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Luke 10

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1 And after these·​·things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two and two before His face, to every city and place, whither He Himself was·​·about to come.

2 Then He said to them, The harvest is indeed much, but the workers are few; entreat you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He may send·​·out workers into His harvest.

3 Go you; behold, I send· you ·out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

4 Carry neither purse, nor pack, nor shoes, and greet no one by the way.

5 And into whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to this house;

6 and if indeed the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it; but if not, it shall return to you.

7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as are with them; for the worker is worthy of his wage. Do not pass·​·on from house to house.

8 And into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat what is set·​·before you,

9 and cure the weak who are in her, and say to them, The kingdom of God is near to you.

10 But into whatever city you enter, and they receive you not, going·​·out into her streets, say,

11 And the dust which sticks to us from your city we do wipe·​·off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God is·​·near to you.

12 And I say to·​·you that it shall be more·​·tolerable for Sodom in that day than for that city.

13 Woe to thee, Chorazin! Woe to thee, Bethsaida! For if the works of power had been·​·done in Tyre and Sidon which have been·​·done in you, they would have repented long·​·ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

14 But it shall be more·​·tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.

15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted even·​·to heaven, shalt be thrust·​·down even·​·to hell.

16 He who hears you, hears Me, and he who spurns you, spurns Me; and he who spurns Me, spurns Him who sent Me.

17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Thy name.

18 And He said to them, I beheld Satan, as lightning, falling from heaven.

19 Behold, I give to you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing whatever shall hurt you.

20 Nevertheless rejoice not in this, that the spirits are·​·subject to you, but rather rejoice that your names are written in the heavens.

21 In that same hour Jesus leapt·​·for·​·joy in Spirit, and said, I profess Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and hast revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for so it was for good·​·pleasure before Thee.

22 All·​·things are delivered·​·up to Me by My Father; and no·​·one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and he to whom the Son intends to reveal Him.

23 And turning to the disciples, He said by themselves, Happy are the eyes which look·​·upon what you look·​·upon.

24 For I say to you that many prophets and kings willed to see what you look·​·upon, and have not seen them, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard them.

25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up tempting Him and saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

26 And He said to him, What is written in the Law? How readest thou?

27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God out·​·of thy whole heart, and out·​·of thy whole soul, and out·​·of thy whole strength, and out·​·of thy whole mind,* and thy neighbor as thyself*.

28 And He said to him, Thou hast answered rightly; this do, and thou shalt live.

29 But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

30 And Jesus, taking·​·up his question, said, A certain man came·​·down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who having stripped him, and having inflicted blows on him went·​·away, leaving him when he was half·​·dead.

31 And by chance, a certain priest came·​·down by that way, and seeing him, passed·​·by·​·on·​·the·​·other·​·side.

32 And likewise also a Levite, when he was at the place, came and saw, and passed by on the other side.

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came upon him, and seeing him, was moved·​·with·​·compassion*.

34 And coming near, he bound up his wounds, pouring·​·in oil and wine, and he set· him ·on his·​·own beast·​·of·​·burden, and brought him to an inn, and took·​·care of him.

35 And going·​·out on the morrow, he set·​·out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, Take·​·care of him, and whatever thou spendest·​·more, when I come·​·again, I will repay thee.

36 Which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor to him who fell among robbers?

37 And he said, He who did mercy with him. Then Jesus said to him, Go, and do thou likewise.

38 And it came·​·to·​·pass as they went, that He entered into a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the feet of Jesus, and heard His Word.

40 But Martha was concerned* about much ministering, and standing·​·by said, Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister has left me to minister alone? Tell her, therefore, that she should help me.

41 And Jesus answering said to her, Martha, Martha, thou art·​·anxious and fretful about many things;

42 but one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10490

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10490. 'And kill [every] man his brother, and [every] man his companion, and [every] man his neighbour' means a shutting off to prevent any reception and transmission of inflowing goodness and truth, and of the things touching on them. This is clear from the meaning of 'killing' as taking spiritual life away, thus taking the good of love and the truth of faith away, and therefore at this point as a shutting off to prevent any reception and transmission of them, for when they have been removed, so too has spiritual life been taken away and only natural life remains (for the meaning of 'killing' as taking spiritual life away, see 3387, 3395, 3607, 6767, 7043, 8902); from the meaning of 'brother' as the good of love and charity, dealt with in 3815, 4121, 4191, 5409, 5686, 5692, 6756; from the meaning of 'companion' as the truth of that good; and from the meaning of 'neighbour' as that which is linked to them, dealt with in 5911, 9378, thus that which touches on them. For people whose borders touch are neighbours. From all this it is evident that 'kill [every] man his brother, and [every] man his companion, and [every] man his neighbour' means a shutting off of what is internal with that nation to prevent any reception by them or transmission to them of inflowing goodness, truth, or anything that touches on them.

[2] The implications of all this are that because that nation was idolatrous at heart, ruled completely by the kinds of love in which hell consists, and yet worship representative of heavenly realities was to be established among them, their internals were altogether shut off. They were shut off for two reasons, the first being in order that external things alone with them, devoid of anything internal, might be the means by which the joining to heaven could be effected, and the second in order that the holy things of the Church and of heaven might not be rendered profane. For if that nation had acknowledged the internal things of worship, that is, the holy things of the Church and of heaven which were being represented, they would have defiled them and rendered them profane. This explains why little if any was clearly revealed to that nation about heaven and life after death, and why they were totally ignorant of the truth that the Messiah's kingdom existed in heaven. That nation is still like this at the present day, as is well known.

[3] But see what has been shown regarding that nation in the places referred to above in 10396, for instance the following,

Their whole interest lay in external things and not in anything internal, 4293, 4311, 4459(end), 4834, 4844, 4847, 4865, 4868, 4874, 4903, 4913, 9320, 9373, 9380, 9381.

Consequently their worship was merely external, 3147, 3479, 8871.

Nor did they wish to know about the inner things of worship and of the Word, 3479, 4429, 4433, 4680.

If they had known the holy inner things they would have rendered them profane, 3398, 3489, 4289.

Therefore they were not allowed to know those things, 301, 302, 304, 2520, 3769.

Nevertheless through the outward things of worship among them, which were representative of heavenly realities, there was contact with heaven, 4311, 4444, 6304, 8588, 8788, 8806.

These then are the things that should be understood and are meant by the words commanding them to kill [every] man his brother, [every] man his companion, and [every] man his neighbour.

[4] Anyone who does not know that brothers, companions, neighbours, and further names describing human relationships serve to mean the Church and heaven's forms of good and truths, or their opposites, which are evils and falsities, cannot know what is implied by very many places in the Word where those names occur, such as in the following places: In Matthew,

Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man (homo) against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother above Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter above Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:34-38.

These verses refer to spiritual conflicts, which are the temptations that those who are to be regenerated must undergo. Thus they refer to the strife a person experiences at that time between the evils and falsities which come to him from hell and the forms of good and the truths which come to him from the Lord. Since those conflicts are what is described here the declaration 'whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me' is made, 'cross' being used to mean a person's state during temptations. Anyone who does not know that these kinds of things are meant by 'man and father', 'daughter and mother', 'daughter-in-law and mother-in-law' will suppose that the Lord came into the world to remove the peace in households and families and to introduce strife, when in fact He came to bring peace and remove strife, as accords with His words in John 14:27, and elsewhere.

[5] The fact that strife between the internal man and the external is described in those verses is clear from the meaning in the internal sense of 'man and father', 'daughter and mother', and 'daughter-in-law and mother-in-law'. In that sense 'man' (homo) means good which comes from the Lord, and 'father' evil which springs from a person's self; 'daughter' means an affection for goodness and truth, and 'mother' an affection for evil and falsity; and 'daughter-in-law' means the Church's truth linked to its good, and 'mother-in-law' falsity linked to its evil. And since the conflict that takes place between the forms of good and the evils residing with a person, and between the falsities and truths, is described in that manner those verses also contain the declaration 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household'. By 'those of his own household' the things that reside with a person are meant, thus those which belong properly to himself, while 'enemies' in the spiritual sense are the evils and falsities that attack forms of good and truths. The fact that such things are meant by 'man', 'father', 'daughter', 'mother', 'daughter-in-law', and 'mother-in-law' has been shown in various places in the explanations.

[6] The like is meant by the following words in Matthew,

Brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his son; and children will rise up against parents and put them to death. Matthew 10:21.

Also by the following in Luke,

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and even his own soul, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. So therefore any of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26-27, 33.

Is there anyone who does not see that these words should not be taken literally, at the very least from the fact that they say without any qualification that father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters must be hated before anyone can be the Lord's disciple, when yet it is one of the Lord's commands, in Matthew 5:43-44, that no one should be hated, not even an enemy?

[7] It is self-evident that the things which are a person's own, that is, evils and falsities in their own order, should be understood by the names of those family members, since it also says that he must hate his own soul and renounce all his possessions, that is, the things which are properly his. The state of temptation or spiritual conflict is also described here, for it says, 'whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple'. 'Being the Lord's disciple' means being led by Him and not by self, thus by the forms of good and the truths which come from the Lord and not by the evils and falsities which come from the person.

[8] The Word should be understood in a like manner in other places where those names are used, such as in Jeremiah,

They do not pay attention to My words; and My law, they reject it. Therefore thus said Jehovah, Behold, I am laying before this people stumbling-blocks, that fathers and sons together may stumble against them, a neighbour and his companion, and may perish. Jeremiah 6:19, 21.

In the same prophet,

I will scatter them, [every] man with his brother, [and fathers] and sons together. I will not spare, nor forgive, nor pity, that I should not destroy them. Jeremiah 13:14.

In the same prophet,

Jehovah caused many to stumble 1 ; also [every] man fell upon his companion. Jeremiah 46:16.

And in Isaiah,

I will embroil Egypt with Egypt, in order that a man may fight against his brother, and a man against his companion. Isaiah 19:2.

In these places also the like should be understood by 'fathers', 'sons', 'brothers', and 'companions'.

Footnotes:

1. literally, Jehovah multiplied the stumblers

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