Gathering and Sending Out the Disciples
Од стране Ray and Star Silverman
In a casual reading, the story at the beginning of Luke chapter 9 doesn't seem to have much relation to the events of the previous chapter. But, looking deeper, it does.
At the end of Luke chapter 8, when the little girl who seemed to be dead was brought back to life, Jesus commanded that her parents give her something to eat. In sacred scripture, giving someone “something to eat” is about spiritual nourishment. It refers not only to teaching, but also spiritually nourishing one another with words of encouragement that align with spiritual truth. To the extent that we do this for one another, we become God’s disciples and apostles, cooperating with Him in the work of salvation. We are “disciples” while in His presence, learning from His Word. And we are His “apostles” when we are being sent out to minister to others, through our words and actions.
It's appropriate, then, that chapter 9 begins with Jesus calling together His twelve disciples, and then sending them out to minister to others:
“Having called together His twelve disciples, He gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. And He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:1-2).
In a deep sense, the gathering together of the twelve disciples, before sending them out as apostles, represents an important step in our spiritual development. This begins when Jesus “calls His twelve disciples together” in us, which represents that time in our lives when we begin to understand matters of the spirit more deeply. Every “disciple” represents an essential spiritual principle. As we “gather” these principles together in our minds, striving to see how they cohere and relate to the larger whole, we begin to see the connections between ideas, and we develop a keener discernment between what is primary and what is secondary. As a result, we can apply the truth we have been learning more usefully in our lives. 1
After gathering the disciples together, Jesus sends them forth as His apostles, giving them specific instructions for the journey. “Take nothing for your journey,” He says to them. They are not to take a staff, or a backpack, or bread, or silver, or even an extra change of clothes. Every word has spiritual significance. They will not be needing a “staff,” because they will be relying on the Lord alone. They will not need a “pack” to store up what they have learned, because the Lord will give them what to say. They will not need “bread” or “silver,” because the Lord will provide all the goodness (“bread”) and all the truth (“silver”) they need. And they will not need an extra tunic because they will be clothed in truth from the Lord, and will not need anything additional from themselves.
In this case, less is more. When there is less of self, there is more of God. 2
Shaking off the dust:
Jesus then says to them, “And into whatever house you enter, there remain, and thence go out. And as many as shall not accept you, when you come out of that city, shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them” (Luke 9:4-5). A “house,” as we have mentioned before, represents the human mind. It is the place where we think things over, consider our options, and dwell on those matters that are significant to us. Our “house,” then, is our spiritual residence, our “dwelling-place.”
Spiritually speaking, everyone has a dwelling-place — a set of beliefs about themselves, about others, and about God. Because of this, some people will accept the teachings of the apostles gladly, while others will reject them. Knowing this in advance, Jesus tells them that if their teachings are rejected, the apostles should leave the house, come out of the city, and “shake the dust from off their feet.”
In sacred scripture, the term “dust” refers to things that are low and relate to the world of the external senses. Just as dust settles to the earth, there is a tendency to remain focused on things that gratify our worldly senses without lifting our minds to higher things. In the Hebrew Scriptures, this is represented by the lowly serpent who deceived Eve. As it is written, “So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this … you shall eat dust all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:14). 3
Jesus’ instruction to “shake off the dust” is sound advice, not only for the apostles, but for each of us. Along the spiritual journey, as we are learning truth and putting it into our lives, we may, at times, find ourselves being dragged down to lower things — those things that are merely worldly and temporal. This is, spiritually, “the dust on our feet.” Whether the dust comes through the negative influence of others or the self-serving thoughts we entertain, Jesus tells us to “shake the dust from off our feet,” and continue our journey. 4
This is precisely what the apostles do. As it is written in the next verse, “And going out, they passed into the villages, announcing the gospel and curing everywhere” (Luke 9:6).
Фусноте:
1. Arcana Coelestia 679: “In the Word ‘gathering’ has reference to the things that are in a person’s memory, where they have been gathered together. In addition, the phrase “gathered together” refers to the gathering together of the goods and truths that need to be gathered together in a person before regeneration can take place. Indeed, unless goods and truths have been gathered together to serve as means through which the Lord may do His work, a person cannot possibly be regenerated.” See also Arcana Coelestia 2089[2]: “Each of the twelve disciples represents an essential and primary aspect of faith.”
2. Arcana Coelestia 9942[12]: “Those who are in goods and truths from the Lord possess nothing of good and truth from themselves. Rather, they have all truth and good from the Lord…. Therefore, having ‘two tunics’ signifies having truth from both the Lord and from self. This is why they were allowed to have only one tunic.”
3. Arcana Coelestia 249: “The term ‘dust’ signifies those who do not regard spiritual and celestial things, but only what is corporeal and earthly.” See also Arcana Coelestia 7418[4]: “"In the Word, ‘dust’ signifies what is lowly.”
4. Arcana Coelestia 249: “Because ‘dust’ signifies focusing on things that are bodily and earthly, while not considering things that are spiritual and heavenly, the Lord told His disciples that if the city or house into which they entered was not worthy, they should ‘shake the dust from off their feet.’” See also Arcana Coelestia 3748[1-2]: “There are hellish spirits who think they know everything…. They want to reason about spiritual matters even though they do not know even the first thing about these matters. Their reasoning is like scattered dust where nothing coheres.”
Arcana Coelestia # 2069
2069. 'Kings of peoples will be from her' means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, meant by 'kings of peoples'. This is clear from the meaning of 'kings' as all truths in general, dealt with above in 2015, and from the meaning of 'peoples' also as truths, in general all things that are spiritual. For 'kings' are spoken of in reference to peoples, and not so much in reference to nations except when the nations mean evils, dealt with in 1259, 1260. In the prophetical part of the Word kings and peoples are mentioned many times, but nowhere are they used to mean kings and peoples, for at no point are kings and peoples the subject in the Word proper, which is the internal sense, but the celestial and spiritual things comprising the Lord's kingdom, and so goods and truths. The sense of the letter expresses itself by means of perceivable objects, as anyone does with words, merely to enable understanding.
[2] Since the subject here is Sarah and the promise that 'kings of peoples will be from her', and since 'Sarah' means Divine Truth which was the Lord's, 'kings of peoples' clearly means truths that are the product of truths and goods joined together, which are all the truths of the internal Church, that is, the interior truths of faith. Because these truths come from the Lord, they are frequently called 'kings' in the Word, and also 'a king's sons', as shown above in 2015.
[3] Anyone may see that some internal Divine matter lies concealed in the words that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. For the subject in this verse is Isaac, of whom it is said, 'I will bless him, and he will become nations', but of Sarah that 'kings of peoples will be from her'. Almost the same was also said of Abraham in verse 6 above, that 'kings will go out of him'; but it did not say as it does of Sarah, 'kings of peoples'. The arcanum within this lies too deep to allow it to be uncovered and described in a few words. From the representation and meaning of 'Abraham' as Divine Good and from the representation and meaning of 'Sarah' as Divine Truth the arcanum is to some extent evident, namely that from the Lord's Divine Good meant by 'Abraham' all celestial truth will come forth and have its being, and from the Lord's Divine Truth meant by 'Sarah' all spiritual truth will do so. Celestial truth is the truth which exists with celestial angels, and spiritual truth that which exists with spiritual angels. Or what amounts to the same, celestial truth was the truth which existed with members of the Most Ancient Church which came before the Flood and which was a celestial Church, spiritual truth that which existed with members of the Ancient Church which came after the Flood and was a spiritual Church. For angels, as also members of the Church, are distinguished into celestial and spiritual. That which distinguishes the celestial from the spiritual is love to the Lord, and that which distinguishes spiritual from celestial is love towards the neighbour.
[4] No more can be said about celestial truth and spiritual truth however until the difference between the celestial and the spiritual is known, or what amounts to the same, the difference between the celestial Church and the spiritual. For this see Volume One, in 202, 337, 1577; then concerning the nature of the Most Ancient Church and the nature of the Ancient Church, in 597, 607, 640, 765, 1114-1125, and in many other places. On the point that possessing love to the Lord constitutes the celestial, and possessing love towards the neighbour the spiritual, see 2023.
[5] These considerations now show what the arcanum is, namely that 'the kings who will go out of Abraham', referred to in verse 6, mean celestial truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Good, while 'the kings of peoples who will be from Sarah', referred to in the present verse, mean spiritual truths that flow in from the Lord's Divine Truth. For the Lord's Divine Good is unable to flow in except with the celestial man since it is an influx into the will part of his mind, as was the case with the Most Ancient Church, whereas with the spiritual man the Lord's Divine Truth is flowing in since the influx is solely into the understanding part, which in him has been separated from the will part, 2053 (end). Or what amounts to the same, celestial good is flowing in with the celestial man, and spiritual good with the spiritual man. As a consequence the Lord is seen by celestial angels as the Sun, but by spiritual angels as the Moon, 1529, 1530.
