The Bible

 

Matthew 11

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1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,

3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:

5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.

9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.

10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.

15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,

17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.

19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:

21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.

23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3428

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3428. 'And they dug another well and disputed over that also' means whether the internal sense of the Word even exists. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'another well' and of 'disputing', dealt with above, and so from the train of thought. For with people who deny the existence of something, such as those who deny the existence of the internal sense of the Word, any subsequent dispute or contention can only be about whether that thing exists. It is well known that most disagreements today never get beyond this point. But as long as men are locked in controversy about whether a thing even exists and whether it is so, they cannot possibly make any headway into wisdom at all. The thing itself about which they may be arguing includes countless facets which they cannot possibly see as long as they do not acknowledge the existence of that thing. For in that case every single aspect of it is unknown to them.

[2] Learning at the present day does not go much beyond these limits, that is to say, beyond discussion of whether a thing exists and is so, and this as a consequence precludes people from an intelligent understanding of truth. For example, anyone who does no more than contend whether the internal sense of the Word exists cannot possibly see the countless, indeed unlimited, details which the internal sense contains. Or, anyone who argues whether charity is anything in the Church, and whether all things that constitute it are matters of faith, cannot know the countless, indeed unlimited, things which exist within charity. Indeed he remains totally ignorant of what charity is.

[3] It is similar with life after death, the resurrection of the dead, the last judgement, and heaven and hell. Those who do no more than argue whether these exist remain outside the portals to wisdom. It is as though they merely knock but are not even able to see into the splendid palaces of wisdom. And what is remarkable, those who act in this way believe that they are wiser than all others, and that the wiser they are the better they are able to discern whether a thing is so, and more so to confirm that it is not. Yet simple persons in whom good is present, and whom the former despise, are able to discern in an instant that a thing exists, and the nature of it, without any disagreement, let alone learned argument. Such simple people have a common-sense discernment of truth, but the former annihilate such common-sense discernment by their wish to discuss first whether such things even exist. The Lord refers to these two groups when He says that things have been hidden from the wise and intelligent and have been revealed to infants, Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21.

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