The Bible

 

Matthew 17:24-27 : The Temple Tax

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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?

25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?

26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.

27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

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 #10151

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10151. 'And the altar' means reception of what is Divine from the Lord in the higher heavens. This is clear from the meaning of 'sanctifying' as the reception of what is Divine from the Lord, dealt with above in 10149; and from the meaning of 'the altar' as that which was representative of the Lord in respect of Divine Good, dealt with in 9964, at this point in respect of Divine Good emanating from Him in the heavens where that Good is received, thus in the higher heavens. For these heavens receive the Lord as to His Divine Good, but the lower heavens receive the Lord as to His Divine Truth, in accord with what has been shown immediately above in 10150.

[2] It should be recognized that whatever served to represent the Lord Himself represented heaven also; for what is Divine, emanating from the Lord and received by angels, constitutes heaven. The angels themselves, as to what is properly their own, do not constitute heaven; only what is Divine, received by them from the Lord, does so. The truth of this may be recognized from the consideration that every one of them there acknowledges, believes, and also perceives that not a grain of good originates in themselves, only in the Lord, and that whatever originates in themselves is not good, so that - exactly as the Church teaches - everything good comes down from above. All this being so, it follows that what is Divine and the Lord's is what constitutes heavenly life among them, consequently constitutes heaven. All this goes to show how the idea that the Lord is the All in all of heaven should be understood, that the Lord dwells there in what is His own, and also that 'an angel' in the Word means some attribute that is the Lord's, ideas that have been the subject in various places in what has gone before.

[3] The situation is the same with regard to the Church. People there, as to what is properly their own, do not constitute the Church; only what is Divine, received by them from the Lord, does so. For no one there who fails to acknowledge and believe that the good of love and the truth of faith come entirely from God forms part of the Church, because he wishes to love God with what is his own and to believe in God with what is his own, which however no one is able to do. From this too it is evident that what is Divine and the Lord's constitutes the Church, just as it constitutes heaven. The Church furthermore is the Lord's heaven on earth, and therefore also the Lord is the All in all within the Church, just as He is in heaven, and dwells with people there in what is His own, just as He does with angels in heaven. Also, people of the Church who thus receive what is Divine and the Lord's in love and faith, they and no others, become angels of heaven after life in the world.

[4] That what is Divine and the Lord's constitutes His kingdom with a person, that is, heaven and the Church with him, is also the Lord's teaching in John,

The Spirit of truth will remain with you and will be in you. And you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:17, 20.

'The Spirit of truth' is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord, about which He says that it 'will remain with you'. After this He says that He is in the Father, they are in Him, and He is in them, meaning that they will be in what is Divine and the Lord's, and what is Divine and the Lord's will be in them, by which, it is evident, the Divine Human should be understood. Elsewhere in the same gospel He says,

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you cannot do anything. John 15:4-5.

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