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.

581. For their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads.- That this signifies that they reason craftily from sensual scientifics, which are fallacies, is evident from the signification of tails, here the tails of horses, as denoting the scientifics which are called sensual, because they are the ultimates of the understanding (see above, n. 559); and from the signification of serpents, as denoting the craftiness of the sensual man, of which in what follows; and from the signification of having heads, as denoting to reason by means of those scientifics. For the head signifies intelligence, therefore to have a head signifies to be intelligent. Reasoning by means of those scientifics, is meant, because "head," when used in reference to the sensual man, signifies knowledge (scientia), and illusory thought thence, as may be seen above (n.577:2), consequently also reasoning by means of sensual scientifics. From these things it is evident that by the tails of the horses being like serpents, and having heads, is signified, that they reason craftily from sensual scientifics, which are fallacies. It is said, that they are fallacies, because sensual scientifics become fallacies when man reasons from them concerning spiritual things; as for example, that dignities and wealth are real blessings; that the glory possessed by the great in the world is heavenly blessedness; and that the Lord desires adoration from man for the sake of His own glory; with other things of a similar nature, and these are fallacies, when they are applied to spiritual things. For the sensual man, not being endued with intelligence, thus thinks, for he cannot possibly know otherwise.

[2] That serpents, in the Word, signify the craftiness and prudence of the sensual man, is evident from the following passages. In Moses:

"The serpent was more subtle than any wild beast of the field which Jehovah God had made" (Genesis 3:1).

Here the serpent does not mean a serpent, but the sensual man, and in a general sense, the Sensual itself, which is the ultimate of the human understanding. The man and his wife, signify the Most Ancient Church, which fell away when the men of that Church began to reason concerning Divine things from sensual scientifics, and such reasoning is signified by their eating of the tree of knowledge (scientia); their craftiness in reasoning concerning Divine things from the Sensual, is described by the reasoning of the serpent with the wife of Adam, by which they were deceived. The reason why the serpent was said to be more subtle than any wild beast of the field, is that it is poisonous, and its bite therefore deadly, and that it conceals itself in hiding places. Poison signifies craft and treachery, and thence the bite of the serpent, deadly hurt; and the lurking places from which it bites, and in which it conceals itself, signify craftiness.

[3] It must be observed, that all beasts signify affections pertaining to man, and serpents signify the affections of the sensual man, because they move over the ground upon the belly just like the Sensual of man, for this is in the lowest place, and as it were creeps upon the ground beneath the rest [of the faculties]. Sensual men also, in the spiritual world, dwell in the lower parts, for they cannot be elevated towards the higher, since they are in externals, and form their judgments and conclusions about everything from externals. The evil also, who are in the hells, are mostly sensual, and many of them crafty, wherefore when they are seen from the light of heaven, they appear like serpents of various kinds, and hence it is, that the devil is called a serpent. The reason why the infernals are also crafty, is, that evil conceals in itself every kind of craftiness and cunning, just as good conceals every kind of prudence and wisdom. More may be seen upon this subject in Heaven and Hell 576-581), where the cunning and wicked arts of infernal spirits are treated of.

[4] Hence now it is that the devil or hell is called a serpent in the following passages.

In the Apocalypse:

"The dragon, the old serpent, called the devil, and satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (12:9, 14, 15; 20:2).

And in David:

"They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; the poison of an asp is under their lips" (Psalm 140:3).

These words signify their crafty and treacherous deception.

Again:

"Their poison is like the poison of a serpent," (Psalm 58:4).

And in Job:

"He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall slay him" (20:16).

And in Isaiah:

"They hatched eggs of an asp, and wove the spider's web; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and when any one crusheth it there breaketh out a viper" (59:5).

This is said of evil men, who by treachery and craft seduce others in spiritual things. The secret evils to which they allure by their craftiness, are signified by the eggs of the asp, which they are said to hatch; their treacherous falsities are signified by the spider's web which they are said to weave; the deadly hurt which they cause if they are received, is signified by "he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and when any one crusheth it there breaketh out a viper."

[5] Because the Pharisees were of such a character, therefore they are called by the Lord, "serpents, a generation of vipers" (Matthew 23:33). That the craftiness and cunning of such could inflict no injury upon those whom the Lord protects, is signified by the following words in Isaiah:

"The sucking child shall play on the hole of the viper, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk's den" (11:8).

The sucking child and the weaned child in these words signify those who are in the good of innocence, that is, those who are in love to the Lord. The hole of the viper and the den of the basilisk mean hells where treacherous and crafty spirits are, and the entrances into them also appear like dusky holes, and within, like dens.

[6] That the craftiness and cunning of infernal spirits should not hurt those whom the Lord protects, is also signified by the words of the Lord, that He would give them power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19); also that they should take up serpents; and if they drank any deadly thing, it should not hurt them (Mark 16:18). To tread on serpents, signifies to despise and make light of the treacheries, craft, and wicked arts of the infernal crew; therefore it is also said, "and over all the power of the enemy," the enemy denoting the infernal crew, and his power, craftiness.

[7] The cunning and craftiness of infernal spirits, who are called collectively the devil and satan, are also meant by serpents in the following passages.

Thus in Moses:

Jehovah God "led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, of the serpent, the fiery flying serpent, and scorpion" (Deuteronomy 8:15).

The journeyings of the sons of Israel in the wilderness, represented, and thence signified, the temptations of the faithful; the infestations which then take place from the hells by means of evil spirits and genii, are signified by the serpents, fiery flying serpents, and scorpions.

[8] Again in Isaiah:

"Rejoice not thou, whole Philisthea, that the rod of him that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent" (14:29).

Philisthea here signifies faith separated from charity; the turning aside of many by the deceptive arguments by which that faith is confirmed, is signified by out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, and his fruit shall be a flying fiery serpent.

Again in Jeremiah:

"Behold, I send serpents, basilisks, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you" (8:17).

Again:

"The voice thereof shall go like a serpent" (46:22).

And in Amos:

"Though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them" (9:3).

Craftiness is also signified in Isaiah by "Leviathan, that crooked serpent" (27:1).

[9] That serpents, in the Word, signify the craft, and also the prudence of sensual men, is evident from the words of the Lord in Matthew:

"Be ye prudent (wise) as serpents, and harmless as doves" (10:16).

Those who are in good are called prudent, and those who are in evil, are called crafty, for prudence is of truth from good, and craftiness is of falsity from evil; and since these words were spoken to those who were in truths from good, therefore by serpents, in this place, is meant prudence. Because the craftiness of the evil is diabolical, therefore those who practise it are said to eat the dust.

[10] Thus in Moses:

It was said to the serpent," Thou art cursed above every beast, and above every wild beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" (Genesis 3:14).

And in Isaiah:

"Dust shall be the serpent's bread" (Isaiah 65:2 5).

And in Micah:

"They shall lick the dust like a serpent" (7:17).

Dust signifies what is cursed; and going upon the belly signifies the Sensual, which is the ultimate of the life of man; and since it is the ultimate of the life, it therefore does not possess intelligence and wisdom, but craft and cunning, which are contrary to intelligence and wisdom.

[11] Again, in Moses:

"Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an arrow-serpent on the path, biting the horse's heels, and its rider shall fall backwards" (Genesis 49:17).

No one can know the signification of this prophecy concerning Dan unless he understand the signification of a horse and its heels, and also of a serpent. A horse signifies the understanding of truth, and a rider, intelligence; a serpent signifies the Sensual, which is the ultimate of the intellectual life; the heels of a horse signify truths in ultimates, which are sensual scientifics. That the Sensual, by reasonings from fallacies, hurts the understanding and leads it astray, is signified by the serpent biting the heels of the horse, and the horseman falling backwards. These things are said concerning Dan, because the tribe named after him was the last of the tribes, and therefore signified the ultimates of truth and good, consequently the ultimates of the church, as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 1710, 3923, 6396, 10335), where this prophecy is explained.

[12] The Sensual, which is the ultimate of the intellectual life, is also signified by the crooked serpent, in Isaiah (27:1); Job (26:13); also by the serpent into which the rod of Moses was turned (Exodus 4:3, 4; 7:9-12); see in the Arcana Coelestia 6949, 7293). The sensual things also, which are the ultimates of the life of man, are signified by "the fiery flying serpents" sent amongst the people, who desired to return to Egypt; but the healing of the wound made by such serpents by the Divine Sensual of the Lord, is signified by the "brazen serpent," placed upon a pole, at the sight of which they revived (Num. 21:5-9). It is said the Divine Sensual of the Lord, because the Lord, when in the world, glorified, that is made Divine, His whole Human, even to the ultimate thereof, as is evident from this fact, that He left nothing in the sepulchre, and that He said unto His disciples, that He had flesh and bones, which a spirit had not (Luke 24:39). The ultimate Sensual, which the Lord also glorified or made Divine, is signified by the brazen serpent set upon a pole, of which the Lord Himself thus spoke in John:

"As Moses lifted up the serpent, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (3:14, 15).

The Lord was represented by this sign before the Israelitish and Jewish people, because they were utterly sensual, and the sensual man cannot raise his thought, when directed to the Lord, beyond and above the Sensual. For every one looks at the Lord according to the elevation of his understanding; the spiritual man looks to the Divine Rational, and so on. It is evident from these considerations, that the brazen serpent also signifies the Sensual, but the glorified or Divine Sensual of the Lord.