Explanation of John 1:4
Da Brian David
![William Blake's etching/watercolour "Ancient of Days" hangs in the British Museum, London. Blake was an avid reader of Swedenborg, though he disputed points in the philosophy expressed there. William Blake's etching/watercolour "Ancient of Days".](/bundles/ncbsw/media/Blake_ancient_of_days.webp)
“Life” in the Bible has reference to what we love, to our affections, because what we care
about actually makes us who we are. “Light” has to do with our thinking, our intellect –
which is not life itself, but defines and guides our lives. This verse, then, in saying “in
him was life,” reveals that it is divine truth that inspires our feelings, that makes us want
what is good. And when we want what is good, that will be “the light of men,” inspiring
us to seek and understand true ideas that can help us actually be good and do what is
good.
So divine truth – the exquisite expression of the Lord’s love – is not only the driving
force behind creation, it is also the agent that creates our own internal lives, inspiring our
desires for good and through them our understanding of what is true.
(Riferimenti: Apocalypse Revealed 200; Arcana Coelestia 2894, 4687 [2-3]; Teachings about the Lord 1; True Christian Religion 39)
Arcana Coelestia #2894
2894. One reads in John,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light however appears in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-5, 14.
Few know what 'the Word' is really used to mean here. From every particular detail it is clear that the Lord is meant, but the internal sense teaches that it is the Lord as regards the Divine Human who is meant by 'the Word', for it is said that 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory'. And since the Divine Human is meant, 'the Word' is used to mean every truth having reference to Him and deriving from Him which exists in His kingdom in heaven and in His Church on earth. This is why it is said that 'in Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light appears in the darkness'. And since truth is meant, 'the Word' is used to mean all revelation, and thus also the Word itself or Holy Scripture.