16. The state of the church in relation to the Word, as represented by the prophets, was the meaning of their “carrying the iniquities and sins of the people.” This we can see from what is said about the prophet Isaiah, that he went naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a wonder (Isaiah 20:3). It says of Ezekiel that he was to take out his belongings to go into exile and cover his face so that he could not see the ground, and that this was to be a sign to the house of Israel; and he was also to say, “I am a sign for you” (Ezekiel 12:6, 11).
[2] It is abundantly clear from Ezekiel that this was carrying the people’s iniquities, when Ezekiel was commanded to lie on his left side for three hundred ninety days and on his right side for forty days against Jerusalem and to eat a cake of barley baked over cow dung. We read there,
Lie on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. According to the number of days that you lie on it you will carry their iniquity. I will give you years of their iniquity matching the number of days, three hundred ninety days, so that you carry the iniquity of the house of Israel. When you have finished them, you will lie a second time, but on your right side for forty days to carry the iniquity of the house of Judah. (Ezekiel 4:4-6)
[3] By carrying the iniquities of the house of Israel and the house of Judah in this way, the prophet did not take them away and thus atone for them, but simply represented them and made them clear. This we can see from what follows:
Thus says Jehovah: “The children of Israel will eat their bread defiled among the nations where I am going to send them. Behold, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem so that they will lack bread and water. They will all become desolate and waste away because of their iniquity.” (Ezekiel 4:13, 16-17)
[4] Similarly, when Ezekiel appeared in public and said, “Behold, I am a sign for you, ” he also said, “What I have done, [your leaders] will do” (Ezekiel 12:6, 11).
Much the same is meant, then, when it says of the Lord, “He bore our diseases and carried our sorrows. Jehovah made the iniquities of us all fall upon him. By means of his knowledge he justified many, because he himself carried their iniquities.” This is from Isaiah 53:4, 6, 11], where the whole chapter is about the Lord’s suffering.
[5] We can see from the details of the narrative of his suffering that he, as the greatest prophet, represented the state of the church in its relationship to the Word. For example, he was betrayed by Judas; he was seized and condemned by the chief priests and elders; they struck him with their fists; they struck his head with a stick; they put a crown of thorns on him; they divided his garments and cast lots on his tunic; they crucified him; they gave him vinegar to drink; they pierced his side; he was entombed; and on the third day he rose again [Matthew 26:14-16, 47-68; 27:1-61; 28:1-10; Mark 14:43-65; 15:15-37; 16:1-8; Luke 22:47-71; 23:26-56; 24:1-35; John 18:1-14; 19:1-30; 20:1-18].
[6] His being betrayed by Judas meant that this was being done by the Jewish people, who at that time were custodians of the Word, since Judas represented them. His being seized and condemned by the chief priests and elders meant that this was being done by the whole church. Their whipping him, spitting in his face, striking him with their fists, and striking his head with a stick meant that they were doing this kind of thing to the Word in regard to its divine truths, all of which are about the Lord. Their putting a crown of thorns on him meant that they falsified and contaminated these truths. Their dividing his garments and casting lots on his tunic meant that they destroyed the connectedness of all the truths of the Word-though not its spiritual meaning, which is symbolized by the tunic. Their crucifying him meant that they destroyed and profaned the whole Word. Their giving him vinegar to drink meant offering nothing but things that were distorted and false, which is why he did not drink it and then said, “It is finished.” Their piercing his side meant that they completely stifled everything true in the Word and everything good in it. His entombment meant his putting off any residual human nature from his mother. His rising again on the third day meant his glorification. Much the same is meant by the passages in the prophets and David where these events were foretold.
[7] That is why, after he had been whipped and led out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe the soldiers had put on him, he said, “Here is the one [the human]” (John 19:1-5). This was said because “a human being” means a church, since “the Son of Humanity” means what is true in the church, therefore the Word.
We can see from all this that his “carrying iniquities” means that he represented and offered an image of the sins that were being committed against the divine truths of the Word. And we will see in the following pages that the Lord endured and suffered these torments as the Son of Humanity and not as the Son of God. “The Son of Humanity” means the Lord as the Word.
