2159. That 'servant' means the Lord's human before it was made Divine becomes clear from many places in the Prophets. The reason, which has been given frequently already, is this: The Lord's human, before He cast it off and made it Divine, was nothing else than a servant. His human came from the mother and was for that reason imperfect. From her it possessed a hereditary element which He overcame and utterly cast aside by means of the conflicts brought about by temptations. He did so even to the point when nothing was left of the imperfect and hereditary element received from the mother, indeed until at length nothing whatever from the mother remained. He cast off that which came from the mother so completely that He was no longer her son, as He also Himself declares in Mark,

They said to Jesus, Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside, asking for You. And He answered them. saying, Who is My mother, or My brothers? And looking around on those who were sitting around Him He said, Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother, and My sister, and My mother. Mark 3:32-35; Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:20-21.

[2] Once He had cast off this human He put on the Divine Human, by virtue of which He called Himself the Son of Man, as may be seen many times in the New Testament Word, and also the Son of God. By 'the Son of Man' He meant truth itself and by 'the Son of God' good itself which belonged to His Human Essence once this had been made Divine. The former state was that of the Lord's humiliation but the latter that of His glorification, which has been dealt with already in 1999.

[3] In the former state, namely the state of humiliation, when He still had the imperfect human with Him, He worshipped Jehovah as one other than Himself, and was indeed like a servant, for the imperfect human is by comparison nothing else. In the Word also therefore that human is referred to as 'a servant', as in Isaiah,

I will protect this city to save it for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant. Isaiah 37:35.

This refers to the Assyrians in whose camp an angel slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand. 'David' stands for the Lord who, because He is yet to come, is, as regards the human, called 'a servant'. That 'David' in the Word stands for the Lord, see 1888.

[4] In the same prophet,

Behold, My servant on whom I will lean, My chosen [in whom] My soul is well pleased. I have put My spirit upon him; he will bring forth judgement to the nations. Isaiah 42:1.

This is a plain reference to the Lord, of whom, when He was in the human, the expressions 'servant' and 'chosen one' are used. In the same prophet,

Who is blind but My servant, and deaf as My angel ¹ whom I will send? Who is blind as the perfect one, and blind as the servant or Jehovah? Isaiah 42:19.

This too is a reference to the Lord, of whom in a similar way, when He was in the human, the expressions 'servant' and 'angel' are used.

[5] In the same prophet,

You are My witnesses, said Jehovah, and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Isaiah 43:10.

In the same prophet,

[Then] said Jehovah who formed me from the womb, to be a servant to Him, to bring back Jacob to Him, and that Israel might be gathered to Him - He said, It is a light thing that you should be a servant to Me to raise up the tribes of Jacob. I have given you as a light of the nations, to be My salvation right to the ends of the earth. Isaiah 49:5-6.

This too is a plain reference to the Lord and to His human before it was made 'a light of the nations' and 'a salvation to the ends of the earth'. In the same prophet,

Who among you fears Jehovah, hearkens to the voice of His servant who walks in darkness and has no brightness? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah and lean on his God. Isaiah 50:10.

'Servant' again stands for the Lord's human. His teaching of the way of truth, while He was in that Human, is meant by 'the voice of Jehovah's servant'.

[6] In the same prophet,

Jehovah goes before you, and the God of Israel gathers you up. Behold, My servant will deal wisely; he will be raised up and exalted and lifted up very high. Isaiah 52:12-13.

'Servant' is clearly used in reference to the Lord when He was in the human, because it is said of Him that He will be raised up, exalted, and lifted up. In the same prophet,

He had no form and no honour. We saw him, but there was no beauty in him. He was despised, a man of sorrows, acquainted with sickness. Jehovah was willing to bruise him and make him imperfect. If he makes his soul guilt he will see his seed he will prolong his days, and the will of Jehovah will prosper by his hand. He will see [the fruit of] the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge will the righteous one My servant make many righteous; and He has borne their iniquities. Isaiah 53:2-3, 10-11.

Here reference is openly made, as in the whole of this chapter, to the Lord's state of humiliation. The fact that in that state He was in the imperfect human is also declared, namely in the statements that He was 'a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief', 'was made imperfect', and experienced 'the travail of his soul', besides many other statements, in which state He is referred to as 'a servant'.

Footnotes:

900. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, signifies that such will henceforth be free from combat against evils and falsities, and from infestation by them. This is evident from the signification of "saith the Spirit," as being assertion that it is true, for "angel," likewise "Spirit," signifies truth from the Lord. Also from the signification of "labors," as being combats against evils and falsities and infestations by them, thus temptations (of which presently), therefore "to rest from them" signifies that they will henceforth be free from them. This makes evident that "the Spirit saith, that they may rest from their labors," signifies that it is true that they will henceforth be free from combat against evils and falsities, and from infestation by them. The preceding verse treats of the temptations of those who live according to the Lord's commandments and who acknowledge His Divine, therefore this verse treats of the consolations that follow spiritual temptations; for, as has been said above n. 897, after all spiritual temptations joys come forth.

[2] "Labors" mean temptations, because temptations are labors of the soul or spiritual labors; and these are meant by "labor" in Isaiah:

Jehovah hath willed to bruise him, He hath weakened him; if He hath made his soul a guilt-offering, he shall see seed, he shall prolong days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper by his hand; he shall see of the labor of his soul and shall be satisfied (Isaiah 53:10, 11).

This is said of the Lord, of whom the whole of that chapter treats. The Lord's temptations, which were most grievous, because they were against the hells, are described by "Jehovah willed to bruise him, He hath weakened him," for by means of temptations the loves of what is one's own [proprium] are broken, thus the body is bruised and weakened. "If he hath made his soul a guilt-offering" signifies, if he has endured temptations even unto death; "he shall see seed" signifies that the Divine truth shall proceed from Him, "seed" meaning truth, and in reference to the Lord the Divine truth; "he shall prolong days" signifies the Divine good, which shall also proceed from Him, "long" and thus "to prolong" being said in reference to good (See above, n. 629), and "days" signifying states. "And the will of Jehovah shall prosper by his hand" signifies that thus all things and each thing in the heavens and in the earths shall be kept in Divine order; "of the labor of his soul" signifies by temptations; "he shall see and shall be satisfied" signifies glorification. This is the signification of these words in the highest sense, which treats of the Lord. But in a relative sense they describe the salvation of the human race, for which the Lord fought from Divine love.

[3] It is said, "If he hath made his soul a guilt-offering," as if it were a matter of doubt whether he would so make it. But the same truth is involved in this as in what He Himself says in John:

I lay down My soul that I may take it again; no man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment received I from My Father (John 10:17, 18).

The arcanum that is concealed in these words no one can see unless he knows what the temptations are by which man is regenerated. For in these man is kept in his freedom; from which it appears to him as if he fought from himself. In fact, man has in temptations a more potent spiritual freedom than when he is not in them, for it is more interior. Unless man fought from this freedom in temptations he could not become spiritual; for all freedom is of the love, therefore man then fights from the love of truth, and thus from the love of eternal life; and in this and in no other way is the internal opened and man regenerated. From these few things it can be seen in some degree what is involved in these words of the Lord, namely, that he fought from His own freedom and finally laid down His soul that He might do all things from His own power, and thus might become righteousness from Himself, which He could not have become except from His freedom; and this is why it is said, "I lay down My soul of Myself; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment I have received from My Father."

[4] Those to whom this arcanum is unknown interpret these words as the Arians do, that the Lord was the adopted not the actual Son of God; thus that He was adopted because He was willing to lay down His life, or endure the death of the cross; not knowing that these words involve that from His own power He fought against the hells from His Human and overcame them, and from His own power He glorified His Human, that is, united it to the very Divine in Himself, and thus made it Divine; and that this could by no means have been done if absolute freedom had not been left to Him as to the Human. All this makes clear why it is said in Isaiah, "If He hath made his soul a guilt-offering."

(That freedom is that which is of the love and of the will and thus of the life of man, and that it appears as if it were his own [proprium], can be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n.141, 145).

That man must have freedom in order to be regenerated can be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3158, 4031, 8700.

That in no other way can the love of good and truth be implanted in man and be appropriated to him, apparently as his own, n. 2877, 2879, 2880, 8700.

That nothing is conjoined to man that is done by compulsion, n. 2875, 8700.

That to compel oneself is from freedom, but not to be compelled, n. 1937, 2881.

That in all temptation there is freedom, but this freedom is more interiorly in man from the Lord, and for this reason he fights and wishes to conquer and not to be conquered, which he would not do without freedom, n. 1937, 1947, 2881.

That the Lord fought alone and from His own power against all the hells, and overcame them, n. 1692, 1813, 2816, 4295, 8273, 9937.

That thus the Lord became righteousness from Himself alone, n. 1813, 2025-2027, 9715, 9809, 10019.

That the Lord's last temptation was in Gethsemane and upon the cross, when He gained a complete victory, by which He subjugated the hells, and at the same time glorified His Human, n. 2776, 2803, 2813, 2814, 10655, 10659, 10828.

All these are from the Arcana Coelestia, from which still more may be seen collected in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, under the heads,

The Freedom of Man, n.The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 148, 149;

Temptations in General, n. 196-200;

The Lord's Temptations, n. 201, 302)