Mark 11
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And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,
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And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.
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And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.
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And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.
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And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?
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And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.
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And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.
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And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.
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And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
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Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
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And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
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And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
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And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
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And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
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And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
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And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
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And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
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And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.
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And when even was come, he went out of the city.
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And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
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And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
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And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
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For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
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Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
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And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
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But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
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And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,
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And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?
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And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
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The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.
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And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?
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But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.
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And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Arcana Coelestia #875
875. 'The dove found no rest for the sole of its foot' means that no good and truth of faith at all had as yet been able to take root. This is clear from the meaning of 'a dove' as the truth of faith, and also from the meaning of 'rest for the sole of the foot' as taking root. The reason why they cannot take root is stated further on, namely that falsities were still there to overflowing. But nobody can begin to understand what all this means unless he knows how the regeneration of the spiritual man is accomplished.
[2] With this man the cognitions of faith drawn from the Word of the Lord - that is, matters of doctrine drawn from that source, which the Ancient Church had from what had been revealed to the Most Ancient Church - had to be planted in his memory, and in this way the understanding part of his mind received instruction. But as long as falsities dwell there to overflowing, truths of faith cannot take root, even though they have been planted there. They remain solely on the surface, or in the memory. Nor, as stated already, does the ground become suitable until falsities have been so dispersed that they do not reappear.
[3] The ground itself with this person is made ready in the understanding part of his mind, and when it has been made ready good that stems from charity is planted in it by the Lord, and through charity conscience from which he then acts, that is, by means of which the Lord produces in him the good and truth of faith. Thus the Lord separates in this man things belonging to his understanding from those belonging to his will in such a manner that they are in no way united. For if they were united he would inevitably and eternally perish.
[4] With the member of the Most Ancient Church things of the will had been united to those of the understanding, as they are with celestial angels too. But with the member of this Church they were not united, nor are they united with the spiritual man. It still seems as though the good of charity which he does is the product of his will, but that is solely an appearance and illusion. All the good of charity which he does is the Lord's alone, coming not by way of the will but of conscience. If the Lord were to let up only slightly and allow a person to act from his own will, he would, from hatred, revenge, and cruelty, perform evil instead of good.
[5] The same applies to the truth which a spiritual man thinks and speaks. Unless he thought and spoke from conscience, and so from good that is the Lord's, he could no more think and speak what is true than the devil's crew when impersonating angels of light. This is perfectly obvious in the next life. From these considerations it is clear how regeneration is accomplished and what the regeneration of a spiritual man is. It is the separation of the understanding part of his mind from the will part by means of conscience, which is formed by the Lord in that understanding part. What is performed in this manner seemingly springs from his own will, but in fact it does so from the Lord.
