546. Enlightened minds also see from this that the literal meaning of the Word where things like this are said has a spiritual meaning concealed within it, a meaning needed to explain expressions that in the letter are adapted to human comprehension, things said in accord with our primary and general conceptions.

Enlightened people also see that good and evil are two opposite things, as opposite as heaven and hell, and that everything good is from heaven and everything evil from hell. Further, since the Lord's divine nature constitutes heaven (see 7-12), nothing flows into us from the Lord but what is good, and nothing from hell but what is evil. So the Lord is constantly leading us out of evil and toward good, while hell is constantly leading us into evil. Unless we were in between, we would have neither thought nor intention, much less any freedom or choice. We have all these gifts because of the balance between good and evil. So if the Lord were to turn away and we were left to our own evil, we would no longer be human.

We can see from this that the Lord is constantly flowing into every individual with good, just as much into the evil person as into the good. The difference is that he is constantly leading evil people away from evil, while he is constantly leading good people toward the good. The reason for this difference lies in us, since we are the ones who accept.

24. The Lord is called the Son of Humanity when the subject is his suffering. This we can tell from the following passages.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Humanity will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles, and they will whip him, and spit on him, and kill him. On the third day, though, he will rise again.” (Mark 10:33-34)

Likewise elsewhere, where it foretells his suffering, as in Matthew 20:18-19; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22:

Jesus said to his disciples, “Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Humanity is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.” (Matthew 26:45)

The angel said to the women who came to the tomb, “Remember what he said to you: ‘The Son of Humanity must be betrayed into the hands of sinful people and be crucified and rise again on the third day.’” (Luke 24:6-7)

The reason the Lord then called himself the Son of Humanity is that he allowed people to treat him the way they were treating the Word, as has already been explained more than once [, ].