The Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles

The Lord left his apostles with instructions and with great gifts. The instructions are listed in several distinct places, but the the gifts are more scattered, both in the four gospels and in the book of Acts later, being given as the apostles needed them.

First, about the apostles... just to clarify, here I'm referring to "the disciples" as including anyone who has followed along to hear the Lord, and "the apostles" to mean the twelve men that the Lord recruited specifically, as listed in Matthew 10, Mark 3, and Luke 6.

Who were the apostles? From the lists in Matthew and Mark, which are the same, we have: Simon (Peter), James and John the sons of Zebedee, Andrew (Peter’s brother), Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew (the publican), Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, (as is Matthew, so they are brothers, too), Thaddeus, (also known as Libbeus), Simon the Canaanite (also called Simon the Zealot), and Judas Iscariot. Bartholomew is almost undoubtedly another name for Nathaniel, see John 1. The list in Luke includes another Judas, "Judas the brother of James" and doesn’t have Thaddeus.

The stories of how they were individually chosen differ, especially in the gospel of John, but that these twelve were appointed by the Lord is clear. A point of interest is that - other than Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot they are all from towns around the sea of Galilee - and perhaps those two are as well. These twelve have their names inscribed on the twelve foundations of the walls of the holy city New Jerusalem, in Revelation 21:14 in which there are also the twelve gates. These men were chosen to represent all the different states of the natural human being that can be receptive of the Lord. They are from Galilee because Galilee represents that natural state of the human mind. The number twelve in the Word represents all possible states of mankind.

What is indicated here is that all people, everywhere, can be saved or regenerated if they repent and turn to the Lord in their lives. No one is "outside" of His reach. We are born natural, everyone is, but we are so formed that our minds can be raised to what is higher, called spiritual for our conceptions of Divine truth, or Celestial for our perceptions of Divine good. But we all start in a natural state and can only move upward by listening to the Lord’s teachings in His Word, and following Him as those Apostles did.

Not all of our natural states are states of good; they can be selfish, domineering, and cruel. But the Lord said that He came "not to save the just but to call sinners to repentance". Perhaps this is why Simon the Canaanite and Judas were two that He called. Simon is little known, but in some places in the Word, "Canaan signifies an external worship without a true internal worship". (See Arcana Coelestia 1060). Can the Lord work with that - with external worship that's internally barren? Yes, as a starting point. And, even Judas, who betrayed the Lord so terribly, we are told, repented of his betrayal of the Lord. (Matthew 27:3-5)

The Lord's Instructions to the Apostles

The two most comprehensive sets of instructions are in Luke 10:1-17 where seventy Disciples are sent out two by two, apparently to a specified list of cities that Jesus intends to visit, and then in Matthew 20:1-19 where the chosen twelve Apostles are sent out to all Israel. Later, as recorded in different epistles, the Apostles go out further, through a wide region.

The basic instructions were to preach that the kingdom of heaven is near, that all should be led to repent of their sins, and that all who wish should be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Apostles should not take any money or extra clothing along, and they were to depend entirely on the Lord’s providence with no doubt that they shall be welcomed, fed, and sheltered. If they were welcomed, they should stay and preach the good news about the risen Lord and His teachings, and if they were not, they should shake from their feet the dust of that place and go on to a place where they were welcome. See Matthew 10, 28, Mark 13, 16, Luke 9, 10:24.

There are several assurances for the twelve. The Lord has told them to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit is sent to strengthen them, and in John 20 where the ten are gathered it is said that He breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit". Also, in his long talk with them in John 14, 15, 16) He assures them that his crucifixion and death are necessary to his mission and they should even rejoice that it is coming. He shows them from scripture that it has all been prophesied from long ago, (see Mark 4:34) and that what seems to them a tragedy, is truly His glorification and the end of the work He came to do. They, His twelve, are in the same steam of providence and will be protected. "Don’t be anxious," He tells them, "I will put into your mouths what you are to say, I will bring into your memories the incidents to tell to the people".

Here is a listing of the chapters and verses in John where such things are said: John 14:1-3, 10, 16-18, 26-28, 15:11, 16, 26-27, 16:7, 13-15, 22, 26-27, 33. Or simply read the three chapters and pick out your favorites.

A marvelous gift is mentioned in Matthew 10:13, "But blessed are your eyes for they see and blessed are your ears, for they hear…".

In the book of Acts, the Lord vividly shows the apostles that when they speak in their Galileen dialect every listener will hear their words as his own language in his ears; not gibberish, but Arabic to the Arabs, Greek to the Greeks, and Latin to the Romans.

When Peter starts to preach to a gathering of sympathetic Jews he speaks clearly and unafraid, saying that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God and that people should worship Him openly and repent of how they might have felt earlier. Peter’s talk in Acts 3 and 4 is a bold and powerful one. No more hiding behind locked doors.

The early history of the Christian church shows just how well all this worked out. You know what? The Apostles preached to the peoples in the Near East 2000 years ago, and their preaching is just as relevant today as it was then: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Being at hand has nothing to do with the date or the state of political history in the world, it has to do with the inside of your mind. The Lord is just as close to you now as He was then, and He never turns away, though we might turn away from him. Remember that He said "behold I stand at the door and knock and if anyone hears and opens the door He will come right in." This hasn’t changed nor will it ever change, but He leaves us in freedom to ignore His knocking, if that is what we want. We have to make the choice, but He is always ready if we choose to open the door.

1116. In the cup with which she hath mixed, mix unto her double. That this signifies much retribution in proportion to their profanation of truth is evident from the signification of a cup, which denotes truth, and, in the opposite sense, falsity, because a cup has a signification similar to that of wine, as may be seen above (n. 887, 1045); from the signification of mixing, which denotes to profane, for he who intermingles falsity with truth, or truth with falsity, profanes - which we shall speak of presently; and from the signification of double, which denotes much, and which is said of retribution; concerning this see just above (n. 1115). Mixing signifies to profane, because it is said of the wine in the cup, which signifies truth, and in the opposite sense falsity; and when truth and falsity are intermingled, then there is profanation; concerning this see above (n. 1053-1063). Mixing has a similar signification in David:

"There is a cup in the hand of Jehovah, and he hath mixed the wine, he hath filled it with mixture, and he hath poured out thence, but the dregs thereof all the impious of the earth shall suck out and drink" (Psalm 75:8).

The cup in the hand of Jehovah, and the wine, signify Divine Truth. By mixing and by mixture is signified profanation, for the intermingling of falsity with truth is meant. By pouring out thence and by the impious of the earth sucking out the dregs and drinking them, is signified the punishment of profanation. From these things it is evident that mixing with the cup has here a signification similar to that in the Apocalypse.

[2] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed, and concerning the Lord.- It was from this implanted [capability] that the most ancient people, to a greater degree than their posterity, worshipped a visible God under a human form. The Word bears witness that they also saw God as Man, as for example, Adam heard the voice of Jehovah walking in the garden; Moses spoke with Jehovah face to face; Abraham saw Jehovah in the midst of three angels; and Lot spoke with two angels. Jehovah was also seen as Man by Hagar, Gideon, and Joshua; by Daniel he was seen as the Ancient of Days, and as the Son of Man; similarly He was seen by John, as the Son of Man in the midst of seven lampstands, and also by the other prophets.

That it was the Lord who was seen by them, he himself teaches where he says, that Abraham rejoiced to see his day, and that he saw and was glad (John 8:56); also, that he was before Abraham was (ver. 58), and that he was before the world was (John 17:5, 24).

[3] It was not the Father but the Son who was seen, because the Divine Esse, which is the Father, cannot be seen except by means of the Divine Existere, which is the Divine Human. That it was not the Divine Esse, called the Father, that was seen, the Lord also teaches in John:

"The Father himself who hath sent me, he hath borne witness of me; ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form" (5:37).

In the same,

"Not that any one hath seen the Father, save he who is with" the Father, "he hath seen the Father" (6:46).

And again,

"No one hath seen God at any time, the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath brought [him] forth to view" (1:18).

From these passages it is clear, that the Divine Esse, which is the Father, was not seen by the ancients, nor could be seen, and yet that it was seen by means of the Divine Existere, which is the Son.

Since esse is in its existere, as the soul is in its body, therefore he who sees the Divine Existere or Son, sees also the Divine Esse or Father, and this the Lord proves in these words:

"Philip said, Lord, show us the Father; Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he who seeth me, hath seen the Father, how sayest thou then, Show us the Father" (John 14:8, 9).

It is evident from these words, that the Lord is the Divine Existere, in which is the Divine Esse; thus that he is the God-Man, who was seen by the ancients. It follows from what has been adduced, that the Word must also be understood according to the sense of the letter, as to God having a face, eyes, and ears, and also hands and feet.