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 #8051

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8051. 'And nothing made with yeast shall be eaten' means that they shall not make anything that has been falsified their own. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own, dealt with in 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 4745; and from the meaning of 'yeast' as falsity, dealt with in 2342, 7906, so that 'something made with yeast' is something falsified. So far as making falsity and making something falsified one's own are concerned, it should be recognized that no falsity as such or anything falsified as such can be made his own by anyone who is governed by good and therefore wishes to know the truth, only by someone who is ruled by evil and therefore has no wish to know the truth. The reason why one who is governed by good and therefore wishes to know the truth cannot make falsity as such his own is that he thinks in a proper way about God, about God's kingdom, and about spiritual life, and therefore uses falsity in such a way that it is not at odds with them but somehow in agreement. Thus he softens it, and none of its harshness or hardness enters his ideas. If this were not so scarcely anyone could be saved, for falsities are more prevalent than truths. Yet it should be recognized that people governed by good also have a love of truth, and therefore in the next life, when instructed by angels, they cast falsities aside and embrace truths. They do this according to the degree of the love of truth they had in the world.

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