Saturday 1 October 2011

Matthew 27:35 Parting of Jesus' garments symbolizes



The soldiers roll dice for Jesus' clothing, painting



35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. -Matthew 27:35 King James Version (KJV)



Arcana Coelestia, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1749-56], tr. by John F. Potts [1905-10], at sacred-texts.com


...[5] We read in the following passages: They divided My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast a lot (Ps. 22:18). They divided His garments, casting a lot; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Matt. 27:35). The soldiers took His garments, and made four parts; and the tunic, the tunic was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore, Let us not divide it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:23, 24). He who reads these words and knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, is not aware that anything secret lies hidden in them, when yet in each word there is a Divine secret. The secret was that Divine truths had been dissipated by the Jews, for the Lord was the Divine truth; and hence He is called "the Word" (John 1). "The Word" denotes Divine truth; His garments represented truths in the external form; and His tunic, truths in the internal form; the division of the garments represented the dissipation of the truths of faith by the Jews. (That "garments" denote truths in the external form, see n. 2576, 5248, 5954, 6918; also that "a tunic" denotes truth in the internal form, n. 4677.) Truths in the external form are such as are those of the Word in the literal sense; but truths in the internal form are such as are those of the Word in the spiritual sense. The division of the garments into four parts signified total dissipation in like manner as... the division into two parts, as we read of the veil of the temple (Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38). The rending of the rocks also at that time (Matt. 27:51) represented the dissipation of all things of faith, for a "rock" denotes the Lord as to faith, consequently it denotes faith from the Lord.



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