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John 1

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1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 The same came for a witness, to bear testimony of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear testimony of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came to his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

15 John testified concerning him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spoke, He that cometh after me, is preferred before me; for he was before me.

16 And of his fullness have we all received, and grace for grace.

17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem, to ask him, Who art thou?

20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? and he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

22 Then said they to him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.

24 And they who were sent were of the Pharisees.

25 And they asked him, and said to him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou art not that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that prophet?

26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

27 He it is, who coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoes' latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming to him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.

30 This is he of whom I said, after me cometh a man who is preferred before me; for he was before me.

31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

32 And John bore testimony, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizeth with the Holy Spirit.

34 And I saw and bore testimony, that this is the Son of God.

35 Again the next day after, John stood, and two of his disciples;

36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith to them, What seek ye? They said to him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master) where dwellest thou?

39 He saith to them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith to him, We have found the Messiah; which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas; which is, by interpretation, a stone.

43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith to him, follow me.

44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith to him, We have found him described by Moses in the law, and by the prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

46 And Nathanael said to him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith to him, come and see.

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

48 Nathanael saith to him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee.

49 Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

50 Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, dost thou believe? thou shalt see greater things than these.

51 And he saith to him, Verily, verily, I say to you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

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Arcana Coelestia #10196

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10196. 'Before the mercy-seat which is above the Testimony' means where the Lord hears and receives everything of worship arising from the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'the mercy-seat' as the hearing and reception by the Lord of everything of worship arising from the good of love, dealt with in 9506; and from the meaning of 'the Testimony' as the Lord in respect of the Word, dealt with in 8535, 9503, thus of Divine Truth since the Lord in respect of Divine Truth is the Word, 9987.

[2] A brief statement about Divine Good and Divine Truth needs to be made here. As to His Divine [Being] itself, called the Father, and His Divine Humanity, called the Son, the Lord is Divine Love itself, and is accordingly Divine Good itself. But as to His presence in heaven, which is beneath the Lord as the Sun, He is Divine Truth. Yet this Divine Truth has Divine Good within it, adjusted to its reception by angels and spirits. This Divine presence is what is called the Spirit of Jehovah and that which is Holy. The reason why it is spoken of as Divine Truth and not Divine Good is that angels and spirits are created beings and therefore are recipients of Divine Truth emanating from Divine Good. Like people in the world they enjoy two powers of mind - the understanding and the will. The understanding has been formed to receive Divine Truth and the will to receive Divine Good; and their understanding serves not only to receive [that Truth] but also to perceive [this Good].

[3] Simple people may gain some idea of this matter if it is compared with the sun and the world that comes into being from it. The sun is composed of fire, but what radiates from it is heat and light. As anyone may know, there is no light within the sun itself, but light radiates from it. And in the measure that light radiating from the sun holds heat within itself plants come to life and grow, producing fruit and seeds. These things have been mentioned by way of comparison because the whole natural order is a theatre representative of the Lord's kingdom; and it is a representative theatre because the natural world has been brought into being by the Divine - and is unceasingly brought into being, that is, is held in being, by Him - by means of the spiritual world. So it is that in the Word 'the sun', similarly 'fire', is used to mean the Lord in respect of Divine Love, and 'light' to mean the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, as in John 1:9; 3:19; 9:5; 12:46.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #9987

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9987. 'And this is the word which you shall do to them' means a law of order. This is clear from the meaning of 'the word' as Divine Truth, and consequently a law of order, dealt with below. The ordinary meaning of 'word' is an expression spoken by the mouth, or utterance; and since utterance is thought taking place in the mind which is expressed by means of vocal sounds, 'word' also means a thing that is being thought about. This explains why in the original language whatever comes into actual being and is indeed something is called 'a word'. But a grander meaning of 'word' is Divine Truth, because the source of all that comes into being and is indeed something is Divine Truth. This accounts for the statement in David,

By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all their host by the Spirit of His mouth. Psalms 33:6.

Here 'the Word of Jehovah' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord; 'the Spirit of Jehovah's mouth' is the life brought by His Truth; and 'the heavens' made by His Word, also 'all their host', are angels, to the extent that they are recipients of Divine Truth. The reason why angels are meant by 'the heavens' is that they constitute heaven. Furthermore, since angels are recipients of Divine Truth, Divine Truths coming from the Lord are meant by them in the abstract sense, see 8192; and in that same sense 'the host of the heavens' means Divine Truths, 3448, 7236, 7988.

[2] From this it becomes clear what 'the Word' means in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory. John 1:1, 3, 14.

Here it is self-evident that the Word is used to mean the Lord, for it says that the Word became flesh. The Lord is the Word because while He was in the world the Lord was Divine Truth itself; and since His departure from the world Divine Truth has emanated from Him, see the places referred to in 9199 (end), 9315 (end).

[3] In the highest sense the Word is the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, or what amounts to the same thing, the Word is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord. This is clear from very many places, for example in David,

They cried out to Jehovah, and He sent His Word and healed them. Psalms 107:19-20.

In John,

You do not have the Father's word abiding in you, because the One whom He has sent, Him you do not believe; nor are you willing to come to Me that you may have life. John 5:38, 40.

In the same gospel,

I have given them Your word; therefore the world hates them. Sanctify them in Your truth; Your word is truth. John 17:14, 17.

And in the Book of Revelation,

The One seated on the white horse was clothed in a garment dyed with blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And on His garment and on His thigh He had a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Revelation 19:13, 16.

From these and many other places it is clear that Divine Truth emanating from the Lord is meant by 'the Word', and in the highest sense the Lord in respect of Divine Truth; for it says that the name of the One seated on the white horse is The Word of God, and that He is King of kings and Lord of lords. And since the Word is Divine Truth it says that He was clothed in a garment dyed with blood, for 'garment' means truth, 9952, and 'blood' truth from good, 9393. For a fuller explanation of these things, see 2760-2762.

[4] This now explains why every truth that comes from God is called His word, as in Joel,

Jehovah uttered His voice before His army, His camp is exceedingly great; for those who execute His word are uncountable. Joel 2:11.

'The voice' which Jehovah utters is the truth from God, 9926, Jehovah's 'camp' is heaven, 4236, 8193, 8196, from which it is evident that 'those who execute His word are uncountable' means those who do God's truth. In Matthew,

[As for the one] who hears the word of the kingdom and does not give heed to it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. [The one] who has been sown on stony ground is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root. [The one] who is sown among thorns is he who hears the word but the cares of this world 1 and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word. [The one] who is sown in good soil is he who hears the word and gives heed to it, and consequently bears fruit. Matthew 13:19-23.

It is evident without explanation that 'the word' here is God's truth. The expression 'the word of the kingdom' is used because it is the truth that is heaven and the Church's; for 'the kingdom' means heaven and the Church.

[5] From all this it becomes clear that 'words' means Divine Truths that come from the Lord, as in John,

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

Therefore also the ten commandments are called Ten Words in Exodus 34:28. The reason why 'the word' is a law of order is that Divine Truth emanating from the Lord brings order to the heavens, to such an extent that it constitutes order there. Consequently the laws of heavenly order consist of Divine Truths, see 1728, 1919, 2258, 2447, 4839, 5703, 7995, 8513, 8700, 8988. The law of order meant by 'the word' in this chapter is the manner in which the Lord glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine. This is the subject here in the internal sense, the subject in the relative sense consequently being human regeneration, since human regeneration is an image of the glorification of the Lord, 3138, 3212, 3245, 3246, 3296, 4402, 5688. The reason why this in particular is a law of order is that the Lord's Divine Human constitutes order in the heavens and everyone who is being regenerated is being remade to conform to that order. Those therefore with whom that order exists abide in the Lord.

Fußnoten:

1. literally, the age

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