the truth of the natural, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'various colours' as appearances of truth by which the spiritual of the natural is recognized and distinguished. No one can know that these things are meant by 'various colours' unless he knows that colours may be seen in the next life no less than in the world - colours which are far more beautiful and various - and unless he knows the origins of those colours. Colours seen in the next life are produced by the variegation of light there and are so to speak modifications of intelligence and wisdom, for the light which is seen there is a manifestation of Divine Truth received from the Lord, that is, it is the Divine Spiritual from Him, or what amounts to the same, is Divine Intelligence and Wisdom. These two are seen as light before the eyes of angels and spirits. From this one may see what is meant by the colours being products of that light, namely different kinds and so appearances of truth that are due to varying affections for good and truth. Regarding colours in the next life, see 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530.

[2] It has been stated already in 3301 that 'a tunic' means the truth of the natural, but as this meaning was not substantiated there from other places in the Word, let these be mentioned here. Because kings in the Jewish Church represented the Lord as regards the Divine Spiritual or Divine Truth, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, their daughters therefore wore tunics of various colours, for 'daughters' meant affections for good and truth, and so meant Churches, 2362, 3963. The following is said of them in the second Book of Samuel,

On Tamar, David's daughter, there was a tunic of various colours, for virgin daughters of the king wore such clothes. 2 Samuel 13:18.

[3] And because high priests represented the Lord as regards the Divine

Celestial or Divine Good, Aaron therefore wore vestments which represented Divine Truth that was derived from the Lord's Divine Good; for Divine Good exists within the Lord, whereas Divine Truth proceeds from Him. This was what those vestments represented. Something similar was represented when the Lord was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, in that Divine Good was seen as the sun, and Divine Truth was manifested by means of His garments which had the appearance of light, Matthew 17:2.

[4] Regarding the vestments worn by Aaron and his sons, the following is said in Moses,

You shall make for Aaron a tunic of fine linen, and a turban of fine linen; and you shall make a girdle, the work of an embroiderer. And you shall make tunics for Aaron's sons, and you shall make girdles for them, and you shall make head-coverings for them, for glory and adornment. Exodus 28:39-40.

Each article of clothing here meant something connected with Divine Truth derived from the Lord's Divine Good, 'a tunic of fine linen' meaning specifically the Divine Spiritual. The same applies elsewhere in the same author,

You shall take the vestments, and put the tunic on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and you shall clothe him with the girdle of the ephod. Then you shall cause his sons to come near, and you shall put them in tunics. Exodus 29:5, 8; 40:14.

What each article of clothing means here will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated when those verses come up for consideration. 'Garments' in general are truths, see 297, 1073, 2576, 4545.

[5] Prophets too wore tunics, though theirs were made of hair. This was because prophets represented the Lord as regards truths of doctrine, and since truths belong to the natural or external man, their tunics were made of hair - 'hair' meaning the natural, see 3301.

[6] The fact that 'a tunic' means Divine Truth received from the Lord is evident further still from those places where a tunic is mentioned in the New Testament, as in John,

The soldiers took His garments and made four parts, a part for each soldier, and His tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. Therefore they said to one another, Let us not divide it - so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saying They divided My garments for themselves, and for My tunic they cast lots. John 19:23-24.

Anyone reading this description supposes that it does not hold anything deeper within it than the facts that the garments were divided among the soldiers and that lots were cast for the tunic. But each detail described here represented and meant spiritually something Divine - that is to say, those two details about the garments being divided into four and about the tunic not being divided but having lots cast for it, and above all the detail about the tunic being without seam and woven from the top throughout. 'The tunic' meant the Lord's Divine Truth, which being singular - derived from Good - was represented by the tunic's being without seam and woven from the top throughout.

[7] Much the same was meant by Aaron's tunic which, as is evident in Moses, was woven or the work of a weaver,

They made tunics of fine linen, the work of a weaver, for Aaron and his sons Exodus 39:27.

Also represented by the tunic without seam was the fact that the Lord did not allow Divine Truth to be torn apart, as was done by the Jews to the lower truths of the Church.

[8] Because Divine Truth is singular - that is to say, it is derived solely from Divine Good - the twelve disciples were commanded, when they were being sent out to preach the gospel of the kingdom, not to have two tunics. This is recorded in Luke as follows,

Jesus sent the twelve disciples to preach the kingdom of God. And He said to them, Take nothing for the way, neither staves, nor bag, nor bread, nor silver, nor have two tunics each. Luke 9:2-3.

In Mark,

He charged them to take nothing for the way except a staff; not a bag, nor bread, nor bronze in the belt, but to wear sandals; and do not put on two tunics. Mark 6:8-9.

And in Matthew,

Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor bronze in your belts, nor bag for the way, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staves. Matthew 10:9-10.

[9] All the individual instructions given in these places are representative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom which the disciples were sent to preach. The reason they were not to take gold, silver, bronze, bag, or bread with them was that those things meant different kinds of good and truth received from the Lord alone. 'Gold' means good, 113, 1551, 1552, while 'silver' means truth derived from that good, 1551, 2954; 'bronze' means natural good, 425, 1551, and 'bread' the good of love, which is heavenly good, 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 4211, 4217. 'Tunic' however and 'sandal' meant the truths with which they were to be endued, and 'staff the power of truth derived from good. For 'staff' means that power, see 4013, 4015; 'sandal' the lowest natural, 1748, here its truth; and 'tunic' interior natural truth. Now because these things had to be not twofold but singular, they were forbidden to have two staves, two pairs of sandals, or two tunics. These are the arcana contained in what the Lord commanded, but no one can possibly know about them except from the internal sense.

[10] All the detailed instructions spoken by the Lord were representative of Divine things, and consequently of the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom. They were accordingly suited to the mental grasp of men and at the same time to the understanding of spirits and angels. Therefore the things spoken by the Lord pervaded the whole of heaven and continue to do so. From this it is also evident how valuable and important it is to know the internal sense of the Word. Without it anyone can use the Word to support whatever dogma he likes; and because this is seen to be so by those who are subject to evil, they therefore deride the Word and think it is anything but Divine.

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