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John 2

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1 On the third day two people were going to be married at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there:

2 And Jesus with his disciples came as guests.

3 When they had not enough wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine.

4 Jesus said to her, Woman, this is not your business; my time is still to come.

5 His mother said to the servants, Whatever he says to you, do it.

6 Now six pots of stone, every one taking two or three firkins of water, were placed there for the purpose of washing, as is the way of the Jews.

7 Jesus said to the servants, Make the pots full of water. And they made them full to the top.

8 Then he said to them, Now take some, and give it to the master of the feast. So they took it to him.

9 After tasting the water which had now become wine, the master of the feast (having no idea where it came from, though it was clear to the servants who took the water out) sent for the newly-married man,

10 And said to him, Every man first puts out his best wine and when all have had enough he puts out what is not so good; but you have kept the good wine till now.

11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and let his glory be seen openly; and his disciples put their faith in him.

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they were there not more than two or three days.

13 The time of the Passover of the Jews was near and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

14 And there in the Temple he saw men trading in oxen and sheep and doves, and he saw the changers of money in their seats:

15 And he made a whip of small cords and put them all out of the Temple, with the sheep and the oxen, sending in all directions the small money of the changers and overturning their tables;

16 And to those who were trading in doves he said, Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a market.

17 And it came to the minds of the disciples that the Writings say, I am on fire with passion for your house.

18 Then the Jews put this question to him: What sign of authority have you to give us, seeing that you do these things?

19 And Jesus said to them, Send destruction on this Temple and I will put it up again in three days.

20 The Jews said, The building of this Temple took forty-six years; and you will put it up in three days!

21 But his words were about that holy building which was his body.

22 So when he had come back again from the dead, the memory of these words came back to the disciples, and they had faith in the holy Writings and in the word which Jesus had said.

23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, a great number of people came to have faith in his name, after seeing the signs which he did.

24 But Jesus did not have faith in them, because he had knowledge of them all.

25 He had no need for any witness about man; for he himself had knowledge of what was in man.

   

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Apocalypse Explained #1070

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1070. And have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings one hour with the beast, signifies with those who have not thus acknowledged that the Lord's authority over heaven and earth has been transferred to man, but have ascribed Divine holiness to the Word and not to the decrees of the Pope. This is evident from the signification of "kings," as being the truths of the Word, here those two primary truths that have been treated of in the verses just preceding; also from the signification of "kingdom," as being the church, here the church called Babylon, where these two truths have been profaned; and yet those truths have not been profaned by such as are meant by "the kings that have not yet received a kingdom," but have been accepted by them. Also from the signification of "one hour," as being some part, for "hour," like times in general and in particular, signifies in the Word the thing as to the quality of its state; so here "one hour" signifies some part, and thus that these in some degree reigned with the woman the harlot. Therefore from all this there comes this meaning, that these two primary truths of the church (namely, that the Lord's authority over heaven and the church, and thus over the souls of men to save them, has been transferred to a certain man, and that the voice of the mouth of the Pope has equal power and holiness with the Word), have not been acknowledged and thus have not been profaned. That this sense is contained in these words can be seen especially from what follows, namely, that "they shall give over their authority to the beast," which signifies that Divine holiness must be attributed to the Word; also that "the Lamb shall fight with them," and "the Lamb shall overcome them," which signifies that they will acknowledge that the Lord has power to save, thus that He, and not the Pope, has dominion over heaven, the church, and the souls of men.

[2] It has been said above that there are two things that constitute the church, namely, the acknowledgment and belief that the Lord has the power to save, and that the Word is Divine; and that where these two are not acknowledged and believed there is no church; and for the reason that the Lord reforms man and gives him faith and love, and the Word teaches the way in which man must go to the Lord that he may receive faith and love from Him. Unless these two truths are recognized in a church it is not a church. But that the church in the European world might not wholly perish, it has been provided by the Lord that not only within the kingdom of Babylon, but also outside of it, there should be societies that should not make one with the Babylonians in these two primary truths, which are the pillars and the foundations of the church itself. Within Babylon there are those in the kingdom of France, and many in Holland, England, Scotland, and Ireland, who have not taken away from the Lord the power to save men, nor from the Word Divine holiness, and ascribed these to some vicar; as may appear from the contest between the Gallican Church and the Roman, which has so long continued and still continues. These are the things especially treated of in verses 12-14 of this chapter. Since outside of the kingdoms of Babylon there are churches that ascribe all power to save to the Lord, and none to the Pope, and acknowledge the Word alone to be Divine, and have wholly withdrawn from the papal dominion, and are consequently called Protestants and Reformed, so these also are treated of in this chapter. For it is of these that it is said, that "they shall hate the harlot and shall make her desolate and naked, and also shall eat her flesh, and burn her up with fire," and "shall give the kingdom to the beast" (verses 16, 17). (But of this presently.)

(Continuation respecting the Word)

[3] But as the world does not know how the words in John (John 1:1, 2, 14) that the Lord is the Word, are to be understood, this shall be further explained. It is known in the church that God is good itself and truth itself, and thus that all the good that an angel has and that a man has is from God, and likewise all truth. Now since the Lord is God, He is also the Divine good and the Divine truth; and this is what is meant by "the Word, that was with God, and was God," and also was "the light that enlighteneth every man," and that also "became flesh," that is, Man in the world. That when the Lord was in the world He was the Divine truth, which is the Word, He Himself teaches in many passages where He calls Himself "the Light," also where He calls Himself "the Way, the Truth, and the Life;" and where He says that "the Spirit of truth" proceeds from Him. "The Spirit of truth" is the Divine truth. When the Lord was transfigured He represented the Word, "His face that shone as the sun" represented its Divine good; and "His garments, which were bright as the light" and "white as snow," represented its Divine truth. "Moses and Elijah," who then talked with the Lord, also signified the Word, "Moses" the historical Word, and "Elijah" the prophetic Word. Moreover, all things of the Lord's passion represented the kind of violence that the Jewish nation offered to the Word. Again, the Lord from Divine truth, which He is, is called "God," "King," and "Angel," and is meant by "the rock in Horeb," and "the rock" where Peter is spoken of. All this makes clear that the Lord is the Word, because He is the Divine truth. The Word in the letter, which is with us, is the Divine truth in ultimates.

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