The Divine needs to connect with what's been created, especially to what is human. Since the Divine Itself is, in its essence, beyond human comprehension, we can see and know it from its visible forms which are the Word, Jesus Christ, the created universe, and even the the human mind and body. These and many other things express the Divine Human.

To understand this further, imagine that you are completely paralyzed, to the point that you can’t make a sound or even move your eyes or the muscles of your face. Someone you love walks up to you. Inside, you feel a surge of affection. But how can you show it? You can’t say it, can’t smile, can’t even form an expression in your eyes. It can’t be done; you have no communication at all.

To be expressed, then, love needs a vessel, something capable of communication. That vessel is what Swedenborg calls the “human.”

For us, in the physical world, that “human” is in the form of our physical bodies. Through them we can smile, laugh, speak, hug, kiss, write - and can also strike out, shout in anger and criticize. Our bodies are the vessels that let us share what’s inside with the people around us. Through our bodies we also see, hear and feel the things inside others. They are the mode through which we interact.

But imagine if you could read minds, and could allow your mind to be read by others. You would no longer need your body as a vessel, but the things you shared would still be human; they would be human thoughts, human feelings, human ideas, still distinctly your own and reflective of the kind of person you are. You’d still have a “human,” but it would be your mind instead of your body.

That can give us some idea of what the Lord’s “human” is: it is the vessel through which we can receive His love and His guidance. It’s not something physical, like our human bodies, but is spiritual, as our minds are spiritual. And it puts His love into feelings, images and ideas, just as our minds do.

Put that way, it’s easy to see that the Lord’s humanity has always been, and was indeed an agent of creation: in creating the universe, the Lord used his human to give form to His love, forms that would be separate from Him, forms that He could love. It’s also easy to see that His humanity will always be: He is love itself, and that love will always need a vessel.

The Lord’s “human” also fills another great need. We are finite; the Lord is infinite. We live in a world of dead physical matter; the Lord is life itself. We are born into selfish loves; the Lord loves us infinitely. We live in time and space and can only think in terms of time and space; the Lord is outside of time and space, uncontained and uncontainable. For these and many other reasons the Lord, in His essence, is inconceivable to us; we have no mental tools to form an idea of the infinite. We can, however, think of the Lord as a human, and can thus worship him in the form of His divine human. By relating his love to us, his humanity makes it possible for us to relate to Him.

That leaves one great question: what about Jesus? He was human, but also kind of God, too. How does that relate to the idea of the divine human?

The answer lies in how we receive what the Lord gives us, and how that reception has changed over the millennia.

The Lord’s love is conveyed to us through the divine human in the form of what Swedenborg calls “divine truth,” which is essentially the Lord’s thoughts, His ideas. These thoughts are, of course, all about love, and are filled to overflowing with His love.

The earliest people, those of what Swedenborg calls the “Most Ancient Church,” could receive those thoughts directly, and accept the love in them directly. From this they were pure and innocent to a degree we can barely imagine, with wisdom and insight that sprang from the love they shared.

As people drew away from the Lord, though, their ability to accept the love contained within the divine truth began to degrade. In what Swedenborg calls the “Ancient Church” people received it in the form of love of one another, and accessed it through powerfully symbolic stories and the symbolism of nature. Finally, with the Children of Israel, the love and the truth were almost completely separated, with the Lord’s ideas contained within ritual, but His inspiration to be good operating in a disconnected way. Ultimately those people grew so evil that the desire for good was in danger of being choked off forever.

So the Lord rendered his “human” into physical flesh, born as a child to the virgin Mary. As always, that human was a vessel for the Lord’s love, but it was a vessel that could share divine truth in a tangible way. Swedenborg’s works say that Jesus spent his life stripping away His mortal aspects by battling temptations, and was a form of divine truth when He began His ministry. During His ministry he stripped away his mortal loves, until in the final temptation on the cross he was fully reunited with the divine love that was His soul. In His ministry, then, he shared His deepest ideas, and in His death He shared the love that formed and filled those ideas. It was enough to save humankind forever.

In doing this the Lord also changed His relationship with us. He gave us deeper truths about how to be loving, and taught us that love is more important than ritual. He also opened for us the idea that the Bible is full of deeper and richer meanings: that it is itself a form of divine truth. With these tools we now have the ability to use the Lord’s ideas as a key to accept His love. By knowing what’s right, knowing what the Lord teaches, we can compel ourselves to act in loving ways even if we don’t feel the love, and the Lord will use that to reform us so that we come to actually love what is good.

So the Divine Human is still a vessel for the Lord’s love, as it has always been. It’s a vessel that has adapted according to our needs and the paths the Lord can use to draw us toward heaven.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 26, 151; Apocalypse Revealed 613; Arcana Coelestia 2716, 3061 [2-3], 4180 [5-6], 4687 [2-3], 4724 [2-4], 4735 [2-3], 6280 [1-6], 6804 [4], 6831, 7211, 9303, 10067 [3], 10267, 10356; Divine Love and Wisdom 14-17-18-22, 52, 285; Heaven and Hell 80, 101; On the Athanasian Creed 27, 62, 209)

4724. 'And before he drew near to them they plotted against him, to put him to death' means that they desired to annihilate the Divine Spiritual which proceeded from the Lord's Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'plotting' as desires resulting from ill-intent, for that which they desire because of ill-intent is the object of their plotting; from the meaning of 'putting to death' as annihilating; and from the representation of 'Joseph' as the Divine Spiritual or Divine Truth, dealt with above several times. Because Divine Truth proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human it is therefore referred to as the Divine Spiritual that proceeds from His Divine Human.

[2] The implications of this are as follows: All Divine Truth in the whole of heaven proceeds from no other source than the Lord's Divine Human. That which proceeds from the Divine itself, since this is Infinite, cannot possibly flow directly to any angel, only indirectly through the Lord's Divine Human. This is also what the following words spoken by the Lord mean,

Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:18.

This also explains why as to His Divine Human the Lord is called the Mediator.

[3] This Human has existed even from eternity, for unless the Divine Being flowed through heaven, and in so doing became the Divine Manifestation, that Being could not have been communicated to any angel, still less to any spirit, and least of all to any man. For as regards the Divine itself the Lord is the Divine Being, and as regards the Divine Human He is the Divine Manifestation, see 4687. Yet the Lord's Human could not have received any influx from the Divine Being if the Human within Him had not been made Divine, for that which is to receive the Divine Being must itself be Divine.

[4] From these few observations it may be seen that Divine Truth does not proceed directly from the Divine itself but from the Lord's Divine Human. What is more, those who champion faith alone within themselves and do not lead the life of faith annihilate that Divine Human, for they believe that the Lord's Human is purely human, not unlike the human of any other person. Many of these people as a consequence also deny the Lord's Divinity, even though they confess Him with their lips. But those who lead the life of faith worship the Lord, on bended knees and with humble hearts, as their God and Saviour. As they do so the teaching that His Divine Nature is distinct and separate from His Human Nature does not enter their heads, as is likewise the case with them during the Holy Supper. From this it is evident that in their case the Lord's Divine Human has a place in their hearts.

38. The Lord is called Jehovah. This is apparent from the following:

...thus said Jehovah, your Creator, O Jacob, and your Maker, O Israel: “...for I have redeemed you.... ...I am Jehovah your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:1, 3)

I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. (Isaiah 43:15)

Thus said Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker.... (Isaiah 45:11, cf. 45:15)

...that all flesh may know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 49:26)

...that you may know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 60:16)

...Jehovah...your Maker from the womb.... (Isaiah 49:5)

...O Jehovah, my rock, and my Redeemer! (Psalms 19:14)

Thus said Jehovah, your Maker, and your Former from the womb.... Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and its Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts.... (Isaiah 44:2, 6)

Our Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 47:4)

“With everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you.” Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:8)

Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of Hosts is His name. (Jeremiah 50:34)

Jehovah (God) is my rock, my fortress, and...the horn of my salvation..., my Savior.... (2 Samuel 22:2-3)

...said Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.... (Isaiah 43:14, 48:17)

Thus said Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One...: “Kings shall see....” (Isaiah 49:7)

I...am Jehovah, and besides Me there is no Savior. (Isaiah 43:11)

Have not I, Jehovah? And there is no other God besides Me, (and)...a Savior, there is none besides Me. Look to Me, that you may be saved, all you ends of the earth! (Isaiah 45:21-22)

I am Jehovah your God..., and...there is no Savior besides Me. (Hosea 13:4)

You have redeemed me, O Jehovah, God of truth. (Psalms 31:5)

Let Israel hope in Jehovah; for with Jehovah there is mercy, ...with Him is abundant redemption. He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities. (Psalms 130:7-8)

...Jehovah of Hosts is His name, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He shall be called God of the whole earth. (Isaiah 54:5)

In these passages Jehovah is called Redeemer and Savior, and because the Lord alone is the Redeemer and Savior, it is the Lord who is meant by Jehovah.

[2] That the Lord is Jehovah, or in other words, that Jehovah is the Lord, is apparent also from the following:

A Rod shall come forth from the stem of Jesse, and an Offshoot out of his roots shall bear fruit. The Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him.... (Isaiah 11:1-2)

It will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him to save us. This is Jehovah, for whom we have waited; we will rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9)

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of Jehovah; make smoothe in the desert a highway for our God.... (For) the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it....” Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming in strength, and His arm shall rule for Him. (Isaiah 40:3, 5, 10)

I, Jehovah...will...give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles.... I am Jehovah, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another.... (Isaiah 42:6-8)

Behold, the days are coming...when I will raise to David a righteous offshoot, (who) shall reign as king and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.... And this is His name by which they will call Him: Jehovah Our Righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:5-6, cf. 33:15-16)

You, Bethlehem Ephrathah..., out of you shall come forth to Me One to be Ruler in Israel.... He shall stand and give pasture in the strength of Jehovah.... (Micah 5:2, 4)

...unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called...God, Hero, Father of Eternity...., upon the throne of David..., to establish it and found it with judgment and justice, from that time on and even to eternity. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Jehovah will go forth and fight against the nations.... And...His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem.... (Zechariah 14:3-4)

Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you doors of the world, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and a hero, Jehovah a hero of war. (Psalms 24:7-10)

In that day Jehovah of Hosts will become a crown of adornment and a miter of beauty to the remnant of His people. (Isaiah 28:5)

...I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great...day of Jehovah. (Malachi 4:5)

And so on elsewhere in places that mention the great and coming day of Jehovah, such as Ezekiel 30:3, Joel 2:11, Amos 5:18, 20, Zephaniah 1:7, 14-15, 18.