Bible

 

Matthew 16

Studie

   

1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees having come, tempting, did question him, to shew to them a sign from the heaven,

2 and he answering said to them, `Evening having come, ye say, Fair weather, for the heaven is red,

3 and at morning, Foul weather to-day, for the heaven is red -- gloomy; hypocrites, the face of the heavens indeed ye do know to discern, but the signs of the times ye are not able!

4 `A generation evil and adulterous doth seek a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet;' and having left them he went away.

5 And his disciples having come to the other side, forgot to take loaves,

6 and Jesus said to them, `Beware, and take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees;'

7 and they were reasoning in themselves, saying, `Because we took no loaves.'

8 And Jesus having known, said to them, `Why reason ye in yourselves, ye of little faith, because ye took no loaves?

9 do ye not yet understand, nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many hand-baskets ye took up?

10 nor the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

11 how do ye not understand that I did not speak to you of bread -- to take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?'

12 Then they understood that he did not say to take heed of the leaven of the bread, but of the teaching, of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

13 And Jesus, having come to the parts of Cesarea Philippi, was asking his disciples, saying, `Who do men say me to be -- the Son of Man?'

14 and they said, `Some, John the Baptist, and others, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.'

15 He saith to them, `And ye -- who do ye say me to be?'

16 and Simon Peter answering said, `Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

17 And Jesus answering said to him, `Happy art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal [it] to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens.

18 `And I also say to thee, that thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my assembly, and gates of Hades shall not prevail against it;

19 and I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the heavens, and whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.'

20 Then did he charge his disciples that they may say to no one that he is Jesus the Christ.

21 From that time began Jesus to shew to his disciples that it is necessary for him to go away to Jerusalem, and to suffer many things from the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and to be put to death, and the third day to rise.

22 And having taken him aside, Peter began to rebuke him, saying, `Be kind to thyself, sir; this shall not be to thee;'

23 and he having turned, said to Peter, `Get thee behind me, adversary! thou art a stumbling-block to me, for thou dost not mind the things of God, but the things of men.'

24 Then said Jesus to his disciples, `If any one doth will to come after me, let him disown himself, and take up his cross, and follow me,

25 for whoever may will to save his life, shall lose it, and whoever may lose his life for my sake shall find it,

26 for what is a man profited if he may gain the whole world, but of his life suffer loss? or what shall a man give as an exchange for his life?

27 `For, the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father, with his messengers, and then he will reward each, according to his work.

28 Verily I say to you, there are certain of those standing here who shall not taste of death till they may see the Son of Man coming in his reign.'

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 4368

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 10837  
  

4368. 'If now I have found favour in your eyes, then take my gift from my hand' means the reciprocation of that affection, in order that it might be instilled. This is clear from what comes both before and after, for the subject is the joining together of good and truths within the natural and so the instilling of affection from good into truth. As shown above in 4366, this is the reason why the refusal of the gift sent from Jacob has the meaning it does, namely that an affection might be instilled into truth, and in 4367 why the immediately previous exclamation 'No, I beg of you' means the birth of that affection. Consequently these words 'If now I have found favour in your eyes, then take my gift from my hand' means a reciprocation of that affection, in order that it might be instilled; for Jacob says this from a desire for what is good, that is, from affection. Hence also the reference further on to his urging him.

[2] The reciprocation of that affection which is instilled by the good, meant by 'Esau', into the truth, meant by 'Jacob', is used to mean the affection for truth. For two affections that are heavenly exist - the affection for good and the affection for truth. These have been the subject several times already. The affection for truth has no other origin than good, the affection coming from there also; for by itself truth has no life but acquires it from good. Consequently when someone feels an affection for truth that affection does not originate in the truth but in the good which flows into the truth and creates the affection itself. This is what is meant at this point by the reciprocation of that affection in order that it might be instilled. It is well known that there are many within the Church who feel an affection for the Word of the Lord and put a lot of effort into reading it; but those whose end in view is to learn about what is true are only a few. The majority cling to their own dogmas, and are anxious only to confirm these from the Word. These people seem to be moved by an affection for truth, but they are not. The affection for truth exists solely with those who love to learn about truths, that is, to know what is true, and who search the Scriptures with that end in view. Nobody is moved by this affection except one who is governed by good, that is, one who is governed by charity towards the neighbour, and more so who is governed by love to the Lord. With people of this kind good itself flows into truth and creates the affection, for the Lord is present within that good.

[3] This can be illustrated by the following examples: Take those who are governed by the good of genuine charity and who read the following words which the Lord addressed to Peter,

I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:15-19.

These people - that is to say, those who are moved by an affection for truth that originates in the good of genuine charity - like to be told what these words were really used to mean. When they hear that 'the rock' referred to here, on which 'the Church will be built', means faith rooted in charity, and that 'Peter' therefore has that meaning; and when they hear that the keys for opening and closing heaven are given to that faith, see Preface to Chapter 22 of Genesis, they are delighted and are stirred with affection for that truth, because it is in that case the Lord alone, the Source of faith, who possesses that power. But people who are not moved by an affection for truth that originates in the good of genuine charity but by an affection for truth originating in some other kind of good, and more so if it originates in self-love and love of the world, are not stirred by any affection for that truth, but become depressed and also angry since they wish to lay claim to that power as a priestly one. They are angry because they are deprived of the power to control, and depressed because they are deprived of other people's deference to them.

[4] Take another example. If people who are moved by an affection for truth that originates in the good of charity hear that charity makes the Church, and not faith separated from charity, they accept that truth joyfully, whereas those who are moved by an affection for truth originating in self-love and love of the world do not accept it. Furthermore when those who are moved by an affection for truth that originates in the good of charity hear that love towards the neighbour does not begin in themselves but in the Lord they are delighted, whereas those who are moved by an affection for truth originating in self-love and love of the world do not accept that truth but fiercely defend the idea that love begins in themselves. Consequently they do not know what loving the neighbour as themselves really is. When people who are moved by an affection for truth that originates in the good of genuine charity hear that heavenly blessedness consists in doing good to others out of a desire to do it, with no selfish end in view, they are delighted, whereas those who are moved by an affection for truth originating in self-love and love of the world, want none of this; nor can they even understand what it is.

[5] When people who are moved by an affection for truth that originates in the good of genuine charity learn that the works of the external man are nothing if they do not proceed from the internal man, and so from the desire to do what is good, they accept it joyfully, whereas those who are moved by an affection for truth originating in self-love and love of the world applaud the works of the external man but show no interest in the desire to do good present in the internal man. Nor indeed are they even aware that this desire, if present in the internal man, remains after death and that when the works performed by the external man have no connection with the internal man they are dead and come to nothing.

The same may be seen in every other example that might be mentioned. The examples that have been given show that the truths of faith cannot possibly be joined to anyone if he is not governed by the good of genuine charity, and so cannot be joined to anything other than good. They show also that all genuine affection for truth originates in that good. Anyone can see a confirmation of this from his daily experience - when he sees that people moved by evil have no real belief, unlike those moved by good. From this it is quite evident that the truth of faith is joined to good and never to evil.

  
/ 10837  
  

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