102. It is believed that the Lord as to His Human not only was, but also is, the Son of Mary; but in this the Christian world is mistaken. That He was the Son of Mary is true, but that He still is, is not true; for by the acts of redemption He put off the Human derived from the mother and put on the Human from the Father. Consequently the Human of the Lord is Divine, and in Him God is Man, and Man God. That He put off the Human from the mother, and put on the Human from the Father, which is the Divine Human, is evident from the fact that He never called Mary His mother. This may be seen from the following passages:

"The mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come" John 2:3-4;

and elsewhere;

"When Jesus saw" from the cross "His mother, and the disciple standing by whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother!" John 19:26-27; and once He did not acknowledge her.

It was told Jesus "by certain, which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And He answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the Word of God, and do it" Luke 8:20-21; Matthew 12:46-50; Mark 3:31-35.

Thus the Lord did not call her "mother," but "woman," and entrusted her to John as a mother; in other places she is called His mother, but not by Himself.

[2] This is also proved by the fact that He did not acknowledge Himself to be the Son of David: for we read in the Evangelists:

that Jesus asked the Pharisees, "saying, What think ye of Christ? whose Son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He his Son? And no man was able to answer Him a word" Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44; Psalms 110:1.

[3] ¹ To the above I will add this account of an incident not hitherto recorded: ²

It was once granted me to speak with Mary, the mother. She was then passing by, and appeared in heaven over my head, clothed in white raiment like silk. Pausing for a little she said that she had been the mother of the Lord, for He was born of her; but that He, having become God, put off all the Human He had from her; and therefore that she now worships Him as her God, and is unwilling that any one should acknowledge Him as her Son, because the whole Divinity is in Him.

From what has been said this truth is now clear that Jehovah is Man in first things and in last, as the following passages declare:

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,... which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" Revelation 1:8, 11.

When John saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven candle-sticks, he fell at His feet as dead; and He laid His right hand upon him, saying, "I am the first and the last" Revelation 1:13, 17; 21:6;

"Behold, I come quickly, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" Revelation 22:12-13.

Again in Isaiah it is written:

"Thus saith JEHOVAH the King of Israel, and His Redeemer JEHOVAH ZEBAOTH; I am the first, and I am the last" Isaiah 44:6; 48:12.

Фусноте:

2574. 'And to Sarah he said' means perception from spiritual truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Sarah when a wife' as Divine spiritual truth, dealt with in 2507, and of the same character when 'a sister' as rational truth, dealt with in 2508, and from the meaning of 'saying' as perceiving, dealt with in 2506. Here Sarah is addressed as 'a wife' and also as 'a sister' - as 'a wife' because she had been restored [to Abraham], 2569, as 'a sister' because it is said, 'I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother'. Also, in that what was said by Abimelech was perceived by Sarah in her wifely status, therefore 'saying to Sarah' means perceiving from spiritual truth.

[2] These words, it is evident, embody deeper arcana than can be disclosed intelligibly. And if they were to be disclosed merely to a limited extent it would be necessary to explain many things first of all, which are as yet unknown, such as what spiritual truth is; what perception from spiritual truth is; the fact that the Lord alone has had perception from spiritual truth; the fact that just as the Lord implanted rational truth within rational good so He implanted spiritual truth within celestial good, and in so doing was constantly implanting the Human within the Divine in order that in every thing the marriage might exist of the Human with the Divine, and of the Divine with the Human. These things and many more must come first before the things within this verse can be presented intelligibly. Those things are primarily suited to the minds of angels which have the ability to understand them and for the sake of which minds the internal sense of the Word exists. To them these matters are represented in a heavenly manner; and by means of those matters and of the things within this chapter, an idea is instilled of how the Lord by degrees cast aside the human which He had from the mother until at length He was no longer her son (the fact that He did not acknowledge her as His mother is evident in Matthew 12:46-49; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:20-21; John 2:4) and also an idea of how by His own power He made the Human Divine until He was one with the Father, as He Himself teaches in John 14:6, 8-11, and elsewhere.

[3] By means of myriads of ideas and representations, all of which are beyond description, the Lord presents such matters to angels in clear light. The reason, as has been stated, is that these are suited to their minds, and when conscious of them they experience the bliss of intelligence and the happiness of wisdom. What is more, there are angels who, while they were men, formed ideas of the Lord's Human as they did of that of any other person. In order that these angels may exist together with celestial angels in the next life - for in that life ideas inspired by an affection for good join people together - such erroneous ideas as they have had about the Lord are dispelled by means of the internal sense, and in this way they are perfected. This shows how precious to angels those things are within the internal sense of the Word, though they may perhaps seem of small importance to man whose idea of such things is so obscure as to be scarcely any idea at all.