The Bible

 

Matthew 8

Study

   

1 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.

15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.

16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.

19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

23 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.

24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.

25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.

26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.

31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.

32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.

33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.

34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #1186

Study this Passage

  
/ 1232  
  

1186. "And no craftsman of whatsoever craft shall be found in thee any more."- That this signifies no longer any wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge (scientia), is evident from the signification of craftsman of whatsoever craft, as denoting all that pertains to the understanding, consequently wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge (scientia); for these belong to the understanding, wisdom being the inmost, intelligence the middle, and knowledge (scientia) the ultimate thereof. The reason why these things are signified by the craftsmen of whatsoever craft is, that they are endowments of the understanding, and such endowments are signified by crafts. Since these are signified by crafts, therefore in those parts of the Word where the construction of the tabernacle is described and also the garments of Aaron which were of gold, purple, crimson (purpura), scarlet double-dyed, and fine twined linen, it is said that they were to be the work of the craftsman, and elsewhere the work of the designer (Exodus 26:1, 31; 28:6; 39:8; and other passages). By those things, now mentioned, of which they are made, are signified such things as pertain to wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge (scientia); it is therefore said of Bezeleel and Oholiab, the craftsmen who made them, that "they were filled with wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge (scientia)" (Exodus 31:3, and following verses; 36:1, 2, and following verses).

[2] That a craftsman signifies intelligence from man's proprium is plain in Hosea:

"They make to themselves a molten image of their silver, and idols in their intelligence, all of it the work of the craftsmen" (13:2).

A molten image and an idol signify worship according to doctrine which is from [man's] own intelligence; silver signifies falsity from which such doctrine is formed, it is therefore said, that in their intelligence they make themselves an idol, all of it the work of the craftsmen.

Similarly in Isaiah:

"The workman casteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and forgeth silver chains, he seeketh a wise craftsman" (40:19, 20);

and in Jeremiah:

"Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman, and of the hands of the founder, purple (hyacinthinum) and clothing, all the whole work of wise men" (10:3, 9).

Here and in several other passages the nature of man's own intelligence is described by idols, sculptured things and molten images, as may be seen above (n. 587, 827).

[3] Continuation.- The end, middle causes, and effects are called also the principal end, the intermediate ends, and the ultimate end. These latter are called ends, because the principal end, which is everything in them - both their esse and soul - produces them. The principal end is the love of man's will, the intermediate ends are subordinate loves, and the ultimate end is the love of the will, existing, as it were, in its effigy. Since the principal end is the love of the will, it follows that the intermediate ends, because they are subordinate loves, are foreseen, provided, and produced through the understanding, and that the ultimate end is the use foreseen, provided, and produced by the love of the will through the understanding, for everything that love produces is use. It is necessary for this to be stated in order that the assertion just made may be understood, namely, that eminence and opulence may be blessings, and also that they may also be curses.

  
/ 1232  
  

Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

Commentary

 

One

  

A company might have executives setting policy and strategy, engineers designing products, managers handling personnel and others handling various functions. They all do different things -- but if they're doing them with a shared underlying purpose, the company -- and the individuals in it -- will likely be successful. The Lord wants all human society to function in a similar way. We have different skills and individual loves, but if we all share a mutual love -- a love of serving others -- then society will function as one, will be a reflection of heaven and will be a good receptacle for the Lord's love. This can also happen within each of us, as we unify our talents and ideas around a central love. And in an abstract sense, it illustrates how a wide collection of varying ideas can be unified around a shared good intention. That is the kind of love pictured when “one” is used in the Bible, either as a specific number or in the sense of several people or objects “being one.” In more casual references -- when used to identify a specific person or object -- the meaning is relatively literal, and is connected to that person or object.