34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
Arcana Coelestia, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1749-56], tr. by John F. Potts [1905-10], at sacred-texts.com
9127
...[2] He who knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, knows no otherwise than that by "bloods" in the Word are signified bloods; and that by "shedding blood" is merely signified killing a man. But the internal sense does not treat of the life of man's body, but of the life of his soul, that is, of his spiritual life, which he is to live forever. This life is described in the Word in the sense of the letter by such things as belong to the life of the body; namely, by the flesh and blood. And because the spiritual life of man exists and subsists through the good which is of charity and the truth which is of faith, therefore in the internal sense of the Word the good which is of charity is meant by "flesh," and the truth which is of faith is meant by "blood." And in a still more interior sense, the good which is of love to the Lord is meant by "flesh," and the good of love toward the neighbor is meant by "blood." But in the supreme sense, which treats of the Lord alone, "flesh" denotes the Divine good of the Lord, thus the Lord Himself as to Divine good; and "blood" denotes the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, thus the Lord as to Divine truth. These things are understood in heaven by "flesh and blood" when a man is reading the Word; in like manner when he attends the Holy Supper; but in this the bread is the flesh, and the wine is the blood, because by "bread" the same is signified as by "flesh," and by "wine" the same as by "blood." [3] But this is not apprehended by... most men in the world at this day... Granting that they do not know wherein this holiness consists, nevertheless let those who are endowed with any interior perception (that is, who are able to think above the things of sense), consider whether blood is meant by "blood," and flesh by "flesh," in the following passages: ...[4]... Verily, verily, I say unto you Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. This is the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:51-58). That the Lord's "flesh" denotes the Divine good of His Divine love; and that His "blood" denotes the Divine truth proceeding from His Divine good; can be seen from the fact that these are what nourish the spiritual life of a man. From this also it is said, "My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed;" and also, "this is the bread that came down from heaven." And as man is conjoined with the Lord through love and faith, it is also said, "he that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him." But as before said those alone apprehend this saying who can think above the sensuous [sense based] things of the body; especially those who are in faith and in love to the Lord, for these are raised by the Lord from the life of the sensuous things of the body toward the life of their spirit; thus from the light of the world into the light of heaven, in which light those material things which are in the thought from the body disappear. [5] He therefore who knows that "blood" denotes truth Divine from the Lord, is also able to know that by "shedding blood" in the Word is not signified killing, or depriving a man of the life of the body; but killing or depriving him of the life of the soul, that is, destroying his spiritual life, which is from faith in and love to the Lord. That "blood," when understood as being shed unlawfully, denotes truth Divine destroyed by means of falsities from evil, is clear from the following passages:... I will set wonders in the heaven and in the earth, blood, and fire, and a pillar of smoke. The sun shall be turned into thick darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day come (Joel 2:30-31). The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood (Rev. 6:12). The second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood (Rev. 8:8). The second angel poured out his vial into the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man, whence every living soul died in the sea. The third angel poured out his vial into the rivers, and into the fountains of waters, and they became blood (Rev. 16:3-4). [6] In these passages by "blood" is not meant the blood of man's bodily life that is shed, but the blood of his spiritual life, which is truth Divine, to which violence has been done through falsity from evil. The like is meant by "blood" in Matthew: Upon you shall come the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zachariah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:35); by which is signified that the truths of the Word have had violence done to them by the Jews, from the earliest time even to the present, insomuch that they would not acknowledge anything of internal and heavenly truth. Therefore neither did they acknowledge the Lord. Their "shedding His blood" signified the complete rejection of truth Divine, for the Lord was Divine truth itself, which is "the Word made flesh" (John 1:1, 14). The complete rejection of truth Divine which was from the Lord, and which was the Lord, is meant by these Words in Matthew: Pilate washed his hands before the people, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just man; see ye to it. And all the people answered, His, blood be on us, and on our children (Matt. 27:24-25). Therefore this subject is thus described in John: One of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there came out blood and water. He that saw bare witness, and his witness is true; and he knoweth that he saith true things, that ye may believe (John 19:34-35); that water also came out was because by "water" is signified external truth Divine, such as is the Word in the letter (that "water" denotes truth, see n. 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8568). [7] From all this also it is evident what is signified by being purified "by the blood of the Lord," namely, that it is through the reception of the truth of faith from Him (n. 7918, 9088). So also it is plain what is signified by these words in John: They overcame the dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of His testimony (Rev. 12:11); "by the blood of the Lamb" denotes through the Divine truth which is from the Lord, which is also "the Word of His testimony." "The blood of the Lamb" denotes innocent blood, for "a lamb" denotes innocence (n. 3519, 3994, 7840). The truth Divine that proceeds from the Lord in heaven has innocence inmostly within it, for it affects no others than those who are in innocence (n. 2526, 2780, 3111, 3183, 3494, 3994, 4797, 6013, 6107, 6765, 7836, 7840, 7877, 7902).
No comments:
Post a Comment