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John 1

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1 From the first he was the Word, and the Word was in relation with God and was God.

2 This Word was from the first in relation with God.

3 All things came into existence through him, and without him nothing was.

4 What came into existence in him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light goes on shining in the dark; it is not overcome by the dark.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 He came for witness, to give witness about the light, so that all men might have faith through him.

8 He himself was not the light: he was sent to give witness about the light.

9 The true light, which gives light to every man, was then coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, the world which came into being through him, but the world had no knowledge of him.

11 He came to the things which were his and his people did not take him to their hearts.

12 To all those who did so take him, however, he gave the right of becoming children of God--that is, to those who had faith in his name:

13 Whose birth was from God and not from blood, or from an impulse of the flesh and man's desire.

14 And so the Word became flesh and took a place among us for a time; and we saw his glory--such glory as is given to an only son by his father--saw it to be true and full of grace.

15 John gave witness about him, crying, This is he of whom I said, He who is coming after me is put over me because he was in existence before me.

16 From his full measure we have all been given grace on grace.

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and the true way of life are ours through Jesus Christ.

18 No man has seen God at any time; the only Son, who is on the breast of the Father, he has made clear what God is.

19 And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him with the question, Who are you?

20 He said quite openly and straightforwardly, I am not the Christ.

21 And they said to him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? And his answer was, I am not.

22 So they said to him, Who are you then? We have to give some answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?

23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the waste land, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet.

24 Those who had been sent came from the Pharisees.

25 And they put this question to him, saying, Why then are you giving baptism if you are not the Christ, or Elijah, or the prophet?

26 John's answer was: I give baptism with water; but there is one among you of whom you have no knowledge;

27 It is he who is coming after me; I am not good enough to undo his shoes.

28 These things took place at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was giving baptism.

29 The day after, John sees Jesus coming to him and says, See, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

30 This is he of whom I said, One is coming after me who is put over me because he was in existence before me.

31 I myself had no knowledge of him, but I came giving baptism with water so that he might be seen openly by Israel.

32 And John gave this witness, saying, I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting on him.

33 I had no knowledge who he was, but he who sent me to give baptism with water said to me, The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting, it is he who gives baptism with the Holy Spirit.

34 This I saw myself and my witness is that he is the Son of God.

35 The day after, John was there again with two of his disciples;

36 And looking at Jesus while he was walking he said, See, there is the Lamb of God!

37 Hearing what he said, the two disciples went after Jesus.

38 And Jesus, turning round, saw them coming after him and said to them, What are you looking for? They said to him, Rabbi (which is to say, Master), where are you living?

39 He said to them, Come and see. They went with him then and saw where he was living; and they were with him all that day: it was then about the tenth hour of the day.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two men who, hearing what John said, went after Jesus.

41 Early in the morning he came across his brother and said to him, We have made discovery! It is the Messiah! (which is to say, the Christ).

42 And he took him to Jesus. Looking at him fixedly Jesus said, You are Simon, the son of John; your name will be Cephas (which is to say, Peter).

43 The day after this, Jesus had a desire to go into Galilee. He came across Philip and said to him, Come and be my disciple.

44 Now Philip's town was Beth-saida, where Andrew and Peter came from.

45 Philip came across Nathanael and said to him, We have made a discovery! It is he of whom Moses, in the law, and the prophets were writing, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

46 Nazareth! said Nathanael, Is it possible for any good to come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, come and see.

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him, See, here is a true son of Israel in whom there is nothing false.

48 Nathanael said to him, Where did you get knowledge of me? In answer Jesus said, Before Philip was talking with you, while you were still under the fig-tree, I saw you.

49 Nathanael said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel!

50 In answer Jesus said to him, You have faith because I said to you, I saw you under the fig-tree. You will see greater things than these.

51 And he said to him, Truly I say to you all, You will see heaven opening and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of man.

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Arcana Coelestia #1069

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1069. That 'he planted a vineyard' means a Church resulting from this, 'vineyard' being the spiritual Church, is clear from the meaning of 'a vineyard'. In the Word Churches are frequently described as 'gardens' and also as 'the trees of a garden', and are actually named such as well. They are so described from the fruits which the trees bear, which mean the things belonging to love or charity. Hence the saying that a man is known by his fruit. Comparisons of Churches to gardens, trees, and fruits have their origins in the representations in heaven, where also gardens of indescribable beauty are sometimes manifested in accordance with the spheres of faith. This also why the celestial Church was described as a paradisal garden containing trees of every kind. 'The trees of the garden' meant the perceptions of that Church, and 'the fruit' of every kind the goods that stem from love. The Ancient Church however, being spiritual, is described as 'a vineyard' on account of its fruit, namely grapes, which represent and mean charitable works. This is quite clear from many places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

[2] I will sing for My beloved a song of My beloved concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill, 1 and He enclosed it, and surrounded it with stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it and also hewed out a winepress in it. And He looked for it to yield grapes, and it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem and man of Judah, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard. The vineyard of Jehovah Zebaoth is the house of Israel. Isaiah 5:1-3, 7.

Here 'a vineyard' means the Ancient, and so the spiritual, Church, which is referred to explicitly as 'the house of Israel', for 'Israel' in the Word means the spiritual Church, whereas 'Judah' means the celestial Church. In Jeremiah,

Again I will build you, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel! Again you will adorn yourself with your timbrels and will go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. Jeremiah 31:4-5.

Here 'vineyard' stands for the spiritual Church, the subject being Israel, which, as stated, means the spiritual Church.

[3] In Ezekiel,

When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples, they will dwell securely upon the land, and they will build houses and plant vineyards. Ezekiel 28:15, 16.

Here 'vineyard' stands for the spiritual Church, which is Israel. 'Planting vineyards' stands for being furnished with truths and goods of faith. In Amos,

I smote you with blight and mildew; your very many gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig trees and your olive groves the locust will devour. Thus will I do to you, O Israel. Amos 4:9, 12.

'Gardens' stands for the things of the Church; 'vineyards' stands for the spiritual things of the Church, 'fig trees' for the natural things, 'olive groves' for the celestial things - and so for the things of the spiritual Church, which is Israel. In the same prophet,

I will bring again the captivity; of My people Israel, and they will build the ruined cities and inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they will make gardens and eat their fruit. Amos 9:14.

'Planting vineyards' stands for the planting of the spiritual Church, and so 'a vineyard' stands for the spiritual Church, which is Israel.

[4] As 'a vineyard' means the spiritual Church so also does 'the vine', for the vine is part of the vineyard. They are as Church and member of the Church, and therefore have the same meaning. In Jeremiah,

Is Israel a slave? Is he a home-born [servant]? Why has he become a prey? I had planted you, a wholly choice vine, a seed of truth. How have you turned from Me into the degraded branches of a strange vine? Jeremiah 2:14, 21.

'Vine' stands for the spiritual Church, which is Israel. In Ezekiel,

Take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel Your mother was like a vine in your likeness, planted beside the waters, fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. Ezekiel 19:1, 10.

'Vine' stands for the Ancient spiritual Church, meant by 'mother', and so for Israel; hence also the expression 'in your likeness'. In Hosea,

Israel is an empty vine, it bears fruit like itself. Hosea 10:1.

'Vine' stands for the spiritual Church, or Israel, in this case a desolated Church. In the same prophet,

Return, O Israel, to Jehovah your God. I will be as the dew to Israel. Those dwelling under His shadow will return, they will give life to the grain, and they will blossom out as the vine, the memory of it will be as the wine of Lebanon. Hosea 14:1, 5, 7.

Here 'vine' stands for the spiritual Church, which is Israel. In Moses,

Until Shiloh comes . . . binding his colt to the vine, and the foal of his she-ass to a choice vine. Genesis 49:10-11.

This is a prophecy concerning the Lord. 'Vine' and 'choice vine' stand for spiritual Churches.

[5] The Lord's parables about workers in vineyards similarly meant spiritual Churches, Matthew 20:1-16; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-18; Matthew 21:33-44.

Since 'the vine' means the spiritual Church, and the chief thing of the spiritual Church is charity within which the Lord is present, by means of which He joins Himself to man, and by means of which He alone works everything good, the Lord therefore compares Himself to the vine, and describes the member of the Church, that is, describes the spiritual Church, in the following way in John,

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, but every one that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you cannot do anything. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:1-5, 12.

From this it is clear what the spiritual Church is.

Fotnoter:

1. literally, on a horn of a son of oil

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.