35. 6. Step by step he took off the human nature he had taken on from his mother and put on a human nature from what was divine within him, which is the divine human nature and the Son of God.

It is generally known that the Lord was divine and human, divine because of Jehovah the Father and human because of the Virgin Mary. That is why he was God and a human being and therefore had a divine essence and a human outward nature, the divine essence from his Father and the human nature from his mother. This meant that he was equal to the Father with respect to his divinity, but less than the Father with respect to his humanity. It also meant that, as we are taught by the so-called Athanasian statement of faith, this human nature from his mother was not changed into or mixed with a divine essence, since a human nature cannot be changed into or mixed with a divine essence.

[2] All the same, this very statement of faith we have accepted says that the divine nature took on a human nature-that is, united itself with it as a soul with its body, so much so that they were not two but one person. It follows from this that he took off the human nature received from his mother, which was essentially like that of anyone else and therefore material, and put on a human nature from his Father, which was essentially like his divine nature and therefore substantial, thus making his human nature divine.

That is why the Lord is even called “Jehovah” and “God” in the prophetic books of the Word, and in the Word of the Gospels is called “Lord, ” “God, ” “Messiah” or “Christ, ” and “the Son of God, ” the one in whom we are to believe and by whom we are to be saved.

[3] Now, since from the beginning the Lord had a human nature from his mother and took this off step by step, while he was in this world he therefore experienced two states, one called the state of being brought low or being emptied out and one called the state of being glorified or united with the Divine called “the Father.” The state of being brought low occurred when and to the extent that he was primarily conscious of the human nature received from his mother, and the state of being glorified occurred when and to the extent that he was primarily conscious of the human nature received from his Father. In his state of being brought low he prayed to the Father as someone other than himself; while in his state of being glorified he talked with the Father as if talking with himself. In this latter state he said that the Father was in him and he in the Father and that the Father and he were one; while in his state of being brought low he bore trials, suffered on the cross, and prayed that the Father would not forsake him. This is because his divine nature could not be subject to any trial, let alone suffer on the cross.

These passages then show us that by means of his trials and the subsequent constant victories, and by means of his suffering on the cross, which was the final trial, he completely subdued the hells and completely glorified his human nature, as has been explained above.

[4] As for his taking off the human nature received from his mother and putting on the human nature received from what was divine within him called “the Father, ” this we can see from the fact that whenever the Lord spoke directly to his mother he did not call her “mother” but “woman.” We find only three places in the Gospels where he speaks directly to his mother or about her, and in two of these he called her “woman, ” while in one he did not acknowledge her as his mother. As for the two in which he called her “woman, ” we read in John,

Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “What have I to do with you, woman? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)

And also

When Jesus from the cross saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing by her, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” (John 19:25-27)

The one occasion on which he did not acknowledge her is in Luke:

They announced to Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and want to see you.” Jesus answered and said to them, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the Word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:20-21; Matthew 12:46-49; Mark 3:31-35)

In other passages Mary is called his mother, but never from his own mouth.

[5] There is further support for this in the fact that he did not acknowledge himself to be the son of David. In fact, we read in the Gospels,

Jesus asked the Pharisees, saying, “What is your view of the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “David’s.” He said to them, “So how is it that David, in the spirit, calls him his Lord when he says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right until I make your enemies a stool for your feet”’? So if David calls him ‘Lord, ’ how is he his son?” And no one could answer him a word. (Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44; Psalms 110:1)

We can see from all this that as far as his glorified human nature was concerned, the Lord was neither the son of Mary nor the son of David.

[6] He showed Peter, James, and John what his glorified human nature was like when he was transfigured before their eyes:

His face shone like the sun and his clothing was like light. And then a voice from a cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him.” (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36)

The Lord also looked to John “like the sun shining in its strength” (Revelation 1:16).

[7] We are assured that the Lord’s human nature was glorified by what it says about his glorification in the Gospels, such as the following from John:

The hour has come for the Son of Humanity to be glorified. He said, “Father, glorify your name.” A voice came from heaven, saying, “I both have glorified it and will glorify it again.” (John 12:23, 28)

It says “I both have glorified it and will glorify it again” because the Lord was glorified step by step. Again,

After Judas went out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Humanity is glorified, and God is glorified in him. God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him immediately.” (John 13:31-32)

Again,

Jesus said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may also glorify you.” (John 17:1, 5)

And in Luke,

Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer this and enter into his glory? (Luke 24:26)

These things were said about his human nature.

[8] The Lord said, “God is glorified in him” and also “God will glorify him in himself” and “Glorify your Son, so that your Son may also glorify you.” The Lord said these things because the union was reciprocal, the divine nature with the human nature and the human nature with the divine. That is why he also said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:10-11) and “All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine” (John 17:10); so the union was full.

It is the same with any union. Unless it is reciprocal, it is not full. This is what the union of the Lord with us and of us with the Lord must be like, as he tells us in this passage in John:

On that day you will know that you are in me and I am in you. (John 14:20)

And in this passage:

Abide in me, and I [will abide] in you. Those who abide in me and in whom I abide bear much fruit. (John 15:4-5)

[9] Because the Lord’s human nature was glorified-that is, made divine-on the third day after his death he rose again with his whole body, which is not true of any human being, since we rise again with our spirit only and not with our body.

So that we should know this, and so that no one should doubt that the Lord rose again with his whole body, he not only said so through the angels who were in the tomb but also showed himself to the disciples in his human form with his body, saying to them when they thought they were seeing a spirit,

“See my hands and my feet-that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. (Luke 24:39-40; John 20:20)

And again,

Jesus said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at my hands; and reach out your hand and put it into my side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Then Thomas said, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:27-28)

[10] To make it even clearer that he was not a spirit but a person, he said to the disciples,

“Have you any food here?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb, and he took it and ate in their presence. (Luke 24:41-43)

Since his body was no longer material but had become divine substance, he came to the disciples when the doors were closed (John 20:19, 26) and disappeared after they had seen him (Luke 24:31).

Once the Lord was in this state, he was carried up and sat down at the right hand of God, for it says in Luke,

It happened that, while Jesus blessed his disciples, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. (Luke 24:51)

and in Mark,

After he had spoken to them, he was carried up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. (Mark 16:19)

Sitting down at the right hand of God means gaining divine omnipotence.

[11] Since the Lord rose into heaven with his divine and human natures united into one and sat at the right hand of God (which means gaining omnipotence), it follows that his human substance or essence is now just like his divine substance or essence.

To think otherwise would be like thinking that his divine nature was raised into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, but not together with his human nature. This is contrary to Scripture and also contrary to the Christian teaching that in Christ God and a human being are like the soul and the body. To separate them is also contrary to sound reason.

It is this union of the Father with the Son, or of the divine nature with the human nature, that is meant in the following passages:

I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father. (John 16:28)

I go (or come) to the one who sent me. (John 7:33; 16:5, 16; 17:11, 13; 20:17)

What then if you were to see the Son of Humanity ascend where he was before? (John 6:62)

No one has ascended to heaven except the one who came down from heaven. (John 3:13)

Every one of us who is saved ascends to heaven, though not on our own, but rather through the Lord's power. Only the Lord ascended on his own.

513. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had lives, died.- That this signifies that every living scientific in the natural man died, is clear from the signification of dying as denoting to perish spiritually, or as to the life of heaven; and from the signification of third part, as denoting all (see above, n. 506); and from the signification of the creatures in the sea, or fishes, which denote scientifics, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of having lives, as denoting to be alive. Therefore by the third part of the creatures in the sea that had lives dying, is signified the perishing of every living scientific. A living scientific means a scientific which derives life from spiritual affection; for this affection gives life to truths, and consequently life to scientifics, scientifics being the containants of spiritual truths, as may be seen above (n. 506, 507, 511).

[2] The reason why the creatures of the sea, or fishes, signify scientifics is, that the sea signifies the natural man, and therefore the fishes in the sea signify scientifics themselves in the natural man. That fish signify these things is also from correspondence; for spirits who are not in spiritual truths, but in natural truths only, which are scientifics, appear in the spiritual world in seas like fish, when seen by those who are above. It is their thoughts, which proceed from the scientifics which they possess, that have this appearance. For all the ideas of the thought of angels and of spirits are turned into various representatives outside of them; when into such things as belong to the vegetable kingdom, they are changed into trees and shrubs of various kinds; but when into such things as belong to the animal kingdom, they are turned into animals of the earth, and into birds of various kinds. When the ideas of the angels of heaven are turned into animals of the earth, they are changed into lambs, sheep, she-goats, heifers, horses, mules, and others of a similar kind; but when into birds, they are turned into turtle-doves, doves, and many kinds of beautiful birds; but on the other hand the ideas of the thought of those who are natural, and think from scientifics alone, are turned into the forms of fishes. For this reason various species of fish appear in the seas, which I have been often permitted to see.

[3] Hence it is that in the Word fishes signify scientifics as in the following places.

In Isaiah:

"At my rebuke, I dry up the sea; I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish shall grow putrid, because there is no water, and shall die of thirst" (50:2).

The rebuke of Jehovah means the destruction of the church, which comes to pass when there is no knowledge of good and truth, or no living cognition, because no perception. Drying up the sea, signifies to deprive the natural man of scientific truths, and thence of natural derived from spiritual life. To make the rivers a wilderness, has a similar signification in regard to the rational man, in consequence of which there is no longer any intelligence; their fish becoming putrid, because there is no water, and dying of thirst, signifies that the scientific is no longer alive, because not true, fish denoting what is scientific, water, truth, while to grow putrid, denotes to die as to spiritual life.

[4] It is said here similarly of the sea that the third part of it became blood, and that thence a third part of the creatures therein died. Also it is said of Egypt that its river and all its waters became blood, and that in consequence the fish died. Moses told Pharaoh that the waters of the river should be turned into blood, and that the fish should consequently die, and the river stink, so that the Egyptians would loathe to drink of the waters of the river. This also took place with all the water in Egypt (Exodus 7:17-20).

Concerning this circumstance it is thus written in David:

"He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish" (Psalm. 105:29).

The reason why similar things were done in Egypt is, that Egypt signified the natural man as to the scientifics thereof, or the scientific of the natural man. The river of Egypt signifies intelligence procured by means of scientifics; the river being turned into blood, signifies that that intelligence is from pure falsities; by the fish dying, is signified that scientific truths perished by falsities, for scientifics live by truths but perish by falsities, the reason of which is, that all spiritual truth is living, and the entire life or, as it were, the soul in scientifics is thence, wherefore without spiritual truth, the scientific is dead.

[5] In Ezekiel:

"Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great whale that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made myself. But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales. And I will leave thee in the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers" (29:3, 4, 5).

Pharaoh has a similar signification to Egypt, the king like the people signifies the natural man, and the scientific therein. On this account he is called a great whale. For a whale or sea monster signifies what is scientific in general, and therefore it is said that he shall be drawn out of the river, and that the fish shall stick to his scales, which signifies that all intelligence would perish, and that the knowledge (scientia) in the sensual man in the place of it would be without life. In the sensual man, which is the lowest natural man lying nearest to the world, there are fallacies and thence falsities, and this is signified by the fish adhering to the scales of the whale. That the natural man, and what is scientific therein, would be without life from any intelligence, is signified by, "I will leave thee in the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers." That such things would come to pass through the natural man ascribing all intelligence to itself, is signified by the words, "which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made myself," river denoting intelligence.

[6] In Moses:

The sons of Israel in the wilderness said, "We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick; but now our soul is dried up; there is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes. Afterwards a wind went forth from Jehovah, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall over the camp." But because of their lust "Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague; and the name of that place was called the graves of lust (Kibroth-hattaavah)" (Num. 11:5, 6, 31, 33, 34).

These words signify that the sons of Israel turned away from spiritual things, and greedily desired natural things; for they were merely natural, and not spiritual, only representing the spiritual church by external things. That they turned away from spiritual things, is signified by their saying "our soul is dried up, there is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes," manna signifying spiritual food, which is knowledge (scientia), intelligence, and wisdom. That they greedily desired natural things, is signified by their lusting after the fish of Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlick; all these signify such things as pertain to the lowest natural, that is, to the corporeal sensual man; and because they rejected spiritual things, and desired merely natural things instead of them, therefore they were smitten with a great plague, and the name given to the place was "the graves of lust."

[7] In Ezekiel:

He said unto me, "These waters issue out toward the eastern border, and go down into the plain, and go towards the sea; which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed, therefore it comes to pass, that every living soul which creepeth, whithersoever the rivers come, shall live whence a very great multitude of fish. Therefore it comes to pass that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi, even unto En-eglaim; in the spreading of nets they are present; their fish shall be according to their kind, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt" (47:1, 8-11).

The subject here is the house of God which signifies heaven and the church; and the waters issuing out of the house of God towards the east, signify the Divine Truth reforming and regenerating; by the plain and by the sea into which the waters descend, are signified the ultimates of heaven and the church, which, with the men of the church, are those things that pertain to the natural and sensual man; by the plain are signified the interior things thereof, and by the sea, the exterior things thereof. That knowledges from the Word, as well as confirmatory scientifics, receive spiritual life by means of that Divine Truth, is signified by the waters of the sea being thence healed, and by every living soul which creepeth, and by there being a great multitude of fish; that there shall thence be true and living scientifics of every kind, is signified by the fish being according to their kind, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. Those who are reformed, and thence become intelligent, are meant by the fishers from Engedi, even to En-eglaim. Those who cannot be reformed, because they are in the falsities of evil, are signified by the miry places and marshes, which are not healed, and are given to salt. That fishes multiplied by waters issuing out of the house of God are not here meant, every one can see, but that fishes mean such things in man as can be reformed, because the house of God means heaven and the church, and the waters issuing therefrom mean the Divine Truth reforming.

[8] In the Word throughout, mention is made of the beast of the earth, the bird of heaven, and the fish of the sea, and he who does not know that the beast of the earth, or of the field, means the Voluntary of man, the bird of heaven, his Intellectual, and the fish of the sea, his Scientific, cannot at all know the meaning of those expressions; as in the following passages.

In Hosea:

"Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the earth, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the earth. Therefore shall the earth mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall pine away, among the beast of the field, and among the bird of the heavens; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away" (4:1, 3).

In Zephaniah:

"I will consume man and beast, I will consume the bird of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked" (1:3).

In Ezekiel:

"In the day when God shall come against the land of Israel, there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, and the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the field, shall tremble before my presence" (38:18, 19, 20).

In Job:

"Ask the beasts, and they shall teach thee; or the birds of the heaven, and they shall tell thee; or the thicket of the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not from all these that the hand of Jehovah doeth that?" (12:7-9).

In these passages, the beasts of the field mean the Voluntary of man, the birds of the heavens, his Intellectual; and the fish of the sea, his Scientific. For what other reason would it be said, "the beasts shall teach thee, the birds of the heaven shall tell thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee that the hand of Jehovah doeth this?" It is also said, "Who knoweth not from all these?"

[9] Similarly in David:

"Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet. The flock and all herds, the beasts of the fields; the bird of the heaven, and the fish of the sea, passing through the paths of the sea" (Psalm 8:6-8).

These things are said concerning the Lord, and His dominion. That He has dominion over the angels in the heavens, and over man on the earth, is known from the Word, for He Himself says, that all power is given to Him in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). But that dominion was given to Him over animals, birds, and fishes, is not of sufficient importance to be mentioned in the Word, where all things, even the most minute, have reference to heaven and the church. It is evident therefore that the flock and the herds, the beasts of the field, the bird of the heaven, and the fish of the sea, mean such things as pertain to heaven with the angels, and to the church with man. The flock and the herds signify, in general, spiritual things and natural things; the flock, spiritual things; and herds, natural things pertaining to man, or those things that belong to his spiritual mind and to his natural mind. Beasts of the field signify voluntary things, which pertain to the affections; the birds of heaven, intellectual things, which pertain to the thoughts; and fishes of the sea, things scientific, which pertain to the natural man.

[10] Similar things are signified by these words in the first chapter of Genesis:

"God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; in order that they may have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the bird of the heaven, and over every animal creeping upon the earth" (verses 26-28).

The subject of that chapter, in the internal spiritual sense, is the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, thus the new creation or regeneration of the men of that church. That it was granted them to perceive all things of their affection, which are of the will, and to see all things of their thought, which are of the understanding, and so to rule those things, lest they should fall away into the lusts of evil and into falsities, is meant by the words, "in order that they may have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the bird of the heaven, and over every animal of the earth." And man rules over these when the Lord rules over man, for man of himself cannot rule over any thing in himself. Such things are signified by the fish of the sea, the bird of the heaven, and the beast of the field, because they correspond. In the spiritual world it is made clear to the sight that the interior things of man correspond to such things; for there beasts of every kind appear, also birds, and in the seas, fishes which are nevertheless nothing else but the ideas of thought which flow forth from the affections and are presented to view under such forms, because they correspond.

[11] Because fishes signify the scientifics and knowledges of the natural man, which are to the spiritual man the means of becoming wise, therefore fishers, in the Word, mean those who are in knowledges only, and who procure knowledges for themselves, and also those who teach others, and reform them by means of knowledges. This work of theirs is meant by the casting and spreading of nets, as in the following passages.

In Isaiah:

"The fishers shall mourn, and all they that cast the hook into the river shall be sad, and they that spread the net upon the faces of the waters shall languish" (19:8).

Here the fishers that cast the hook into the river, and they that spread the net, mean those who desire to procure for themselves cognitions, and by means of them intelligence; here that they are not able, because the cognitions of truth no where exist.

[12] In Jeremiah:

"I will bring again" the sons of Israel "into their land, I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah, and they shall fish them; then will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks" (16:15, 16).

By sending for fishers to fish them, and for hunters to hunt them, is meant to call together and establish the church with those who are in natural good, and in spiritual good, as may be seen above (n. 405:7).

[13] And in Habakkuk:

"Wherefore makest thou man as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping thing that hath none to rule it. Let him draw out all of them with a hook and gather him into his net. Shall he therefore empty his net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?" (1:14, 15, 17).

These things are said concerning the Chaldean nation vastating and destroying the church; the Chaldean nation signifying the profanation of truth, and the vastation of the church. To make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the reptile that hath none to rule it, signifies to make man so natural, that his scientifics are without spiritual truth, and his pleasures without spiritual good. For in the natural man there are scientifics by means of which there are thoughts, and pleasures, and by means of these there are affections; if the spiritual man does not rule over these, both thoughts and affections are wandering, and thus man is destitute of the intelligence, which should teach and rule him. That in this case they can be drawn over to their side by every falsity and evil and so destroyed altogether, is signified by, "let him draw out all of them with a hook, and gather into his net, and afterwards he shall slay." To draw out means away from truth and good; into his net, means into falsity and evil; and to slay, denotes to destroy.

[14] In Amos:

"The days shall come in which they shall draw you out with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks" (4:2).

These words signify that they would be led by subtle reasonings from falsities and fallacies, and be turned away from truths. These things are said concerning those who abound in knowledges because they have the Word and the prophets, and they are meant there by the kine of Bashan in the mountain of Samaria. From these things it is now evident what is meant by fishermen, fishes, and nets, so often mentioned in the New Testament, as in the following passages:

[15] "And Jesus saw two brethren, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:18, 19; Mark 1:16, 17).

And in another place it is said that Jesus, having entered into Simon's ship, taught the multitude, and afterwards told Simon to let down their nets for a draught, and they caught a great multitude of fish, so that their ships were filled, and began to sink; and they were all astonished at the draught of fish; and He said to Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men (Luke 5:3-10).

In these words also there is a spiritual sense, just as in the other parts of the Word. The Lord's choosing the fishermen, and saying that they should become fishers of men, signified that they should gather men to the church; the nets which they let down, and in which they inclosed a great multitude of fish, so that the ships began to sink, signified the reformation of the church by their means; for fishes there signify the knowledges of truth and good by which reformation takes place, also the multitude of men who would be reformed.

[16] Similar things are also signified by the draught of fish taken by the disciples after the resurrection of the Lord, concerning which it is stated in John, that when Jesus showed Himself to His disciples who were fishing, He told them to cast their net on the right side of the ship; and they caught and were not able to draw the net for the multitude of fish. And after they came to land they saw a hearth [or fire of coals] there and a little fish laid thereon, and bread, and similarly Jesus gave them bread and fish (21:2-13). The reason why the Lord showed Himself to His disciples while they were fishing, was, that to fish signified to teach the cognitions of truth and good, and so to reform. He commanded them to cast the net on the right side of the ship, which signifies that all things are from the good of love and of charity; for the right signifies the good from which they are; for cognitions live, and multiply so far as they are recipients of good. They said also, that they had laboured all the night, and taken nothing, which signifies that nothing was from themselves or their proprium, but everything was from the Lord. Similar also was the signification of the hearth [or fire of coals] on which there was a little fish, and of the bread; for the bread signified the Lord, and the good of love from Him, and the little fish upon the hearth the knowledge of truth from good; the little fish, the knowledge of truth, and the hearth or fire, good. At that time there were not any spiritual men, for the church was wholly vastated, but all were natural, the reformation of these was represented by that fishing, and also by the fish upon the hearth. He who supposes that the fish upon that hearth and the bread given to the disciples to eat are not significative of something of a higher nature, is much mistaken. For everything that the Lord did and said, signified celestial Divine things, which are made evident only by the spiritual sense. That a hearth and fire, denote the good of love, and bread the Lord as to that good, has been shown above; and that fish denote the cognition of truth, and the Scientific of the natural man, is evident from what has been said and shown in this article.

[17] The Lord also says that:

"The kingdom of the heavens is like unto a net (sagena), that was cast into the sea, and which gathered of every kind; which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be in the consummation of the age" (Matthew 13:47-49).

The separation of the good and the evil is here likened to a net cast into the sea which gathered of every kind of fish, because fish signify natural men as to scientifics and cognitions, and these, in the consummation of the age, or at the time of a last judgment, are separated. For there are good natural men and wicked natural men, the separation of whom in the spiritual world appears like a net (rete) or drag-net (sagena) cast into the sea, drawing the fish together, and bringing them to shore. This appearance is from correspondence, therefore the Lord likened the kingdom of the heavens to a net (sagena) which drew the fish together. That such is the appearance of the separation of the good from the evil, I have also seen.

[18] That natural men are signified by fish, is evident from this miracle of the Lord:

"They that received the half shekel (didrachma) came." Jesus said to Simon, "Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own sons, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the sons free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money (stater); that take, and give unto them for me and thee" (Matthew 17:24-27).

The paying of tribute or custom signified subjection and servitude; therefore tribute was levied on strangers, who were not of the sons of Israel, as is clear from the historical parts of the Word. The sons of Israel, with whom the church was, signified those who are spiritual, and strangers, those who are natural. The Natural is subject to the Spiritual, and serves it, for the spiritual man is as a lord, and the natural man as a servant; and because the natural are servants, and thus are meant by those who are tributary, therefore it came to pass that neither the Lord nor Peter paid tribute, but the fish, by which the natural man is signified.

That the Lord glorified His Human even to its ultimate, which is called natural and sensual, is signified by the following:

Jesus showed Himself to His disciples and said, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I; handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And he showed them his hands and his feet, and said unto them, Have ye here any meat? They gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them" (Luke 24:38-43).

[19] That the Lord glorified His Human even to its ultimate, which is called natural and sensual, He proved by His showing His hands and His feet; by His disciples touching these, and by His saying that a spirit had not flesh and bones as He [had], and also by His eating of the broiled fish and honeycomb. By the hands and feet are signified the ultimates of man; similarly by the flesh and bones. The broiled fish signifies the Natural as to truth from good, and honey the Natural as to good from which is truth. These things were eaten in the presence of the disciples, because they corresponded to the natural man and therefore signified it. For a fish, as shown in this article, signifies, from correspondence, the Natural as to what is scientific; therefore also a fish, in the Word, signifies the scientific, and the cognitive faculty of the natural man, and a broiled fish signifies the scientific which is from natural good; but, with the Lord, it signified the Natural Divine as to truth from good. That honey signifies natural good, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 5620, 6857, 10137, 10530). He who is ignorant of the fact that there is a spiritual sense in every part of the Word, and that the sense of the letter, which is the natural sense, consists of correspondences with spiritual things, cannot understand the arcanum why the Lord ate of the broiled fish, and of the honeycomb in the presence of His disciples, and also, why He gave broiled fish and bread to His disciples, although every particular thing that the Lord spoke and did, was Divine, and these are interiorly stored up in every thing written in the Word.

[20] It is now evident from these things that the words, "And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had lives, died," signify that every living scientific in the natural man perished, or, what is the same, that the natural man as to the scientifics therein died; this is said to be dead when it is not vivified from the spiritual man, that is, by influx out of heaven from the Lord through the spiritual man, for the Lord flows through the spiritual man into the natural; therefore when no truth of heaven is any longer acknowledged, nor any good of heaven operates, then the spiritual mind which is called the spiritual man, is closed, and the natural mind receives merely falsities from evil; and falsities from evil are spiritually dead, for truths from good are spiritually living.

[21] It is said, "the third part of the creatures," because creatures and animals in the Word, signify the affections and thence the thoughts in man; consequently, men themselves in regard to these are also meant. Creatures, have a similar meaning in Mark:

Jesus said to His disciples, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (16:15).

And also above in the Apocalypse:

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and which are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, unto the ages of the ages" (5:13).

That by every creature are there meant both angels and men is evident, for it is said that he "heard them saying." See above (n. 342-346), where these things are explained.