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Luke 1:48

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48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Commentary

 

Explanation of Luke 1

By Rev. John Clowes M.A.

Verses 1-5. That revelation of the eternal Word made flesh is imparted to all who are in the love of truth for its own sake.

Verses 5-26. His representative as to the Word must teach the doctrine of repentance and faith in Him, the origin of which doctrine is described.

Verses 5-7. As being born from celestial good and truth.

Verses 8-18. And announced by the most high, as being instrumental in promoting purification from evils and falsities, and thus preparing mankind for the reception of good and of truth.

Verses 18-24. Nevertheless this doctrine is not admitted without doubt respecting it, the effect of which doubt is manifested in the inability to make confession of the Lord, and to preach faith in Him.

Verses 23-25. Notwithstanding however this doubt, the doctrine of repentance and faith gains confirmation, though as yet it is seen only obscurely.

Verses 26-34. It is at the same time announced from heaven, that Jehovah will come into the world, and that the Humanity, which He will assume, is the Son of god, by virtue of the Divinity from whom it came forth.

Verses 29-34. Which annunciation causes trouble and surprise, until information is given, that to that Humanity will be transferred the All of Divinity, so that in it Divinity and Humanity will be one, and in that one-ness will have rule over all things of heaven and the church.

Verses 34-36. Since the Humanity is born from the Divine Good and Divine Truth, which is Jehovah.

Verses 36-38. And preparation is made for its reception, through the doctrine of repentance and faith, which was to be taught in the church.

Verses 39-46. That on this occasion, the internal affection of good and of truth in the church is conjoined with the external, so that the productions of the latter become vivified, and the latter affection itself is made holy by virtue of it's exaltation of the former.

Verses 47-51. The former affection, at the same time, exalts the Divine Good and Divine Truth above all things, under a devout sense of the Divine mercy, which attends to the lowest concerns of man, and is ever operative in good to those who desire good.

Verses 51-54. And which assumed a Humanity, that through it the hells might be subdued, and a new church might be established, to which divine good might be imparted, and in which, truth separate from good might be rejected.

Verse 55. As had been predicted.

Verses 56-59. That for this purpose the doctrine of repentance and faith in the incarnate god is taught in the church, to the great joy of those who receive it.

Verses 59-64. The quality of which doctrine is described, as being grounded in the Divine love and mercy.

Verses 64-66. So that they, who acknowledge this quality, are enabled to make confession of the Lord, and to preach faith in Him, exciting devout adoration in all who hear them.

Verses 68-73. Because they teach from Divine truth, that Jehovah assumed a Humanity, for the purpose of effecting redemption and salvation, by conjoining Himself with His church.

Verses 73-76. And that His church, being thus purified from evils and falsities, might be reciprocally conjoined with Him, through the reception of His love and wisdom.

Verses 76-80. Therefore the doctrine of repentance and faith in the incarnate god is of Divine origin, being intended to prepare man for the reception of the Divine mercy, through the removal of all opposing principles, and through the communication of the light of Divine truth, by virtue of which the church would be delivered from the falsities of evil.

Verse 80. Which doctrine is more and more confirmed, though for a time it is received by few.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #92

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92. (iv) THE HUMAN BY WHICH HE BROUGHT HIMSELF INTO THE WORLD IS THE SON OF GOD.

The Lord said on many occasions that the Father sent Him and that He was sent by the Father; e.g, Matthew 10:40; 15:24; John 3:17, 34; 5:23-24, 36-38; 6:29, 39-40, 44, 57; 7:16, 18, 28-29; 8:16, 18, 29, 42; 9:4; and very many other passages. He said this because by 'being sent into the world' is meant coming down and mixing with human beings; this He did by means of the Human, which He took upon Himself by means of the Virgin Mary. The Human too is really the Son of God, because it was conceived of Jehovah God as the Father (as is stated by Luke 1:32, 35). The Human is called the Son of God, the Son of Man and the Son of Mary; by the Son of the God is meant Jehovah God in His Human, by the Son of Man the Lord as to the Word, and by the Son of Mary the actual human which He took upon Himself. It will be proved in the following pages that these are the meanings of the Son of God and the Son of Man; that the Son of Mary means His purely human nature is evident from the reproduction of human beings, where the soul comes from the father and the body from the mother. The father's semen contains the soul, and this is clothed with a body in the mother's womb. To put it another way, everything spiritual a person has is from his father, everything material from his mother.

[2] In the case of the Lord, what was Divine in Him was from His Father Jehovah, and His human was from His mother; the union of these two is the Son of God. This is clearly proved from the account of the Lord's birth, of which we read in Luke:

The angel Gabriel said to Mary, The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you; therefore the holy thing that shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God, Luke 1:35.

The Lord also described Himself as 'sent by the Father' because 'sent' has a similar meaning to 'angel', for angel in the language of the original means one who is sent. For it is said in Isaiah:

The angel of Jehovah's faces 1 has set them free, on account of His love and mercy He has redeemed them, Isaiah 63:9.

And in Malachi:

Suddenly the Lord whom you seek shall come to his temple, and also the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, Malachi 3:1.

There are other similar passages elsewhere. It will be seen in Chapter 3 of this book that the Divine Trinity, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is in the Lord, and that the Father in Him is the originating Divine, the Son the Divine Human and the Holy Spirit the emanating Divine.

Footnotes:

1. The Latin here follows the Hebrew in using the plural.

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