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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 #9315

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9315. 'When My angel goes before you' means a life in keeping with the Lord's commandments. This is clear from the meaning of 'going before you' - when it refers to the Lord, who is 'the angel of Jehovah' here - as teaching the commandments of faith and life, and therefore also a life in keeping with those commandments, ('going' and 'travelling on' mean living, see 1293, 3335, 4882, 5493, 5605, 8417, 8420, 8557, 8559); and from the meaning of 'the angel of Jehovah' as the Lord's Divine Human, dealt with above in 9303, 9306. The reason why the Lord's Divine Human is meant by 'the angel' is that the numerous angels who appeared in times before the Lord's Coming into the world were Jehovah Himself in human form, that is, in that of an angel. This is plainly evident from the fact that angels who appeared were called Jehovah, such as those who appeared to Abraham and are spoken of in Genesis 18. The fact that they were called Jehovah may be seen in verses 1, 13, 14, 17, 20, 26, 33, of that chapter, as was the one who appeared to Gideon and is spoken of in Judges 6. The fact that this angel too was called Jehovah may be seen in verses 12, 14, 16, 22-24, of that chapter. The same may be seen in other places besides these. Jehovah Himself in human form, or what amounts to the same thing, in that of an angel, was the Lord.

[2] His Divine Human appeared in those times as an angel, of whom the Lord Himself speaks in John,

Jesus said, Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and saw it and was glad. Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am. John 8:56, 58.

And in the same gospel,

Father, glorify Me in Your Own Self with the glory I had with You before the world was. John 17:5.

Jehovah could not have appeared in any other way, as is again clear from the Lord's words, in John,

You have never heard the Father's voice nor seen His shape. John 5:37.

And in the same gospel,

No one has seen the Father except Him who is with God, 1 He has seen the Father. John 6:46.

From all this one may see what is meant by 'the Lord from eternity'.

[3] The reason why the Lord was pleased to be born as Man (Homo) was in order that He might in reality take on a Humanity and make it Divine, to save the human race. Know therefore that the Lord is Jehovah Himself or the Father in human form, as yet again the Lord Himself teaches in John,

I and the Father are one. John 10:30.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, From now on you know and have seen the Father. He who has seen Me has seen the Father. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. John 14:7, 9, 11.

And in the same gospel,

All Mine are Yours, and all Yours are Mine. John 17:10.

[4] This great mystery is described in John in the following words,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father. Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:1-3, 14, 18.

'The Word' is Divine Truth which has been revealed to mankind; and since it could not have been revealed except by Jehovah as Man, that is, except by Jehovah in human form, thus by the Lord, it says, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God'. It is well known in the Church that 'the Word' is used to mean the Lord, for it is explicitly stated, 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father'. The fact that Divine Truth could not have been revealed to mankind except by Jehovah in human form is also clearly stated, 'Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known'.

[5] From all this it is evident that the Lord from eternity was Jehovah or the Father in human form, but not yet so in earthly flesh, for an angel does not have such flesh. And since Jehovah or the Father wished to take on everything human in order to save the human race, He also took flesh. This is why it says, The Word was God, and the Word became flesh, and in Luke,

See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see Me have. Luke 24:39.

By this the Lord taught that He was no longer Jehovah under the form of an angel but that He was Jehovah as Man. This is also what the following words spoken by the Lord serve to mean,

I came out from the Father and have come into the world; again I am leaving the world and going off to the Father. John 16:28.

The Lord made His Human Divine when He was in the world, see 1616, 1725, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2033, 2034, 2083, 2523, 2751, 2798, 3038, 3043, 3212, 3241, 3318 (end), 3637, 3737, 4065, 4180, 4211, 4237, 4286, 4585, 4687, 4692, 4724, 4738, 4766, 5005, 5045, 5078, 5110, 5256, 6373, 6700, 6716, 6849, 6864, 6872, 7014, 7211, 7499, 8547, 8864, 8865, 8878.

And everything human received from the mother was cast out, till at length He was not Mary's son, 2159, 2649, 2776, 4963, 5157, and especially 3704, 4727, 9303, 9306, as well as the things shown regarding these matters in the places referred to in 9194, 9199.

Fotnoter:

1. The Latin means with the Father but the Greek means with God.

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