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Matthew 8

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1 And when he came down from the mount, great multitudes did follow him,

2 and lo, a leper having come, was bowing to him, saying, `Sir, if thou art willing, thou art able to cleanse me;'

3 and having stretched forth the hand, Jesus touched him, saying, `I will, be thou cleansed,' and immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

4 And Jesus saith to him, `See, thou mayest tell no one, but go, thyself shew to the priest, and bring the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony to them.'

5 And Jesus having entered into Capernaum, there came to him a centurion calling upon him,

6 and saying, `Sir, my young man hath been laid in the house a paralytic, fearfully afflicted,'

7 and Jesus saith to him, `I, having come, will heal him.'

8 And the centurion answering said, `Sir, I am not worthy that thou mayest enter under my roof, but only say a word, and my servant shall be healed;

9 for I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers, and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Be coming, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doth [it].'

10 And Jesus having heard, did wonder, and said to those following, `Verily I say to you, not even in Israel so great faith have I found;

11 and I say to you, that many from east and west shall come and recline (at meat) with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the reign of the heavens,

12 but the sons of the reign shall be cast forth to the outer darkness -- there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.'

13 And Jesus said to the centurion, `Go, and as thou didst believe let it be to thee;' and his young man was healed in that hour.

14 And Jesus having come into the house of Peter, saw his mother-in-law laid, and fevered,

15 and he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose, and was ministering to them.

16 And evening having come, they brought to him many demoniacs, and he did cast out the spirits with a word, and did heal all who were ill,

17 that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, `Himself took our infirmities, and the sicknesses he did bear.'

18 And Jesus having seen great multitudes about him, did command to depart to the other side;

19 and a certain scribe having come, said to him, `Teacher, I will follow thee wherever thou mayest go;'

20 and Jesus saith to him, `The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven places of rest, but the Son of Man hath not where he may lay the head.'

21 And another of his disciples said to him, `Sir, permit me first to depart and to bury my father;'

22 and Jesus said to him, `Follow me, and suffer the dead to bury their own dead.'

23 And when he entered into the boat his disciples did follow him,

24 and lo, a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves, but he was sleeping,

25 and his disciples having come to him, awoke him, saying, `Sir, save us; we are perishing.'

26 And he saith to them, `Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?' Then having risen, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm;

27 and the men wondered, saying, `What kind -- is this, that even the wind and the sea do obey him?'

28 And he having come to the other side, to the region of the Gergesenes, there met him two demoniacs, coming forth out of the tombs, very fierce, so that no one was able to pass over by that way,

29 and lo, they cried out, saying, `What -- to us and to thee, Jesus, Son of God? didst thou come hither, before the time, to afflict us?'

30 And there was far off from them a herd of many swine feeding,

31 and the demons were calling on him, saying, `If thou dost cast us forth, permit us to go away to the herd of the swine;'

32 and he saith to them, `Go.' And having come forth, they went to the herd of the swine, and lo, the whole herd of the swine rushed down the steep, to the sea, and died in the waters,

33 and those feeding did flee, and, having gone to the city, they declared all, and the matter of the demoniacs.

34 And lo, all the city came forth to meet Jesus, and having seen him, they called on [him] that he might depart from their borders.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 252

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252. And will sup with him, and he with Me, signifies communicating to them the felicities of heaven. This is evident from the signification of "supping," as being to communicate the goods of heaven. "To sup" means to communicate, because "banquets," "feasts," "dinners," and "suppers" in the Word signify consociations by love, and thus a communication of love's delights, for all delights are of love. These things derive their signification from that of bread and of wine, which signify the good of love, celestial and spiritual; and from that of eating together, which signifies communication and appropriation. This was formerly signified by the paschal supper, and is at this day signified by the holy supper (See above, n. 146); and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 210-222). Mention is made of "supping," because weddings were celebrated at supper time, and weddings signify the conjunction of good and truth, and the consequent communication of delights. It is therefore said in Revelation:

Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9);

and afterwards:

Come and be gathered together unto the supper of the great God (Revelation 19:17).

[2] As suppers signify consociations by love, and consequent communication of delights, therefore the Lord compared the church and heaven to a "supper," and also to a "wedding;" to a "supper" in Luke:

The master of the house made a great supper, and bade many; but all those that were called excused themselves. Therefore, being angry, he ordered his servant to bring in the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind; saying of those called, that none of them should taste of the supper (Luke 14:16-24).

(Nearly the same is meant by the wedding to which invitations were given in Matthew 22:1-15.) "Supper" here means heaven and the church; "those called who excused themselves" mean the Jews with whom the church then was; for the church specifically is where the Word is, and where the Lord is known through the Word. "The poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind," mean those who are spiritually such, and who were then outside the church. Heaven and the church are here likened to "a supper" and to "a wedding," because heaven is the conjunction of angels with the Lord by love, and their consociation among themselves by charity, and the consequent communication of all delights and felicities; the like is true of the church, since the church is the Lord's heaven on the earth. (That heaven is the conjunction of the angels with the Lord by love, and also their mutual consociation by charity, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 13-19, and a consequent communication of all delights and felicities, n. 396-400)

[3] In the Word it is said in many places that in heaven they will "eat together;" and this means in the spiritual sense that they are to enjoy blessedness and felicity; thus "eating together" has here a like significance as "supping." Thus in Luke:

They shall come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and shall recline to eat in the kingdom of God (Luke 13:29).

And in Matthew:

Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall recline to eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 8:11).

Those who are to "come from the east, the west, the north and the south," are all who are in the good of love, and in the truths of faith therefrom. (That the "four quarters" in the Word have such a signification, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell. n. 141-153: that "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," mean the Lord in respect to the Divine Itself and the Divine Human,Arcana Coelestia 1893, 4615, 6098, 6185, 6276, 6804, 6847; consequently "to recline to eat with them" means to be conjoined with the Lord, and to be consociated one to another by love, and by such conjunction and consociation to enjoy eternal blessedness and felicity, and this from the Lord alone.)

[4] In Luke:

Jesus said, Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning, and be ye yourselves like unto men waiting for their Lord when He shall return from the wedding, that when He cometh and knocketh they may open unto Him. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to recline to eat, and drawing near, He will minister to them (Luke 12:35).

"The loins that are to be girded" mean the good of love (Arcana Coelestia 3021[1-8], 4280, 9961); "the lamps that are to be burning" signify the truths of faith from the good of love (Arcana Coelestia 9548, 9551, 9783); "girding Himself, making them to recline to eat, and ministering to them," signifies to bestow upon them every good.

[5] In the same:

Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations; I appoint unto you, even as My Father hath appointed unto Me, a kingdom, that ye may eat and drink at My table in the kingdom (Luke 22:28-30).

"To eat and drink at the Lord's table in the kingdom of God" is to be conjoined to the Lord by love and faith, and to enjoy heavenly blessedness.

[6] In Matthew:

Jesus said, I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this product of the vine, until that day when I will drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom (Matthew 26:29).

These words were spoken by the Lord after He instituted the Holy Supper; and "the product of the vine" signifies Divine truth from Divine good, and blessedness and felicity therefrom.

[7] The signification of "feast" is like that of "supper," in Isaiah:

In this mountain shall Jehovah make unto all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees (Isaiah 25:6);

here the coming of the Lord is treated of, and "a feast of fat things" signifies the appropriation and communication of goods, and "a feast of wines on the lees," or the best wine, the appropriation of truths. (That "fat things" signify the goods of love, see Arcana Coelestia 353, 5943, 10033; and also the delights of love, n. 6409; and that "wine" signifies the good of charity, which in its essence is truth, n. 1071, 1798, 6377)

[8] The "wedding to which the ten virgins were invited" has a like meaning, of which in Matthew:

The kingdom of the heavens is like unto ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were prudent, and five were foolish. The foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them; but the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight a cry arose, Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the prudent, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out. But the prudent answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you; go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut. Afterward came the other virgins, saying, lord, lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say to you, I know you not (Matthew 25:1-12).

This treats of conjunction with the Lord by love and faith; this the "wedding" moreover signifies; "oil" signifies the good of love, and "lamps" the truth of faith. To make clear that in every particular that the Lord spoke there is a spiritual sense, I will lay open the particulars of the spiritual sense of this parable. "The kingdom of the heavens," to which the ten virgins are likened, means heaven and the church; "the ten virgins" signify all who are of the church ("ten" all, and "virgins" those who are in the affection of spiritual truth and good, which affection constitutes the church), therefore "Zion" and "Jerusalem," by which the church is signified, are called in the Word "virgins," as "the virgin Zion," and "the virgin Jerusalem," and in Revelation it is said that "virgins follow the Lamb." "The lamps that they took to go forth to meet the bridegroom" signify the truths of faith; "the bridegroom" means the Lord in respect to conjunction with heaven and the church by love and faith; for "a wedding" is treated of, which signifies that conjunction. "The five prudent virgins" and "the five foolish" signify those of the church who are in faith from love, and those who are in faith apart from love (the same as "the prudent and foolish" in Matthew 7:24, 26). "Midnight, when the cry arose," signifies the Last Judgment, and in general the end of man's life, when he will be adjudged either to heaven or to hell; "the foolish virgins then saying to the prudent, Give us of your oil, and the prudent answering that they should go to them who sell," signifies the state of all after death-that those who have not the good of love in faith, or the truth of faith from the good of love, then wish to acquire it for themselves, but in vain, since such as man's life has been in the world such he remains. From this it is clear what is signified by "the prudent virgins" going in to the marriage, and that the foolish who said, "Lord, Lord, open to us," received for answer, "Verily I say unto you, I know you not." "I know you not" signifies that the Lord was not conjoined to them, since spiritual love conjoins, and not faith without love; for the Lord has His abode with those who are in love, and in faith therefrom, and these He knows because He Himself is there.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

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