122. The twelve disciples of the Lord represented the church as to all things of faith and charity in the complex, as did also the twelve tribes of Israel (n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397). Peter, James, and John represented faith, charity, and the goods of charity in their order (n. 3750). Peter represented faith (n. 4738, 6000, 6073, 6344, 10087, 10580). And John represented the goods of charity, see the preface to the eighteenth (Arcana Coelestia 2135) and twenty-second Arcana Coelestia 2760vvv1-2 chapters of Genesis.

That there would be no faith in the Lord, because no charity, in the last time of the church, was represented by Peter's thrice denying the Lord before the cock crew the third ¹ time; for Peter there, in a representative sense, is faith; (n. 6000, 6073). "Cock crowing," as well as "twilight," signifies in the Word the last time of the church (n. 10134[1-13]). And "three" or "thrice," signifies what is complete to the end (n. 2788, 4495, 5159, 9198, 10127). The like is signified by the Lord's saying to Peter, when Peter saw John follow the Lord:

What is it to thee, Peter? follow thou Me, John; for Peter had said of John, What is this? (John 21:21, 22); (n. 10087).

John lay on the breast of the Lord, because he represented the good of charity (n. 3934, 10081). That the good of charity constitutes the church, is also signified by the words of the Lord from the cross to John:

Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved, who stood by, and He said to His mother, Woman, behold thy son: and He said to that disciple, Behold thy mother; and from that hour that disciple took her to himself (John 19:26, 27).

"John" signifies the good of charity, and "woman" and "mother," the church; and the whole passage signifies that the church will be where the good of charity is; that "woman" in the Word means the church (see n. 252-253, 749, 770, 3160, 6014, 7337, 8994). And likewise "mother" (n. 289, 2691, 2717, 3703, 4257, 5580, 8897, 10490). All the names of persons and places in the Word signify things abstractly from them (n. 768, 1888,4310, 4442, 10329).

Footnotes:

4738. 'So that he might therefore rescue him out of their hands, to return him to his father' means so that it might lay claim to it for the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'rescuing out of their hands' as delivering, as above in 4732, and from the meaning of 'returning to his father' as laying claim to it for the Church; for Jacob, to whom 'father' refers here, represents the Jewish religion which sprang from the Ancient Church, as above in 4700, 4701. What was laid claim to for the Church was the Divine Truth concerning the Lord's Divine Human, for, as stated already, 'Joseph' means that truth specifically.

[2] To know more regarding this truth, it should be recognized that the Ancient Church acknowledged it, as also did the Primitive Christian Church. But there came a time when the papacy so extended its authority that it had control over every human soul; it exalted itself in the way the king of Babel is said to have done, in Isaiah,

You said in your heart. I will go up into the heavens, above the stars of God ¹ I will raise my throne, and I will sit on the mount of assembly, I will go up above the heights of the clouds, and I will make myself like the Most High. Isaiah 14:13-14.

Then - at that time - Divinity was taken away from the Lord's Human, that is, His Divine was made distinct and separate from His Human.

[3] The way in which this distinction was decreed in a certain council ² has also been revealed to me. I saw some people appear on the right in front of me, some distance away on a level with the sole of my foot. They were talking among themselves, but I did not hear what about. I was told that they were some of those who had come together in the council when the decree was made regarding the Lord's two Natures - His Divine one and His Human one. Shortly after that I was allowed to talk to them. They said that those who had the greatest influence in the council and who held higher positions and had higher authority than the rest met together. They did so in a room that was dark, where they decided that both Divinity and Humanity should be attributed to the Lord, the main reason for their decision being that otherwise the papacy could not have remained in being. For if they had acknowledged that the Lord was one with the Father, as He Himself says, no one could then have been acknowledged as His vicar on earth. Schisms were developing at that time, which would have toppled and destroyed the power of the papacy, had they not made that distinction. To strengthen it they also assembled proof texts from the Word and swayed the rest of the council.

[4] Those who spoke to me added that by doing this they were able to have control in heaven and on earth. They knew from the Word that all power in heaven and on earth had been given to the Lord, and this power could not have been granted to any vicar [of Christ] if the Human too were acknowledged to be Divine. For they knew that no one was allowed to make himself equal to God and that that power existed essentially in the Divine, not in the Human unless it was granted to it as it was also subsequently granted to Peter. They said that by doing what they did they were then able to keep the schismatics quiet who were most astute, and were also able to strengthen the power of the papacy. From this it is clear that they invented the distinction they made purely for the sake of having control, and that therefore they had no wish to know that the gift of power to the Lord's Human in heaven and on earth demonstrates that His Human too is Divine. It is also clear that 'Peter', to whom the Lord gave the keys of heaven, does not mean the man Peter but faith rooted in charity, which is received from the Lord alone and is therefore a power that belongs to the Lord alone - see Preface to Genesis 22.

Footnotes: