The Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles

The Lord left his apostles with instructions and with great gifts. The instructions are listed in several distinct places, but the the gifts are more scattered, both in the four gospels and in the book of Acts later, being given as the apostles needed them.

First, about the apostles... just to clarify, here I'm referring to "the disciples" as including anyone who has followed along to hear the Lord, and "the apostles" to mean the twelve men that the Lord recruited specifically, as listed in Matthew 10, Mark 3, and Luke 6.

Who were the apostles? From the lists in Matthew and Mark, which are the same, we have: Simon (Peter), James and John the sons of Zebedee, Andrew (Peter’s brother), Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew (the publican), Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, (as is Matthew, so they are brothers, too), Thaddeus, (also known as Libbeus), Simon the Canaanite (also called Simon the Zealot), and Judas Iscariot. Bartholomew is almost undoubtedly another name for Nathaniel, see John 1. The list in Luke includes another Judas, "Judas the brother of James" and doesn’t have Thaddeus.

The stories of how they were individually chosen differ, especially in the gospel of John, but that these twelve were appointed by the Lord is clear. A point of interest is that - other than Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot they are all from towns around the sea of Galilee - and perhaps those two are as well. These twelve have their names inscribed on the twelve foundations of the walls of the holy city New Jerusalem, in Revelation 21:14 in which there are also the twelve gates. These men were chosen to represent all the different states of the natural human being that can be receptive of the Lord. They are from Galilee because Galilee represents that natural state of the human mind. The number twelve in the Word represents all possible states of mankind.

What is indicated here is that all people, everywhere, can be saved or regenerated if they repent and turn to the Lord in their lives. No one is "outside" of His reach. We are born natural, everyone is, but we are so formed that our minds can be raised to what is higher, called spiritual for our conceptions of Divine truth, or Celestial for our perceptions of Divine good. But we all start in a natural state and can only move upward by listening to the Lord’s teachings in His Word, and following Him as those Apostles did.

Not all of our natural states are states of good; they can be selfish, domineering, and cruel. But the Lord said that He came "not to save the just but to call sinners to repentance". Perhaps this is why Simon the Canaanite and Judas were two that He called. Simon is little known, but in some places in the Word, "Canaan signifies an external worship without a true internal worship". (See Arcana Coelestia 1060). Can the Lord work with that - with external worship that's internally barren? Yes, as a starting point. And, even Judas, who betrayed the Lord so terribly, we are told, repented of his betrayal of the Lord. (Matthew 27:3-5)

The Lord's Instructions to the Apostles

The two most comprehensive sets of instructions are in Luke 10:1-17 where seventy Disciples are sent out two by two, apparently to a specified list of cities that Jesus intends to visit, and then in Matthew 20:1-19 where the chosen twelve Apostles are sent out to all Israel. Later, as recorded in different epistles, the Apostles go out further, through a wide region.

The basic instructions were to preach that the kingdom of heaven is near, that all should be led to repent of their sins, and that all who wish should be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles should not take any money or extra clothing along, and they were to depend entirely on the Lord’s providence with no doubt that they shall be welcomed, fed, and sheltered. If they were welcomed, they should stay and preach the good news about the risen Lord and His teachings, and if they were not, they should shake from their feet the dust of that place and go on to a place where they were welcome. See Matthew 10, 28, Mark 13, 16, Luke 9, 10:24.

There are several assurances for the twelve. The Lord has told them to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit is sent to strengthen them, and in John 20 where the ten are gathered it is said that He breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit". Also, in his long talk with them in John 14, 15, 16) He assures them that his crucifixion and death are necessary to his mission and they should even rejoice that it is coming. He shows them from scripture that it has all been prophesied from long ago, (see Mark 4:34) and that what seems to them a tragedy, is truly His glorification and the end of the work He came to do. They, His twelve, are in the same steam of providence and will be protected. "Don’t be anxious," He tells them, "I will put into your mouths what you are to say, I will bring into your memories the incidents to tell to the people".

Here is a listing of the chapters and verses in John where such things are said: John 14:1-3, 10, 16-18, 26-28, 15:11, 16, 26-27, 16:7, 13-15, 22, 26-27, 33. Or simply read the three chapters and pick out your favorites.

A marvelous gift is mentioned in Matthew 10:13, "But blessed are your eyes for they see and blessed are your ears, for they hear…".

In the book of Acts, the Lord vividly shows the apostles that when they speak in their Galileen dialect every listener will hear their words as his own language in his ears; not gibberish, but Arabic to the Arabs, Greek to the Greeks, and Latin to the Romans.

When Peter starts to preach to a gathering of sympathetic Jews he speaks clearly and unafraid, saying that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God and that people should worship Him openly and repent of how they might have felt earlier. Peter’s talk in Acts 3 and 4 is a bold and powerful one. No more hiding behind locked doors.

The early history of the Christian church shows just how well all this worked out. You know what? The Apostles preached to the peoples in the Near East 2000 years ago, and their preaching is just as relevant today as it was then: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Being at hand has nothing to do with the date or the state of political history in the world, it has to do with the inside of your mind. The Lord is just as close to you now as He was then, and He never turns away, though we might turn away from him. Remember that He said "behold I stand at the door and knock and if anyone hears and opens the door He will come right in." This hasn’t changed nor will it ever change, but He leaves us in freedom to ignore His knocking, if that is what we want. We have to make the choice, but He is always ready if we choose to open the door.

519. Verse 11. And the name of the star is called Wormwood, signifies truth mixed with the falsity of evil. This is evident from the signification of "name," as meaning what the state is, and what the thing is (See above, n. 148); from the signification of "star," here "a great star burning as a lamp," as being the truth of the Word falsified by self-love; and from the signification of "wormwood," as being truth mixed with the falsity of evil. This is signified by "wormwood" because of its bitterness, and bitterness springs from what is sweet mixed with the opposite unsweet; therefore "bitterness" like that of wormwood and gall means in the spiritual sense truth mixed with the falsity that is the opposite of truth, which is the falsity of evil; for savor and taste signify the affection of knowing and of becoming wise, therefore what is savory signifies the delightfulness and pleasantness of wisdom; and "delicacies," because they are savory, signify the truths of wisdom. (That this is from correspondence see Arcana Coelestia 3502, 3536, 3589, 4791-4805.) That "wormwood" and "gall" from their bitterness, signify truth mixed with the falsity of evil is evident also from what follows in this verse; for it is said that "many men died of the waters because they were made bitter," which signifies that through truths falsified all such perished in respect to spiritual life; for truths are what make the spiritual life, while falsities of evil extinguish it; and when truths are mixed with falsities of evil they are no longer true but falsified; and truths falsified are in themselves falsities.

[2] Such falsities were with the Jewish nation; but among the upright Gentiles they were falsities of another kind; these falsities are signified by the "vinegar," but the former by "the gall and wine mingled with myrrh," in the Gospels:

When they were come unto a place called Golgotha, they gave Jesus vinegar mingled with gall; but when He had tasted He would not drink. When He had been crucified, one of them running and taking a sponge and filling it with vinegar, and putting it on a reed gave Him to drink (Matthew 27:33-34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36).

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled said, I thirst. And there had been placed a vessel full of vinegar; and they filled a sponge and placed it upon hyssop and put it to His mouth. And when He had received the vinegar He said, It is finished (John 20:28-30).

Each and every thing that is related in the Gospels respecting the Lord's passion, signifies in the spiritual sense, the state of the church at that time in relation to the Lord and the Word; for the Lord was the Word because He was Divine truth; and as the Jews had treated the Word, or Divine truth, so they treated the Lord (respecting which see above, n. 64, 195). Their giving to the Lord "vinegar mingled with gall," which was also called "wine mingled with myrrh," signified the quality of the Divine truth from the Word with the Jewish nation, namely, that it was mingled with the falsity of evil, and thus altogether falsified and adulterated, therefore He would not drink it. But that afterwards "they gave the Lord vinegar in a sponge and placed it upon hyssop" signified the kind of falsity there was among the upright Gentiles, which was falsity from ignorance of the truth, in which there was something good and useful; because this falsity is accepted by the Lord He drank this vinegar; the "hyssop" upon which they placed it signifies the purification of the falsity; that the Lord said "I thirst," signifies Divine spiritual thirst, which is for Divine truth and good in the church, by which the human race is saved. (Respecting the falsity of evil, what it was with the Jewish nation, and the falsity of ignorance in which there is good, what this was with the upright Gentiles, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21.)

[3] "Gall" and "vinegar" have a like signification in David:

They gave me gall for My food; and in my thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink. Let their table before them become a snare; and for retributions let there be a lure. Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and make their loins continually to falter (Psalms 69:21-23).

Here "gall," "vinegar," and "thirst," have a similar signification as above, since this is said of the Lord; the "table that shall be to them for a snare," signifies going astray in respect to every truth of doctrine from the Word, for "table" has reference to all spiritual food, and spiritual food is everything of doctrine from the Word; the "eyes that will be darkened that they see not," signify the understanding of truth; the "loins that will be made to falter," signify the will of good, and its marriage with the understanding of truth; "loins" have the same signification in other parts of the Word.

[4] In Lamentations:

He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. Therefore I said, My victory hath perished, and my hope from Jehovah. Remember my misery and my lament, the wormwood and the hemlock (Lamentations 3:15, 18, 19).

This, too, is said of the Lord. That the Lord found nothing but falsities and falsified truths in the church that then existed among the Jews is signified by "He hath filled me with bitterness, and hath made me drunken with wormwood," "wormwood" meaning the falsity of evil mixed with truths, thus what is falsified; the Lord's combat with the hells, and His hopelessness of ever bringing back the Jewish nation to a reception and acknowledgment of truths is signified by "My victory hath perished, and my hope from Jehovah; remember my misery and my lament, the wormwood and the hemlock;" for the spirits who are in the falsities of evil and yet in truths from the sense of the letter of the Word make longer resistance before they are subjugated and cast down into hell, and for the reason that through truths they have communication with heaven, and this communication and consequent conjunction must be broken and removed before they are cast down; this involves despair as to victory, such as the Lord experienced upon the cross when He said "I thirst," and they gave Him vinegar.

[5] In Jeremiah:

Jehovah our God hath cut us off and hath given us waters of gall to drink (Jeremiah 8:14).

In the same:

Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and make them to drink waters of gall; and I will scatter them among the nations; and I will send the sword after them until I shall have consumed them (Jeremiah 9:15, 16).

In the same:

Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink waters of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy hath gone forth into all the land (Jeremiah 23:15).

This, too, is said of the Jewish nation, which in a thousand ways perverted the Word, falsified its truth, and adulterated its good; "wormwood" signifies the evil of falsity, and "waters of gall" the falsity of evil, both mixed with the truths and goods of the Word. That from themselves and from their heart they were in evils and falsities from evils is signified by "Jehovah will feed them with wormwood, and make them to drink waters of gall;" for evil and falsity are attributed to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, as in many passages elsewhere, and yet they are of man himself; the reasons for this have often been given above. "The hypocrisy that went forth from the prophets of Jerusalem" signifies such mingling of falsity and truth, for they spoke truths while they taught falsities; they spoke truths when they spoke from the Word, and they taught falsities when they taught from themselves and their doctrine; their destruction by the evils of falsity and by the falsities of evil is signified by "I will scatter them among the nations, and I will send the sword after them;" "to scatter among the nations" signifying to destroy by the evils of falsity, and "to send the sword after them" signifying to destroy by the falsities of evil. (That "nations" signify evils see above, n. 175, 331; and that "sword" signifies the combat of truth against falsity, and the combat of falsity against truth, and its destruction, see also above, n. 131, 367.)

[6] In Amos:

Behold, Jehovah will smite the great house with gaps and the little house with clefts. Shall horses run upon the rock? Shall one plow with oxen? For ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood (Amos 6:11, 12).

In the same:

They turn judgment into wormwood, and thrust down righteousness to the earth (Amos 5:7).

"Jehovah will smite the great house with gaps, and the little house with clefts," signifies much perversion and falsification of truth with the learned, and some with the unlearned, a "great house" signifying a learned man, and a "little house" an unlearned man; "gaps" signify truths destroyed by falsities, and "clefts" the same, but in a less degree; that the understanding of truth and the will of good are not possible where there is the falsity of evil, is signified by "Shall horses run upon the rock? Shall one plow with oxen?;" "horses running" meaning the understanding of truth, and "plowing with oxen" the will of good. That this is because truths were falsified and the goods of the Word were adulterated is signified by, "For ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood," "judgment" signifying the truth of the Word, and "the fruit of righteousness" its good.

[7] That the quality of the sons of Jacob, who were called Israelites and Jews, was such, is plainly declared by Moses in his song, in which they are described in these words:

Their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, they have clusters of bitterness. Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps (Deuteronomy 32:32, 33).

"Vine" signifies the church, and this is said to be "of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah" because "Sodom" signifies all evils springing from the love of self, and "Gomorrah" all the falsities of those evils; "grapes" signify the goods of the church, and "clusters" the truths of the church. That instead of the goods of the church they had the worst evils and falsities mingled with truths is signified by "their grapes are grapes of gall, they have clusters of bitterness;" "wine" signifies the truth and good of faith; that this with them was external, in which was evil from the interior, is signified by "their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps." (That the sons of Jacob were such, although there was a church among them, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248.)

[8] That "gall" and "wormwood" signify evil and falsity mingled with good and truth, is further evident from these words in Moses:

Lest there be among you man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart looketh back this day from with Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of the nations; lest there be among you a root bearing gall and wormwood (Deuteronomy 29:18).

Here, too, "gall" and "wormwood" signify the mingling of good and truth with evil and falsity, which is done when other gods are worshiped with the heart, and Jehovah only with the lips; then the external sounds like good and appears like truth, but the internal is evil and falsity; and when the interiors are evils and falsities, and the exteriors are goods and truths, there is a mingling of the two, and then the good becomes gall, and the truth becomes wormwood. It is similar when man in his heart hates the neighbor and denies the truths of the church, and yet outwardly avows charity towards the neighbor and professes the truths of the church; there is then in him "a root bearing gall and wormwood," for he lets in evils and falsities from the interior, and mixes them with the goods and truths that he displays in the externals.

[9] In Job:

Though evil shall have been sweet in his mouth, though he shall have hidden it under his tongue; though he shall have spared it and not forsaken it but shall keep it within his mouth, his bread in his bowels shall be changed, it shall be the gall of asps in the midst of him; he hath swallowed riches and he shall vomit them up again, God shall cast them out of his belly. He shall suck the poison of asps, the viper's tongue shall slay him (Job 20:12-16).

Thus is described the hypocrisy from which man speaks things holy and stimulates good affections, while inwardly he denies and blasphemes. What is within is described by "he hides evil under his tongue, and keeps it within his mouth." That consequently good is infected with evil and is cast out, is signified by "his bread in his bowels shall be changed, it shall be the gall of asps in the midst;" "bread" meaning the good of love, "in the bowels" is inwardly, and "the gall of asps" means good mingled with evil. That truth also is cast out by falsity is signified by "he hath swallowed riches and he shall vomit them up again, God shall cast them out of his belly;" this falsity is meant by "the poison of asps."

[10] It is to be known that good and evil, and the truth of good and the falsity of evil, are mingled when evil and falsity are in man's spirit while good and truth are in the deeds and speech of his body. But what is in the spirit of man, that is, what is interior, acts into that which belongs to the body or what is exterior; for it flows in and causes the exterior, which appears to be good and true, nevertheless to be bitter like gall and wormwood, although before men it seems to be sweet. And because the good and truth of their mouth and speech are such, therefore when man after death becomes a spirit the good is separated from the evil and the falsity from the truth, and good and truth are taken away, and thus the spirit becomes his own evil and falsity. But it must be known that this mingling of good and evil and of truth and falsity is not the profanation of good and truth; profanation occurs only with those who have first received truth and good in heart and faith, and afterwards in heart and faith deny them.