The Bible

 

John 5:25-29 : The End is the New Beginning

Study

25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Commentary

 

The End is the New Beginning

By Junchol Lee


To continue browsing while you listen, play the audio in a new window.

We use a calendar that has 12 months and 365 days in it. As it nears December 31st, we feel as though something is getting close to an end, and yet on January 1st it feels like a new beginning. Our life is composed of many endings and beginnings. We may live one life, but within this one life we have many different journeys.

(References: Habakkuk 3:17)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #745

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

745. In general 'bird' means thoughts. This is clear from what has been stated in several places already about birds meaning intellectual concepts or rational concepts. In those places however they are called 'birds of the air' 1 whereas here it is simply 'bird', which is why thoughts in general are meant. Indeed there are many kinds of birds, clean and unclean, which in verse 14 below are differentiated as birds, flying creatures, and winged creatures. Clean ones are thoughts about truth, the unclean are false thoughts, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with later on.

Footnotes:

1. literally, birds of the heavens (or the skies)

  
/ 10837  
  

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