성경

 

Matthew 2:1-12 : The Visit of the Wise Men

공부

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

주석

 

Christmas Gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

작가: New Christian Bible Study Staff

The Adoration of the Magi, a Design for Bas Relief.

In the Christmas story, the wise men bring gifts to the Lord: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The gold is listed first, because it is the inmost - signifying good, e.g. the good that we do when we love the Lord and the neighbor.

The frankincense is next. It signifies rational truth, which is the set of true ideas that we know, not about external things like cars or cooking, but about what is really good, and what is really true.

These rational truths are built on earlier knowledges that we learn, before we have really made them our own. Those early knowledges about spiritual things - often learned in childhood - are represented by the myrrh.

In a way, these gifts are really a reciprocation. We can't actually give them to the Lord until the Lord has given them to us. We necessarily start out by learning and doing the Lord's law (myrrh). The Lord can then call up those memories to become rational truths (frankincense). Then, over time, and with effort, those truths can be transformed into good (gold). The wise men from the East had gone through this process of learning and becoming vessels that could receive truths and goods. They were able to perceive the Lord's birth, and find him, and bring gifts to him.

스웨덴보그의 저서에서

 

Arcana Coelestia #3210

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3210. 'And Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother' means the sanctuary of truth within the Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'a tent' as that which is holy, dealt with in 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 2576, and so the sanctuary; and from meaning of 'Sarah his mother' as Divine truth, dealt with in 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2904, from which the Divine Human was born, the Rational of which is represented by 'the son Isaac'. From this it is evident that 'Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother' means that rational Good guided Truth represented by Rebekah into the sanctuary of truth. What the sanctuary of truth is becomes clear from what has been stated above in 3194 about the Lord's Divine Human - that Good and Truth belong essentially to the Divine itself, but that the Lord's Divine Human came into existence from Divine Good and was born (as to the Divine itself, that is) from Divine Truth; or what amounts to the same, that the Lord's Essential Being (Esse) was Divine Good, but the Manifestation (Existere) of Him was Divine Truth. From this came Divine Rational Good to which He joined Divine Truth from the Human.

[2] It is impossible to say anything more about this very deep arcanum than this: Divine Good and Truth themselves within the Lord's Divine Human to which Truth from the Human was joined are what were meant by the Sanctuary or Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and in the Temple. The nature of that Good and Truth was represented by the objects within the Sanctuary, such as the golden altar, the table with the loaves of the presence, and the lampstand; and further within, by the Mercy Seat and the Ark; and within it, inmostly, by the Testimony which was the Law delivered from Sinai. This was the Holy of Holies itself or Sanctuary of Truth.

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