The Bible

 

Matthew 17:24

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24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?

Commentary

 

Incorporating the New

By Todd Beiswenger


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There's an old saying that says, "When the student is ready the master will appear." The idea is that the student must incorporate everything they've already been taught into their life before the next master will come to teach them the next steps. We see something similar in the Word, where Jesus opens the eyes of Peter, James and John to a new spiritual reality, but now they have a difficult time trying to synthesize what they've just been taught with everything they've always believed. (note - Todd offers his apologies for an error; where he mistakenly says in this audio that the "spiritual serves the natural"... he meant to say, "natural serves the spiritual.")

(References: Apocalypse Explained 64, 405; Arcana Coelestia 6394; Matthew 17:14-20, 17:24-27)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #7083

Study this Passage

  
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7083. Heat and light in the natural world emanate from the sun in the world, whereas spiritual heat and spiritual light, or love and faith, emanate from the sun in heaven. The Lord is the sun in heaven, and the heat which comes from Him as the Sun is love, while the light which comes from Him as the Sun is faith. The fact that the Lord is light is clear in John,

Jesus said, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. John 8:12.

And the fact that the Lord is a sun is clear in Matthew,

When Jesus was transfigured His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became [white] as the light. Matthew 17:1.

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