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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 #2343

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2343. 'And they ate' means making one's own. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as being communicated and joined together, thus being made one's own, dealt with already in 2187. What has been stated and explained so far makes clear how the contents of the previous and the present verses are arranged and link together in the internal sense - from the fact that 'the angels' means the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy proceeding, 'turning aside to him' means staying with, 'coming to his house' being confirmed in good, 'making a feast' dwelling together, 'baking unleavened bread' being purified, and 'eating' taking into oneself and making one's own. It shows the nature of the train of thought in the internal sense, though nothing at all of that sense is apparent in the historical sense.

[2] Such is the order and the train of thought that exists with all the individual parts of the Word. But the nature of that actual train of thought cannot begin to reveal itself when each word is explained separately; for in that case each is seen in isolation from the rest and the continuity of meaning is lost. It reveals itself when all the separate details are seen together within one complete idea, or are perceived as one complete mental picture, as is done by those who have the internal sense and who at the same time dwell in heavenly light from the Lord. Within these words [used here in Genesis] such people are given to see the entire process of the reformation and regeneration of those who become members of the Church, represented here by Lot. That is to say, they first of all perceive some degree of temptation, but when they persevere and overcome the Lord stays with them, and confirms them in good, brings them to Himself into His kingdom, and dwells together with them, and there purifies and perfects them, at the same time granting them as their own things that are good and happy. All this He accomplishes by means of His Divine Human and His Holy proceeding.

[3] Within the Church it is indeed well known that all regeneration or new life, and therefore salvation, comes from the Lord alone, but few believe it. The reason they do not believe it is that the good of charity does not exist in them. It is as impossible for those in whom that good does not exist to believe it as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle; for the good of charity is the very seed-bed of faith. Truth and good agree together, but truth and evil never do. They have contrary natures and turn away from each other. Insofar therefore as someone is moved by good, he can be governed by truth, that is, insofar as charity exists with him faith is able to, especially the most fundamental matter of faith that all salvation comes from the Lord.

[4] That this is the most fundamental matter of faith is clear from many places in the Word, as in John,

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.

In the same gospel,

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him. John 3:36.

In the same gospel,

This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom the Father has sent. John 6:29.

In the same gospel,

This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:40.

In the same gospel,

Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. John 8:24.

In the same gospel,

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he die, yet will he live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. John 11:25-26.

[5] Nobody is able to believe in the Lord unless he is governed by good, that is, no one can possess faith unless he has charity. This too is clear in John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13.

And in the same gospel,

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in Me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. As the Father has loved Me so I have loved you; abide in My love. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:5-6, 9, 12.

[6] From all these quotations it becomes clear that love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour constitute the life of faith. But that people who are immersed in evil, that is, who lead a life of evil, cannot possibly believe that all salvation comes from the Lord has become clear to me from those who have entered the next life from the Christian world; and also from people who during their lifetime have confessed with their lips the established teaching of faith, and indeed have taught it themselves, that without the Lord there is no salvation, but who, for all that, have led a life of evil. At the very mention of the Lord's name these people have filled the atmosphere around them entirely with objections. For in the next life solely that which people are thinking is perceived and sends out from itself a sphere, in which the nature of the faith possessed by those people reveals itself, see 1394.

[7] At the mere mention of love or charity among these people I perceived emanating from them something that was so to speak full of darkness and at the same time dust-filled. The product of some filthy love, it was by nature such that it obliterated, stifled, and corrupted all feeling of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour. Such is the faith at the present day, which, they say, saves without the goods that flow from charity.

[8] The same people were also asked what faith they had since it was not the faith they had professed during their lifetime. Since in the next life nobody can conceal what he actually thinks, they said that they believed in God the Creator of all things. They were examined however as to whether this was really so, and it was discovered that they did not believe in any God at all but thought that all things were the product of natural forces, and all that has been said about eternal life is nonsense. Such is the faith of everyone inside the Church who does not believe in the Lord but says that he believes in God the Creator of all things. For truth cannot flow in from any other source than the Lord, and truth cannot be sown in anything other than good which is derived from the Lord.

[9] That the Lord's Divine Human and His Holy proceeding are together the channel and the source of life and salvation is well recognized from the words of the Holy Supper, 'This is My body, This is My blood', which is the Lord's Divine Human. And it is clear that this is the source of everything holy. Whether we speak of the Divine Human, or His Body, or Flesh, or Bread, or Divine Love, it amounts to the same thing; for the Lord's Divine Human is pure Love, and the Holy [proceeding] consists in love alone, while the Holy that constitutes faith is derived from this.

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