The Bible

 

Matthew 4

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1 Then Jesus was carried up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted of the devil:

2 and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he hungered.

3 And the tempter coming up to him said, If thou be Son of God, speak, that these stones may become loaves of bread.

4 But he answering said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which goes out through God's mouth.

5 Then the devil takes him to the holy city, and sets him upon the edge of the temple,

6 and says to him, If thou be Son of God cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give charge to his angels concerning thee, and on [their] hands shall they bear thee, lest in anywise thou strike thy foot against a stone.

7 Jesus said to him, It is again written, Thou shalt not tempt [the] Lord thy God.

8 Again the devil takes him to a very high mountain, and shews him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory,

9 and says to him, All these things will I give thee if, falling down, thou wilt do me homage.

10 Then says Jesus to him, Get thee away, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt do homage to [the] Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve.

11 Then the devil leaves him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

12 But having heard that John was delivered up, he departed into Galilee:

13 and having left Nazareth, he went and dwelt at Capernaum, which is on the sea-side in the borders of Zabulon and Nepthalim,

14 that that might be fulfilled which was spoken through Esaias the prophet, saying,

15 Land of Zabulon and land of Nepthalim, way of [the] sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations:

16 -- the people sitting in darkness has seen a great light, and to those sitting in [the] country and shadow of death, to them has light sprung up.

17 From that time began Jesus to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh.

18 And walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers;

19 and he says to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

20 And they, having left their trawl-nets, immediately followed him.

21 And going on thence he saw other two brothers, James the [son] of Zebedee and John his brother, in the ship with Zebedee their father, mending their trawl-nets, and he called them;

22 and they, having left the ship and their father, immediately followed him.

23 And [Jesus] went round the whole [of] Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every bodily weakness among the people.

24 And his fame went out into the whole [of] Syria, and they brought to him all that were ill, suffering under various diseases and pains, and those possessed by demons, and lunatics, and paralytics; and he healed them.

25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judaea, and beyond the Jordan.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine #218

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218. Of Bread.

"Bread," when mentioned in relation to the Lord, signifies the Divine good of the Lord's Divine love, and the reciprocal of the man who eats it (n. 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 9323, 9545). "Bread" involves and signifies all food in general (n. 2165, 6118). "Food" signifies everything that nourishes the spiritual life of man (n. 4976, 5147, 5915, 6277, 8418). Thus "bread" signifies all celestial and spiritual food (n. 276[1-2], 680[1-5], 2165, 2177, 3478, 6118, 8410). Consequently, "everything which proceeds out of the mouth of God," according to the Lord's words (Matt. 4:4; n . 681). "Bread" in general signifies the good of love (n. 2165, 2177, 10686). The same is signified by "wheat," of which bread is made (n. 3941, 7605). "Bread and water," when mentioned in the Word, signify the good of love and the truth of faith (n. 9323). Breaking of bread was a representative of mutual love in the ancient churches (n. 5405). Spiritual food is science, intelligence, and wisdom, thus good and truth, because the former are derived from the latter (n. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 8562, 9003). And because they nourish the mind (n. 4459, 5293, 5576, 6277, 8418). Sustenance by food signifies spiritual nourishment, and the influx of good and truth from the Lord (n. 4976, 5915, 6277).

The "bread" on the table in the tabernacle, signified the Divine good of the Lord's Divine love (n. 3478, 9545). The "meal-offerings" of cakes and wafers in the sacrifices, signified worship from the good of love (n. 4581, 10079, 10137). What the various meal-offerings signified in particular (n. 7978, 9992-9994, 10079).

The ancients, when they mentioned bread, meant all food in general (see Gen. 43: 16, 31; Exod. 18:12; Judges 13:15, 16; 1 Sam. 1_Samuel 14:28-29; 20: 24, 27; 2 Sam. 9: 7, 10; 1_Kings 4:22-23; 2 Kings 25:29).

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4018

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4018. 'In front of the flocks; and they came on heat as they came to drink' means even to the point of an intense desire in the affection for truth that a joining [to the goods and truths within the natural] might be effected. This is clear from the meaning of 'coming on heat as they came to drink' as an intense desire. The meaning of 'being on heat' as an intense desire is self-evident; and for the meaning of 'coming to drink' as the affection for truth, see immediately above in 4017. The reason why 'in front of the flocks' means that a joining to the truths and goods within the natural might be effected is that this phrase implies seeing and consequent arousal of affection, for this is the manner in which spiritual things are joined to a person. What is more, every implantation of truth or good in a person, as well as every joining of them to him, is effected by means of affection. The truths and goods which a person has learned but for which he has no affection do indeed enter the memory, but they are lodged there as insecurely as a feather on top of a wall which is blown off by the slightest puff of wind.

[2] As regards the things that enter the memory the position is this: Those for which there is no affection pass into the unlit parts of the memory when they enter it, whereas those for which there is affection pass into the light there. Things present in that light are seen and appear clearly and distinctly when any matter of a similar nature is brought up, but not so the things lying around in the unlit parts. Such is the effect that affection belonging to love has. From this it may be seen that all implanting of truth and joining of it to good is effected through affection; and the greater that affection, the stronger the tie joining the two together.

[3] The intense desire of the affection is in this case inmost affection. But truths are not capable of being implanted and joined to good except by means of affections for truth and good, which affections well up from charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord as their sources. But evils and falsities are implanted by means of affections for evil and falsity, and these affections well up from self-love and love of the world as their sources. This being so, and the subject at this point in the internal sense being the joining of good and truth within the natural man, mention is therefore made here and in what follows of the flock being on heat when they came to drink, by which such considerations are meant.

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