Bibliorum

 

Matthew 10

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1 And he got together his twelve disciples and gave them the power of driving out unclean spirits, and of making well all sorts of disease and pain.

2 Now the names of the twelve are these: The first, Simon, who is named Peter, and Andrew, his brother; James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother;

3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax-farmer; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who was false to him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out and gave them orders, saying, Do not go among the Gentiles, or into any town of Samaria,

6 But go to the wandering sheep of the house of Israel,

7 And, on your way, say, The kingdom of heaven is near.

8 Make well those who are ill, give life to the dead, make lepers clean, send evil spirits out of men; freely it has been given to you, freely give.

9 Take no gold or silver or copper in your pockets;

10 Take no bag for your journey and do not take two coats or shoes or a stick: for the workman has a right to his food.

11 And into whatever town or small place you go, make search there for someone who is respected, and make his house your resting-place till you go away.

12 And when you go in, say, May peace be on this house.

13 And if the house is good enough, let your peace come on it: but if not, let your peace come back to you.

14 And whoever will not take you in, or give ear to your words, when you go out from that house or that town, put off its dust from your feet.

15 Truly I say to you, It will be better for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of God's judging than for that town.

16 See, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Be then as wise as snakes, and as gentle as doves.

17 But be on the watch against men: for they will give you up to the Sanhedrins, and in their Synagogues they will give you blows;

18 And you will come before rulers and kings because of me, for a witness to them and to the Gentiles.

19 But when you are given up into their hands, do not be troubled about what to say or how to say it: for in that hour what you are to say will be given to you;

20 Because it is not you who say the words, but the Spirit of your Father in you.

21 And brother will give up brother to death, and the father his child: and children will go against their fathers and mothers, and put them to death.

22 And you will be hated by all men because of my name: but he who is strong to the end will have salvation.

23 But when they are cruel to you in one town, go in flight to another: for truly, I say to you, You will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of man comes.

24 A disciple is not greater than his master, or a servant than his lord.

25 It is enough for the disciple that he may be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have given the name Beelzebub to the master of the house, how much more to those of his house!

26 Have, then, no fear of them: because nothing is covered which will not come to light, or secret which will not be made clear.

27 What I say to you in the dark, say in the light: and what comes to your ear secretly, say publicly from the house-tops.

28 And have no fear of those who put to death the body, but are not able to put to death the soul. But have fear of him who has power to give soul and body to destruction in hell.

29 Are not sparrows two a farthing? and not one of them comes to an end without your Father:

30 But the hairs of your head are all numbered.

31 Then have no fear; you are of more value than a flock of sparrows.

32 To everyone, then, who gives witness to me before men, I will give witness before my Father in heaven.

33 But if anyone says before men that he has no knowledge of me, I will say that I have no knowledge of him before my Father in heaven.

34 Do not have the thought that I have come to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace but a sword.

35 For I have come to put a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law:

36 And a man will be hated by those of his house.

37 He who has more love for his father or mother than for me is not good enough for me; he who has more love for son or daughter than for me is not good enough for me.

38 And he who does not take his cross and come after me is not good enough for me.

39 He who has the desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, and he who gives up his life because of me will have it given back to him.

40 He who gives honour to you gives honour to me; and he who gives honour to me gives honour to him who sent me.

41 He who gives honour to a prophet, in the name of a prophet, will be given a prophet's reward; and he who gives honour to an upright man, in the name of an upright man, will be given an upright man's reward.

42 And whoever gives to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will not go without his reward.

   

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Heaven and Hell #5

Studere hoc loco

  
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5. There can be no doubt among church people that the Lord is God of heaven, because he himself teaches that everything of the Father's belongs to him (Matthew 11:27, John 16:15; 17:2) and that he has all power in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). It says "in heaven and on earth" because the ruler of heaven rules earth as well, the one actually depending on the other. 1 His "ruling heaven and earth" means our accepting from him everything good that is intrinsic to love and everything true that is intrinsic to faith. It therefore means accepting all intelligence and wisdom, and thus all happiness - in short, eternal life.

This too the Lord teaches when he says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; but whoever does not trust the Son will not see life" (John 3:36). Or again, he says, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, will be alive, and whoever lives and believes in me will not die to eternity" (John 11:25-26). Or again, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

V:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] The whole of heaven belongs to the Lord: 2751, 7086. Power in the heavens and on earth belongs to him: 1607, 10089, 10827. Because the Lord governs heaven, he also governs everything that depends on heaven, which means everything in this world: 2026-2027, 4523-4524. Only the Lord has the power to banish the hells, restrain people from evils, and keep them engaged in what is good - the power therefore to save: 10019.

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

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #1607

Studere hoc loco

  
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1607. That 'for all the land which you see I will give to you' means the heavenly kingdom which was to be the Lord's is clear from the meaning of 'land' - the land of Canaan in this context since the words used are 'the land which you see' - as the heavenly kingdom. Indeed the land of Canaan represented the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, which is heaven, and also the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. This meaning of 'land' has been discussed frequently already. That the kingdom in heaven and on earth was given to the Lord is clear from various places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

A Boy is born, a Son is given to us; and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6.

In Daniel,

I saw in the night visions, and behold with the clouds of the heavens One like the Son of Man was coming, and He came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages will serve Him. His dominion is an eternal dominion which will not pass away, and His kingdom one that will not perish. Daniel 7:13-14.

The Lord Himself also says the same: in Matthew,

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father. Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22.

Elsewhere in Matthew,

[All] power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Matthew 28:18.

In John,

You have given to the Son power over all flesh in order that all You have given Him, to them He may give eternal life. John 17:2-3.

And 'sitting on the right hand' has the same meaning, as in Luke,

From now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. Luke 22:69.

[2] As regards all power in heaven and on earth being given to the Son of Man, it should be recognized that the Lord already had power over all things in heaven and on earth before He came into the world, for He was God from eternity and He was Jehovah, as He Himself plainly declares in John,

Now, Father, glorify Me in Your Own Self with the glory I had with You before the world was. John 17:5.

And in the same gospel,

Truly, Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. 1 John 8:58.

In fact He was Jehovah and God to the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood, and was seen by them. He was also Jehovah and God to the Ancient Church which existed after the Flood; and He was the One whom all the religious observances of the Jewish Church represented, and the One they worshipped. The reason the Lord says that all power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him, as though it had not been His till then, is that 'the Son of Man' is used to mean His Human Essence which became Jehovah as well after it had been united to His Divine Essence. Power was given to Him at that point, which would not have been possible until He was glorified, that is, until His Human Essence as well, through union with the Divine Essence, had life in Itself and likewise became Divine and Jehovah, as He Himself declares in John,

As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. John 5:26.

[3] It is His Human Essence or External Man that is named 'the Son of Man' in the passage quoted from Daniel, and 'a Boy born, a Son given to us' in the passage quoted from Isaiah. The fact that the heavenly kingdom would be given to Him, and all power in heaven and on earth, was shown and promised to Him then, and is the meaning of the statement 'all the land which you see I will give to you, and to your seed after you for ever'. This was before His Human Essence had been united to His Divine Essence, a union which took place when He had overcome the devil and hell, that is to say, when by His own strength and powers He had cast out all evil, which alone causes the severance.

V:

1. The Latin means I was, but the Greek means I am, which Swedenborg has in other places where he quotes this verse.

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