<< MATTHEW XIII: Spiritual Meaning >>

MATTHEW XIII

1The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

Whole Chapter cited. This involves similar things (Revelation xiv. 17) to those that were foretold by the Lord in the parable concerning the sower and the gathering in of the harvest, where it is said that the harvest is the consummation of the age, that is the end of the church ; and that the reapers are the angels, by whom the Divine truths are signified. For the angels are not sent to reap, that is to do those things, but the Lord does them by the Divine truths of His Word.   R. 647.
1-9. The meaning of this passage (Ezekiel v. 1-4) is similar to what the Lord teaches in Matthew, that of the seed, which is truth, some fell among thorns, some on the rock, and some by the way.       A. 3301.
1, 2 et seq. These things were done, because by the sea and by the lake of Gennesaret, when the subject treated of is the Lord, are signified the knowledges of good and truth in the aggregate, and by the ship of Simon the doctrines of truth.    E. 514.   

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COMMENTARY

1. Luke mentions, what Matthew has not recorded, that while the Lord was delivering the preceding discourse, "a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat" (ch. xi. 37). It is in reference to this that the evangelist relates that the same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the seaside. The present discourse being delivered upon the same day with the preceding one, implies its being adapted to the same general state, with the difference, that in this instance the divine teaching is accommodated to the mind in its more external condition. The sea is emblematical of the Word in its natural sense; and when the sea and the land are mentioned together, they refer to the two distinct principles of truth and good, of which it consists. The Lord's sitting by the sea side, where the land and water meet, denotes his presence where there is conjunction of good and truth in the letter of the Word, sitting also denoting an interior state, the result of that conjunction.

2. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. A ship signifies knowledge, and thence doctrine. The Lord spiritually teaches from a ship in the sea when he instructs us from doctrine in the literal sense of his Word, And when he sits in the ship, as he sat on the mount, we are instructed that he is in the inmost of all the doctrine which he teaches from the Word the whole multitude standing on the shore denoting a state of external good which is receptive of true doctrine, their standing being expressive of an active state of thought to listen to the teaching of divine truth.   

3And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

3, 4. Here birds stand for reasonings, and also falsities.  A. 5149.
It is manifest from the Word that birds signify such things as are of the understanding and thought, and thence of design, in both senses, as well the bad as the good. In the bad sense they are mentioned in this passage. R- 757.

Charity and faith with their unreal ideas, while man does not practise them, may also be compared to butterflies in the air, upon which when seen the sparrows dart, and devour them. T. 375.
It is to be observed that there are several kinds of falses, and that they are meant by the several kinds of birds which are enumerated in Leviticus xi. 13 and following verses and Deuteronomy xiv. 11-20. E. 1100.
3-7. Unless the rational submits itself to the goods and truths of the Lord, it either suffocates, or rejects, or perverts the things which flow in, and this the more when they flow into the sensuous knowledges of the memory. This is what is meant by the seed falling on the highway, or upon the rocky place, or among the thorns, as the Lord teaches. A. 1940.
3-8. Truth is what is meant by the seed in the field, of which the Lord speaks. The sower here is the Lord and the seed is His Word, thus the truth. The seed upon the way is with those who do not care for the truth, the seed upon stony places with those who care for the truth, but not for its own sake, thus not interiorly. The seed in the midst of thorns is with those who are in the lusts of evil, but the seed in good ground is with those who love the truths which are from the Lord in the Word, and do them from Him, and thus bear fruit. That these things are meant is evident from the explanation of these words by the Lord.       Life 90.
3-9. That a field is the good of life, in which are to be implanted the things which are of faith, that is spiritual truths, which are of the church, may be plainly evident from the Lord's parable. Here four kinds of earth or ground in a field, that is in the church, are treated of. The seed here is the Word of the Lord, thus truth, which is said to be of faith. The good ground is good which is of charity, for it is the good in man which receives the Word. The wayside is falsity, a stony path truth that has no root in good, thorns are evils.       A. 3310.
3-9, 23.      See Chapter V., 19, 20.      Life 2.
See Chapter VII., 19, 21.                 T. 376.

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COMMENTARY

3. And he spake many things unto them in parables. The present discourse consists almost entirely of parables. These were delivered to teach men by similitude the nature of the kingdom of heaven. They are not to be considered as different illustrations of the same thing or the placing of the same subject in many different lights. The king of heaven, as a state of heavenly-mindedness and holiness of life, is formed progressively, and is made up of many different and various graces and virtues, the growth of years and the result of manifold experience. Every different parable has, therefore, a meaning of its own, as descriptive of a particular state. And the parables, as a whole, contain a circle of instruction applicable to the entire religious life, It is not necessary to assume that the whole may be matter of common experience to every one who reads them; yet there is something in each that comes home to all. They teach us much relating to regeneration that may be useful to every Christian, as showing the nature and magnitude of that divine work in the soul, and providing spiritual knowledge that may aid us materially in our future life. The first which the Lord delivers is the parable of the sower - one on which more has been preached and written than on any other in the New Testament; which is due to the circumstance, that the delineations it gives of the characteristic differences of the several classes of the hearers of the Word are so wonderfully confirmed by observation and experience. The Lord begins by saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. The Lord is the sower, and this character belongs to him as the Author of all truth. As the sower, the Lord has gone forth in every age of the world, and into every land. There is no heart in which the truths of his kingdom have not been sown. But the character and office of the sower are more especially applicable to the Lord in his humanity. He went forth as the sower, in a peculiar sense, when he came into the world as the Word in person, that he might accommodate his eternal truth to the altered states of men. The Lord also inseminates his truth in the mind from the earliest period of life, and afterwards to eternity. The Saviour is therefore ever going forth to sow, and in all souls are the seeds of truth scattered with a bountiful and impartial hand. There are, however, various and very different kinds as well as degrees of reception, but these depend on the recipient, not on the dispenser of the blessing. The divine speaker describes four different kinds of ground, as, symbolical of four different states of mind among those who constitute the visible church. We shall consider these separately, together with the explanation which the Lord gave to the disciples, when they asked him why he spake unto the multitude in parables.

4And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

4. The fowls of heaven here are nothing else than falsities. A. 778.
The seeds are Divine truths, the hard rock is persuasion, birds are principles of falsity. A. 5096.
4, 5. They who know what sin is, and still more they who know many other things from the Word and teach them, and who do not examine themselves, and consequently see no sin in themselves, are also like the hard wayside and stony places upon which the seed fell.    T. 527.
5, 6. By the seeds which the Sower sowed are signified truths from the Word, or truths which man receives from the Lord. By stony places is signified a historical faith, which is the faith of another in himself, for he believes it to be true not because he sees it in himself, but because another, in whom he has faith, has said it. By ground is signified spiritual good, this receives truths as the ground does seeds. By the Sun being risen is signified the love of self, and by the seed being scorched and withering away the adulteration of truths and their perishing.  E. 401.
When there is no earth upon the rocks, and they are consequently dry, consisting oi mere masses of stone, it is an indication that there remains no good, and where there is no good, there is nothing but mere falsities.   E. 411.
6. To adore the sun of this world and the moon and to bow down to them, signifies in the Word to love self and the falses which are from self-love. H. 122.

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COMMENTARY

4-19. The first class is described in these words: And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them, up. In the Lord's explanation of the parable, he that received seed by the way-side is one who heareth the word, and understandeth it not. Understanding is not mere intellectual apprehension. A right apprehension of divine truth is most important; but that which our Lord means is, "to understand with the heart," which consists in receiving the truth in love. Love or goodness forms the ground in which the seeds of the eternal truth are sown. A difference of minds, in respect to the principle of goodness, is that which is so graphically set before us in the parable. The way side is where there is no proper soil, or where it is so trodden down that the seeds that fall upon it never enter it, but lie unchanged upon its hardened surface. These are they in whom the good acquired from the Lord through parents and others in early life has been so trampled upon by the practical errors of later years as to have hardened the heart into a careless unconcern about eternal life. Of the seeds that fell by the way side it is said that "the fowls came and devoured them up." These the Lord explains to mean the wicked one. Fowls are the emblems of thoughts and, in the present case, are the wicked thoughts originating in evil, which is the wicked one that catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. It is a temptation of all in early manhood to forget their Creator, whom they had been taught to remember in the days of their youth, and allow light pleasures and a vain philosophy to catch away that which pious hands had been sowing in their hearts, and which the Lord's providence is continually scattering, although it be upon an ungrateful soil. Let them reflect that there is a harvest as well as a seed time, that the reaping is according to the sowing, and that he who sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind.

5, 6-20, 21. The second class of unprofitable receivers of the truth are those whose minds are like stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. In his exposition the Lord tells us, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. No class is better known than this, its characteristics being so open to observation. The readiness with which some persons accept views and receive impressions is only equaled by the readiness with which they part with them, and their warmth and zeal are quickly succeeded by indifference, and their goodness is the early dew that passeth away. The reason is to be found in their ground being stony, where there is not much earth. They have more intellect than heart; they have a keen appreciation of the beautiful, but a small love of the useful. Yet the seed which quickly germinates in the slender but genial soil might come to a weak maturity were it, fanned by zephyrs and refreshed with dews and warmed by the tempered rays of the sun of heaven. But this is not the unvarying course of Nature nor of Providence. Nature has her floods and her tempests, her dense clouds and her beaming sunshine; and Providence has its tribulations and persecutions. These strengthen the strong and healthy, but destroy the feeble and sickly; they soon prostrate or wither - that which has no root in itself, however promising its beginning may be in the eyes of men. No heavenly plant can be reared without temptation, and those which are unable to endure this ordeal must perish. Some of those, who, when they hear the word, anon with joy receive it, sometimes have so little root in themselves that they fall away under the outward tribulation of contempt or opposition; but still more liable are they to fail when the inward persecution of temptation comes. Then it is that they are offended; the sun, not of heaven, but of their own self-love, arising, scorches up everything green and living in the mind.

7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

7, 22. Those who on account of worldly matters think nothing about sins and therefore do not know them. . . . These are they who are meant by the seed which fell among thorns. P. 278.
8, 23. See Chapter III., 8, 9.         A. 1017.
See Chapter III., 8, 9. A. 2371.
A hundred stands for what is full. A. 2636.
Six signifies full and all. The multiplication by ten, whence it is sixty, makes no change. R. 610.

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COMMENTARY

7-22. The third class of unproductive recipients consists of those of whom it is said - And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them. The Lord explains the thorns to mean the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches. Temporal care and a desire to be rich doubtless have a tendency to stifle the spiritual affections and repress the soul's aspirations. We are, however, to distinguish between distrustful care and mere absorbing worldly occupation, and between the honourable pursuit of wealth and an ambitious or avaricious desire to be rich. There is, however, another world and other riches, the care and deceitfulness of which may choke the Word and render it unfruitful. This world, individually considered and spiritually understood, is the natural mind, and the riches which belong to it are the knowledges of religion - and its riches are deceitful when we deceive ourselves with the false idea that the knowledge of religion is religion itself. The Lord's description of this class leads us to suppose that they do not want capacity but culture. The - ground was neither deficient nor barren. The soil which produces weeds can support something better. Wheat would have grown where the thorns flourished. But the thorns required to be rooted up, and the ground prepared to receive the good seed. And here we see the great defect of those whose state is here described. It is not enough to know the truth; if we would be happy, we must do it. And even here we may deceive ourselves. For it is not enough to do good, we must cease to do evil. We must root out the thorns as well as sow the wheat. And this is just what the class we are considering neglect to do. And a large class it is, if theory be an indication of practice, which it is not always, even when doctrine is unfavourable to virtue. They may be pious, and studious, and exemplary, but they do not examine themselves to discover, with the view to put away, the inborn and inbred evils of their neglected hearts. The seed is indeed received and grows, but it never comes to perfection, but becometh unfruitful.

8-23. We come at last to those with whom the seed fell into good around. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. The divine Sower himself explains it thus: he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth, the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Some hear, but do not understand; Some understand, but fail to perform: but here we have one who, after he has taken the first step, goes on perseveringly till he has reached the end, from the sowing of the seed to the ingathering of the harvest. The distinguishing mark of this class is - they bear fruit; the other parts of the process are necessary to precede, but this is the end and fulfilment of them all. "Herein is my rather glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples" (John xv. 8). The fruitfulness of religion is different in different members of the church. Every branch of the vine must bear fruit, otherwise the husbandman taketh it away - but every branch is not alike productive, nor does the husbandman demand that it should be. All that bear fruit are branches of the true vine, but they may bear some thirty, some sixty, some an hundredfold. Yet this does not mean a difference only in the quantity of the fruit, but of the quality also. With some, good works are the fruits of simple obedience; with some, they are the fruits of charity and with others, they are the fruits of love. These are the three degrees of perfection pointed out by our Lord in his thirty, sixty, and an hundredfold. The thirty, sixty, and an hundredfold are expressive both of three distinct states and degrees of the regenerate life, and of three distinct classes of regenerate persons. The numbers are significative of the character of these states, and of those distinguished by them. These numbers are three tens, six tens, and ten tens. Ten has perhaps the most comprehensive signification of any number that occurs in Scripture. God gave his representative people ten commandments, and be required, of them a tenth of their produce; the one being expressive of all their moral duties, the other of all their divine worship. Ten therefore signifies a full or complete state, the other numbers with which it is combined signifying the quality of the state. These signify the three states and degrees which we call natural, spiritual, and celestial. Ten signify remains - three tens, the remains of good and truth acquired by instruction - six tens, remains of good and truth confirmed by temptation; and ten tens, the remains of good and truth confirmed by life: this last is a complete and perfect state, in which good and truth are equal and united.

We may remark in conclusion that, although we have explained the parable in reference to different classes in the church, it is not without an application to different but successive states in the regeneration of one. You will perceive from the parable that the ground improves in each succeeding state, and the seeds enter more deeply into the soil, and make a more successful effort to grow up, till the effort is crowned with success in the producing of fruit. And then, also, the threefold fruitfulness may be found in the fully regenerate man.

As, in order to avoid prolixity and repetition, we have given the spiritual sense and practical application of the parable of the sower as our Lord explained it, combining with it whatever is peculiar in the parable itself, we shall now return to verse 10, where we find the disciples inquiring, and the Lord declaring, the reason of his teaching by parables.

9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

9. As reception is that on the part of man which conjoins him with the Lord, and thus makes him spiritual, therefore when the Lord uttered those things, He cried saying, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.      E. 239.
Verse quoted. E. 250.
9, 43. See Chapter XI., 15. A. 2542.
Because the obedience of faith is understood by ears in the internal sense, and obeying by hearing, it is evident what is meant by these words of the Lord, which He so often uttered. A. 3869.
See Chapter XL, 15. A. 9311.
See Chapter XL, 15. A. 9397.
12. They who come into the other life are all brought again into a life similar to that which they had in the body, and then with the good evils and falsities are separated, that by means of goods and truths they may be elevated by the Lord into heaven; but with the evil goods and truths are separated, that by evils and falsities they may be brought into hell, just according to the Lord's words. A. 2449.
They who are in knowledges of good and truth, as are those who are within the church, and yet in the life of evil, are said to be cut asunder when they are removed from those knowledges. For the knowledges of good and truth are separated from them in the other life, and they are kept in evils and hence also in falsities.    A. 4424.
The very knowledges of truth and good which have been possessed by those of the church, who have known the arcana of faith, and yet have lived a life of evil, are transferred to those who are of the spiritual church.   A. 7770.
In the other life falses are removed from those who are in truths derived from good, and truths are removed from those who are in falses derived from evil.       A. 9330.
Those who have had but little affection and desire, receive but little, and yet as much as they can receive within that degree, but those who have had much affection and desire, receive much. The degree itself of affection and desire is as the measure, which is filled to the full, more therefore to him who has large measure, and less to him who has small.     H. 349.
If his life has been a life of the love of evil, all the truth is taken away that he acquired in the world from a teacher, from preaching, or the Word, and this having been taken away, as a sponge takes up water, so he drinks in falsity agreeing with his evil. And on the other hand, if his life has been a life of the love of good, then is removed all the falsity which he gathered in the world from hearing, and from reading, but which he did not confirm in himself; and in its place there is given him truth agreeing with his good. P. 17.
In every man after death, when he becomes a spirit or a spiritual man, the Lord separates the good from the evil, and the evil from the good. Good from evil in those who are interiorly in evil, and evil from good in those who are interiorly in good, which is according to His words. P. 227.
From those who are in falsities as to doctrine and thence in evils as to life, all the goods and truths which they possessed only in the natural man, and from which they simulated Christian men, are taken away, which being taken away, they are separated from heaven and conjoined to hell. R. 676.
The interiorly evil and the interiorly good are meant, for the interiorly evil may be exteriorly good, for they can act and speak like the good, as hypocrites do. And the interiorly good may sometimes be exteriorly in evil, for they can do evil and speak falsities exteriorly, but still repent, and wish to be instructed in truths. R. 948.
Man whilst he lives in the world and sees from the natural man, can be but little principled in the knowledges of truth and good, but only in common or general principles, in which nevertheless may be implanted innumerable things when he comes into the spiritual world or heaven. E. 112.
Everyone, whether he be evil or good, is judged immediately after death, when he enters into the spiritual world where he is to live for ever. There is however an interval of time allowed before the final state is fixed, and this is in order to their full preparation. This with the good is that they may be divested of the evils which adhere to them from the body and from the world. And with the evil that they may be divested of the goods which outwardly adhere to them from instruction and religion. E. 413.

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COMMENTARY

10. After the Lord had delivered the parable of the sower, the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? The disciples and the multitude are those who are within and those who are without the church, and the question is, why those who are without, differently from those who are within, are taught by parables. This question and the Lord's answer cover more than what is strictly called the parabolic portion of the Word. The whole of the literal sense of the Word, considered in relation to the spiritual, is parabolic - truth veiled - so as to make it apprehensible by the natural mind.

To those within the church who are in genuine doctrine from the letter of the Word, the spiritual sense can be opened. Not that a mere intellectual reception of true doctrine can prepare the mind for seeing the internal sense of the Divine Word; for the real reception of genuine doctrine itself presupposes a state of love and holiness, since they only who do his will know savingly of the doctrine. Those who by goodness have received the genuine doctrines of the Word, and have been introduced into the church, are prepared to see and receive the spiritual sense. To them it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but to those who are without it is not given.

12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. The meaning of which seeming paradox is this - that whoever has goodness will receive truth, and receive it abundantly; but whoever has not goodness, from him will be taken away even the truth of doctrine that he hath. This law is fulfilled in its perfection in the other life. Those who in this world have lived in love to God and to their neighbour, although in comparative ignorance, or even in error, will receive as much truth as their good admits or requires; rich in goodness here, they will abound in wisdom hereafter; but they who have not lived in love and charity will be deprived of that truth, however much it may be, which they had known in the world.

13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

13. This is the reason (to prevent profanation) that the mysteries of faith were never revealed to the Jews. It was not even told them plainly that they were to live after death, nor that the Lord would come into the world to save them. For this reason the Lord spoke to them in parables, and explained none to them. A. 302.
So too, if it had been disclosed to them (the Jewish and Israelitic people) that the Messiah or Christ was to come to save their souls to eternity, they would have rejected this as nothing. This is why the Lord sometimes spoke like the prophets, and taught other things by parables. A. 2520.

It is a common thing, as is well known, for the learned to have less belief in the life after death than the simple,, and in general, to see Divine truths less clearly than the simple. The reason of this is that they consult outward knowledges, of which they possess a greater abundance than others, from a negative standpoint, and so destroy in themselves insight. When this is destroyed they see no longer anything from the light of heaven, but only from the light of the world. A. 4760.
See Chapter XI., 25.  A. 6053.
Hence it is evident that to be intelligent and wise does not consist in understanding and relishing many things which are of the world, but in understanding and willing those things which are of heaven. A. 9803,
Lest they (the Jews) should acknowledge truths, and then fall back, and so become profane. For the same reason the Lord spoke in parables, as He Himself says, P. 231.

13, 14. Those in the world are intelligent and wise who are in the truth and good of the church, because these savour of heaven, those are foolish and delirious who are not in the truth and good of the church,, because they are in science only from the world. Such of them as by sciences of the world have confirmed themselves against the truths and goods of the church,, are more delirious and foolish than the rest, howsoever they believe themselves more intelligent and wiser than others, and call them simple who are in the good of life from the truths of doctrine, when yet the simplicity of the latter is wisdom before the angels, and these latter after death are elevated into angelic wisdom by the Lord. A. 9278.
13, 15. Blinding the eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, signifies depriving them of the understanding of truth, and that seeing here signifies faith in the Lord is evident from the Lord's words. A. 3863.
That the Lord spake in this manner, was in order that the people might not understand the Word, lest they should profane it. For the same reason also the Lord spoke in parables. A. 3898.
See Chapter XI., 25, 26. H. 353.
They who separate life from faith are like those of whom the Lord speaks. E. 108.
The reason why in the Word it is not said to understand, but to see, is because the Word in its ultimates is natural, and what is natural is the basis on which spiritual things are founded. To see signifies to understand. E. 260.
See Chapter XI., 25. E. 1114.
13, 17. Seeing stands for knowing and understanding the things which are of faith in the Lord, thus for faith, for they were not blessed because they saw the Lord, and saw His miracles, but because they believed. A. 3863.
Mention is made both of seeing and hearing, because the one follows the other, that is faith in the understanding which is seeing, and faith in the will which is hearingr otherwise it would have been sufficient to mention only one. A. 3869.

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COMMENTARY

Hearing is said in every sense, both signifying to be instructed and to believe and to obey. Hearing they do not hear, means to be taught, and yet not to believe, also to be instructed and yet not to obey. The ears blessed because they hear, signify blessedness from the reception of the doctrine of faith concerning the Lord, and by the Word from the Lord.

13. Therefore, continues our Lord, speak I to them in parables; because they, seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. Man has an internal and an external will and understanding, and there are internal and external goods and truths adapted to them: the first are spiritual, the second are natural. We may see with our natural understanding, and hear with our natural will, and yet have no inward discernment or love of truth and goodness. Nay, the internal will and understanding may be opposed to the external. The outward will may prompt us to learn and even to teach the truths of religion, and the understanding labour intelligently and unweariedly in the work, and yet our inner natural mind may disbelieve and contemn them. There is no real understanding where there is no inward discernment, for the outward sight is derived from the inward perception.

14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

14, 15. So far as man is immersed in self-love and the love of the world and in the lusts thereof, so far the Word is closed to him. Those loves have self for an end, which end kindles a natural lumen, but extinguishes heavenly light, so that men see acutely the things which are of self and of the world, and not at all the things which are of the Lord and His kingdom. A. 3769.
Nothing blinds a man but his proprium and the confirmation of falsity. S. 60.
It is said, lest they should be converted, and I should heal them, because if they had been converted and healed, they would have committed profanation. P. 260.
All such persons are like those who shun the light, and enter chambers where there are no windows, and feel about the walls, and search for food and for money, and at length acquire a vision like that of birds of the night, and see in darkness. T. 7.
With these the truths of the Word are as in the shadow of night, and falsities as in the light of day. They read truths, but they do not see them, and if they see their shadow they falsify it. T. 232.
16. Here by the eyes which see, intelligence and faith are signified.    A. 2701.
By the eyes here also are signified the understanding and faith of truth, thus by seeing is signified to understand and to believe, and by the ears is signified obedience, thus a life according to the truths of faith.
E. 1081.

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COMMENTARY

14. This, in the Jews, was the fulfilment of a prophecy by Isaiah, the first part of which is similar to the statement of the Lord in the preceding verse, and on which it is unnecessary to enlarge.

15. In this verse, however, it is declared that the heart of the people had waxed gross, intimating that the will had become sensual, which is the ground of all other morbid conditions; for when the will is debased, men close their ears and their eyes against the truth. And their object in doing so is, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed. To understand with the heart - that is, from the will - is true discernment, and the gate of true conversion and health. Conversion is a change of the understanding; healing is a restoration of the will. When this salvation is deliberately and determinately refused, it is a mercy to speak to men in parables - to address the truth to them in dark sayings. Were it presented to them in clear light, they would pervert and profane it. But why present it to them at all? Because, in the first place, the Word is of much indirect benefit to even natural men; and in the second place, salvation being possible with, and therefore offered to all, the Lord provides all with his truth as they are able to bear it and are most likely to profit by it.

16. But happy are those whose state is the reverse of all this, and to whom the Lord can say, blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. To have the understanding and the will open to the admission of heavenly light and love must be a blessed state indeed. In this is realized the Lord's desire towards his creatures, and their own true happiness.

17For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
18Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

17. The just stand for those who live the life of charity, and in the abstract sense the good of charity.
A. 9263.
Here by prophets and righteous men, in the spiritual sense, are understood all who are in the truth of doctrine and in the good of life according to them. By seeing and hearing are signified to understand and perceive, in this case the interior truths proceeding from the Lord. E. 624.

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COMMENTARY

17. The blessing connected with this state is spoken of as being enhanced by the circumstance. That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. This refers to the fulfilment of the prophecies and promises to which the wise and good of all ages had looked forward with hopeful desire but which the disciples were privileged to behold in the person and work of the Incarnate God. But, as we have seen, there is a spiritual state in the life of every regenerate man corresponding to that which preceded the Lord's advent; and there is a looking forward of truth in the intellect, and a desiring of good in the will - which are the prophet and the righteous in us - to the time and state in which the things which once were objects of faith and hope shall be the realized possession of the heart and life; when, indeed, things that existed abstractly in the remote conceptions of the inner man will exist actually in the practical experience of the outer life. To the former state belongs the parable, to the latter its explanation. for the second state is the unfolding of the first.

18-23. These verses contain the Lord's explanation of the parable of the sower, which has been incorporated with the parable itself, as explained in verses 1-9.

19When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

19. "Word" stands for the doctrine of the Lord, and "words" for the things which are of His doctrine.
A. 1288.
See Chapter III., 2.               R. 749.
 19-23. That the Word in this passage is truth Divine,
is evident without explanation. It is called the Word of the kingdom, because it is the truth of heaven and the church, for the kingdom stands for heaven and the church. A. 9987.
19-23, 37. From this it is manifest that the truth of the Word cannot obtain root with those who do not care for the truth, nor with those who love truth outwardly and not inwardly, nor with those who are in the lusts of evil, but with those in whom the lusts of evil have been dispersed by the Lord. With these the seed, that is the truth takes root in the spiritual mind. Life 90.
19-24, 37-39. That it is the Lord who soweth, that the seed is His Word, and that the earth is man, He Himself has deigned to declare. A. 29.
19, 38. To hear the Word of the kingdom is to hear the truths of the church, and because seed signifies truths, therefore they who receive truths are called sons of the kingdom.  E. 48.

20But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
22He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

20, 21. The reason why tribulation signifies infestation by falsities is, because the mind which is principled in truths, is afflicted by falsities when they combat with each other, nor does spiritual tribulation spring from any other source. E. 47.
Verses quoted. D. P., Page 76.
20-23. See Chapter XIII., 19. A. 1288.
22. The care of this age. An age signifies the world and the life there. A. 10248.

23But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
23. See Chapter III., 8. R. 934.
See Chapter VII., 24, 26. T. 347.
See Chapter III., 8. T. 483.
See Chapter VII., 24, 26. E. 108.
See Chapter XIII., 9. E. 239.
See Chapter V., 19. E. 250.
See Chapter V., 19. E. 785.

24Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

24. 25. Watching signifies the reception of spiritual life, sleeping signifies natural life without spiritual, since natural life compared with spiritual is as sleep to Avatch-fulness. E. 187.
24-30. See Chapter III., n, 12. R. 315.
He who by repentance removes the evils of his will, is one who in time pulls up the tares sown in his field by
the devil, so that the seeds implanted by the Lord God the Saviour find a clear soil, and grow to a harvest. T. 532.
By the man who sowed good seed in his field is understood the Lord, by the field are meant the church and the spiritual world, in which are both the good and the evil. By the good seed and the wheat are understood the good, and by the tares are understood the evil That they could not be separated until the time of the last judgment on account of the conjunction (communication outwardly and inwardly of those in external worship with the good) mentioned, is understood by the answer to the servants, who were desirous to gather the tares before. E. 426.
The separation of the good from the evil, which should take place before the last judgment, is here predicted by the Lord, arid is understood by let both grow together until harvest. The reason why the good were not separated from the evil before the last judgment, and the good raised up to heaven, and the evil cast into hell, may be seen in the small work concerning the last Judgment. E. 849. This parable refers to the last judgment, when the good will be separated from the evil, and when the former will be admitted into heaven, and the latter consigned to hell. The good seed which the man sowed in his field signifies the truths of the church which are derived from good, the field stands for the church where those truths are. Sowing means influx and reception, consequently also instruction. The man who sowed the seed is the Lord by the Word, in which all the truths of the church are contained. His enemy sowing the tares while men slept and then going- his way, signifies that with natural men the falsities of evil flow in from hell and are received, for by sleeping is signified the natural life, without the spiritual. E. 374.
24-30, 36-43. By Him who soweth is meant the Lord, who is there also called the Son of Man. By the reapers or them that reap are meant the angels. To sow tares signifies to insinuate and implant falses, and went his way signifies that it was done by stealth or without their knowing it. When the blade sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also means, when truth grew and produced good, falses from evil were intermixed. With the men of the church truths are intermixed with falses, which cannot be separated and the falses ejected until they are reformed. E. 911.
He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man, or the Lord. The field is the church, the seed the truths of the church, the tares falsities from hell, the harvest is the consummation of the age — the end of the church, the reapers are the angels — the Divine truths. R. 645.
24-30, 39, 40. The consummation of the age is the last time of the church, the tares are those who are interiorly in evil, the wheat are those who are interiorly in good, the gathering of the tares into bundles to bum
is the final judgment upon the evil. That harm should not be brought to the good by separation before the final judgment, is meant by, lest haply while ye gather Tip the tares ye root up the wheat with them. Let both grow-together until the harvest. C. J. 10.
24-30, 37-43. The Lord in the parable of the tares of the field said, so it will be at the consummation of the age, the reapers are the angels. D. P., Page 8.
24-30, 38-40. Thus (Matthew xiii. 12) it happens to all after death before judgment upon them. It was also so done in a general manner to those who either perished or were saved at the day of the last judgment, for before this was done the last judgment could not be executed ; for the reason that as long as the evil retained goods and truths, they were conjoined with the angels of the lowest heaven as to externals, and yet they must be separated. R. 948.
24-30, 39, 40. Wheat here means the truths and goods of the new church, and tares the falsities and evils of the former church. The consummation of the age means the end of the church. T. 784.
24, 26. The herb stands for the produce of the field. By the herb is here signified the produce of the church, and by tares falsity. A. 7571.
24, 37. Verses mentioned. E. 237.

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COMMENTARY

24-30. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened auto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. In the previous parable there is one sower and one kind of seed; in this there are two sowers and two kinds of seed. The Divine Sower is here followed by his enemy, who sows tares where he had sown wheat. In the former parable there were pre-existing in the mind obstacles enough to the success of the sower's labours; here there is a new and extraneous aspect and element employed to neutralize his work. This particular feature in the parable describes a circumstance in the regenerate life similar to that recorded in the 4th chapter, where we read that Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. The reception of the Lord's truth and of the Spirit of truth lays the mind open to temptation, as induced by the spirits of darkness. Temptation is not, however, the result of the mere admission of truth into the mind, even when intellectually apprehended. There can be no temptation where there is no goodness, for temptation is essentially a conflict between good and evil; yet evil assails good by means of falsity, and good defends itself by means of truth. It is therefore the truth of good that lays the mind open to temptation. That which the man of the present parable sowed in his field is therefore called good seed, to indicate that the implantation of the truth of good, and its confirmation by temptation, is the subject treated of. As this parable of the Lord contains in it arcana relating to the separation of the evil from the good, and concerning the last judgement as it took place in the spiritual world, it is of importance it should be minutely explained. The kingdom of heaven is the Lord's church in heaven and on earth, for the church is in both worlds. The man, called in ver. 37 the Son of man, who sowed good seed in his field, is the Lord as to divine truth, which is the Word; the good seed is the divine truth, and the field is the church, where the Word is. "But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way," signifies that whilst men lead a natural life, or the life of the world, then secretly, or when they are not aware, evils from hell insinuate and implant falsities. To sleep signifies to lead a natural life, or a life in the world, which life is sleep compared with spiritual life, which is wakefulness. The enemy signifies evils from hell, which affect the natural life separate from spiritual life. To sow tares is to and implant falsities; and his going his way signifies that it was done secretly, or whilst they were unaware. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also, means, when truth grew and good was produced, falsities from evil were intermixed; for the blade springing up signifies truth, such as it is when first received, fruit signifies good, and tares signify falsities derived from evil, in this case intermixed. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? By this is to be understood that those who are in truths derived from good, perceiving that falses from evil were intermixed, then make complaint; for the servants of the householder signify those who are in truth from good. The householder signifies the Lord as to truths from good the good seed, the field, and the tares signify the same as already explained. He said unto them, An enemy (or adversary) hath done this, signifies that those falsities were from evil in the natural man. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them (the tares) up? signifies the separation and ejection of falsities derived from evil before truths derived from good are received and increased. But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them, signifies that thus truth derived from good, and its increase, would also perish; for with the man of the church truths are intermixed with falsities, which cannot be cast out and separated until they are reformed. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. The separation of false principles derived from evil, and their ejection, can not be effected until it is the last state of the church; for then such falsities are separated from the truths of good, and these falsities are delivered to hell, and the truths of good - or, what is the same, those who are in them - are conjoined to heaven. These things are done in the spiritual world, where all who are of the church, from its beginning to its end, are in such a manner separated and judged. The harvest is the end or last state of the church; binding in bundles signifies to conjoin together the several species of falsities derived from evil; to burn signifies to deliver to hell; and to bring together into the barn, is to be conjoined to heaven.

25But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

25. The state of a man who is not in truths is called a slumber and a sleep. R. 158.
When man is in natural life separate from spiritual, he is in a state of sleep. E. 1006.

27-30, 37-42. In the spiritual world there is a communication and hence a conjunction of all with their like. The simple good, who are in the lowest part of heaven and in the world of spirits, look chiefly to externals, but still are not interiorly evil, wherefore if they were torn from the interiorly evil before the appointed time, heaven would have suffered in its lowest parts, and yet the higher heaven rests upon the lowest as upon its foundation.    J. 70.
Here the consummation of the age obviously signifies the last time when judgment takes place. The time of the harvest is when all things are consummated or completed. The tares signify evils, or those in whom evils are. The wheat signifies goods, or those who are principled in good.     E. 397.
By the end of the world or the consummation of the age is signified the last time of the church. That before this the upright are not to be separated from the non-upright, because they are consociated by exteriors, is signified by not gathering the tares lest the wheat be rooted up with them.     E. 624.

30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

30. The tares stand for evils and falsities, and the wheat for goods. They are comparisons, but comparisons in the Word, are all made by significatives.
A. 3941.
The series in which truths are arranged with the good, and the series in which falses are arranged with the evil, are signified in the Word by sheaves and bundles.   A. 10303.
See Chapter XII., 34, 35. T. 653.
30, 39, 40. See Chapter XIII., 12. A. 2449.
It is to be known that devastation, desolation and decision have a similar signification with consummation. Desolation signifies the consummation of truth, devastation the consummation of good, and decision the full consummation of both. T. 755.
30, 40. The end of the church is meant by the consummation of the age. R. 658. 

30, 40, 41. The mind the enjoyments of whose love are good, consists inwardly of spiritual substances such as are in heaven ; but the mind the enjoyments of whose love are evils, consists inwardly of spiritual substances such as are in hell. The evils of the latter are bound into bundles by falsities, and the goods of the former are bound into bundles by truths. Since there are such bindings of goods and evils into bundles, therefore the Lord says, the tares are to be bound together into bundles. T. 38.

31Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
 
31. All knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, with their enjoyments and felicities are thus made fruitful and multiplied and grow to eternity, and this from the smallest seed, as the Lord teaches respecting the grain of mustard seed. A. 1941.
31, 32. The grain of mustard seed is the good of man before he becomes spiritual, which is the least of all seeds, because he thinks that he does good from himself. What is from himself is nothing but evil, but as he is in a state of regeneration there is something of good, yet the least of all. Afterwards as faith is being conjoined to love it becomes greater and an herb. At last when it is conjoined it becomes a tree, and then the birds of the heavens — which here also are truths, or things of the understanding — make their nests in its branches, which are knowledges. A. 55.
The fowls of the heavens stand for truths. A. 776.
The second rational with which man is gifted by the Lord when he is being regenerated, is like the fruit in good ground, in which those things which are round about the seeds decay, and the seeds push forth from their inmost parts, and send out a root and then a shoot above the ground, which grows into a new tree, and unfolds itself at length even into new fruits, and then into gardens and paradises, according to the affections for good and truth which it receives. A. 2657.
The prolific principle in plants corresponds to the good in man. The seed itself corresponds to internal things, and the pulp of the fruit encompassing the seed to external things. The case is the same with the internal man, to whom the seed corresponds. In this case the good which was so formed produces a new man, as the prolific principle in the seed produces a new tree, or a new plant. A. 9258.
Birds signify such things as are of the understanding and thought, thence of design. R. 757.
No one unless he knows the nature of the Word can have any idea that there is an infinity in every part of it, that is, that it contains innumerable things, which not even angels can exhaust. Each thing therein may be likened to a seed, which may grow up from the ground to be a great tree, and produce an abundance of seeds from which again may be similar trees, which together make gardens. Such is the Word of the Lord in its several particulars, and such is especially the decalogue, for this, because it teaches love to the Lord and love toward the neighbour, is a short summary of the whole Word. That the Word is such, the Lord also explains by a similitude in verses 31, 32. T. 290.
Unless there were something analogous to free will in the soil of the earth, in the seed sown in it, in all parts of the tree that has grown out of it, and in its fruit, and again in the new seed, there would be nothing of the vegetable kingdom. T. 499.
By the tree from a grain of mustard seed is signified the man of the church, and also the church commencing from a little spiritual good by truth, for if only a very small degree of spiritual good takes root in a man, it will grow like a seed in good ground. As by a tree is thence signified the man of the church, it follows, that by the fowls of heaven, which make nests in its branches, are signified the knowledges of truth, and thoughts thence derived. E. 1100.
If by combat against evils as sins man has procured to himself anything spiritual in the world, be it ever so small, he is saved, and his uses grow afterwards like a grain of mustard seed into a tree. D. L. xvii.

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COMMENTARY

31, 32. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. When the Divine Word declares the deep depravity of the human heart, and points out the long and severe labour of the regenerate life, we are sometimes disposed to be overwhelmed and discouraged. There are not wanting, on the other hand, lessons that give us relief and encouragement. The parable of the mustard seed is one of these. It tells us, in language which every one can understand, that if the kingdom of heaven is really received into the heart, the smallest possible beginning is sufficient to ensure a successful issue, if we only persevere. In its spiritual sense the parable teaches this lesson still more clearly. The mustard seed is the symbol of truth in which there is something of spiritual good. If only a little, however little, of spiritual good has taken root in the heart, it grows as seed in good around. In the process of its growth the mustard seed becomes first the greatest among herbs, and then a tree. When faith is being conjoined to love, the spiritual principle within us is an herb or a shrub, but when faith and love are actually united, it is a tree. And then the birds of the heavens come and make their nests in its branches. Birds are thoughts, branches are knowledges; in which, when man is regenerate, thoughts, or intellectual truths, are multiplied.

Nor is the encouraging lesson of this parable confined to the growth of spiritual principles in the present life. For any one who, by combating against evil, as sin, has in the world procured anything spiritual, however small, is saved, and his uses afterwards grow like a grain of mustard seed into a tree.

"For so long as man lives in the body, the seed is in corporeal ground, and is there entangled and obscured by scientifics and pleasures, and by cares and solicitudes; but when these are put off, as is the case when he passes into the other life, the seed is loosened from them and grows, as the seed of a tree grows when it rises out of the ground to grow into a shrub, and then into a tree, and next to be multiplied into an orchard of trees; for all science, intelligence, and wisdom, with their delights and felicities, thus fructify and are multiplied and thereby increase to eternity, and this from the smallest seed, as the Lord teaches respecting the grain of mustard seed - which may be sufficiently manifest from the science, intelligence, and wisdom of the angels, which was ineffable to them at the time they were men."

33Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
34All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
35That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
36Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

33- Spiritual combats or temptations are fermentations in the spiritual sense, for then falsities are desirous to conjoin themselves to truths, but truths reject them, and at length cast them down as it were to the bottom, consequently they cleanse from impurities. In this sense is to be understood what the Lord teaches concerning leaven. A. 7906.
By three in the Word is meant what is complete and perfect. S. 29.
Spiritual fermentations take place in many ways in the heavens as well as on earth. . . . There are evils having falsities with them, which do a work, when introduced into societies, like that done by the things put into meal to cause fermentation, by which heterogeneous things are separated, and homogeneous things conjoined. Purity and clearness are the result. P. 25.
Three signifies complete, thus the end. R. 505.
By three in the Word in the spiritual sense is meant what is complete and perfect, and also all at once.
T. 211.

Three what is complete even to the end. E. 532.

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COMMENTARY

33. Another parable spake he unto them: The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal.

This parable describes the formation of the heavenly state in the mind, as effected or promoted by temptation. Leaven itself signifies what is false derived from evil; and meal or flour, truth, from which good is derived. Meal or flour has two significations. Considered as the product of wheat, meal signifies truth derived from good; but, considered as that from which bread is made, it signifies truth from which good is derived. As bread-making is the subject of the present parable, the meal signifies truth from which good is derived. The leavening process, which is the prominent idea of the parable, is an expressive symbol of temptation. The use of temptation is analogous to that of leavening or fermentation: it serves to purify good and truth. The purification of truth from falsity in the mind cannot be effected without that tribulation to which fermentation corresponds, and which is the combat of falsity with truth, and of truth with falsity. After the conflict, when truth has triumphed, falsity falls down like dregs, and leaves the truth pure like wine, which becomes clear after fermentation. This conflict, meant by leavening and fermentation, belongs chiefly to that turning-point or transition state in the regenerate life where the Christian, who has hitherto acted from the truth of faith, begins to act from the good of charity; or when his religion, which has been hitherto chiefly of the head, begins to be of the heart. This distinction between a state of truth and a state of good was represented in a singular distinction ordained by the Jewish law between the general meat offerings and that of the first-fruits. The Passover and other feasts were required to be celebrated with unleavened bread - leaven being strictly forbidden; but in the new meat offering at the feast of the first-fruits, the wave-bread was commanded to be baked leavened. The first-fruits, it is easy to see, represent a new state in the regenerate life. This new state is the state of good which succeeds a state of truth, or of love that succeeds a state of faith. And to mark this distinction, the preceding feasts were to be celebrated with bread unleavened, but this with leavened bread. Thus, when we have sown our seed, and have succeeded in bringing our harvest to that degree of maturity which enables us to offer the, first-fruits to the Lord, who has crowned the year with his goodness, we have at least entered on that state which enables us to eat and to offer leavened bread - good purified from evil by temptation. So is the kingdom likened unto leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of meal. Let us attend to the particulars. A woman represents affection; here the affection of that good on which the regenerate soul is entering, which it desires, and to which it looks forward, as the woman did to the bread for which she was preparing. The woman's taking the leaven and hiding it does not imply that the regenerating man knowingly adopts what is false, but that the false principle insinuates itself into the mind through the affections. Her hiding it teaches that falsity, when it has thus insinuated itself, lies concealed among the truths which have been acquired, signified by the meal. And there being three measures of meal, indicates that the mind, having attained a full state of truth, is prepared to enter on a state of good; and the attainment of this state is indicated by the leaven remaining in the meal till the whole was leavened. It is only when the whole is leavened that the kingdom of heaven is realized.

Another lesson contained in this parable may be useful. Fermentation not only signifies the purification of the individual man, but of the collective or social also. Spiritual fermentations are effected by various methods, both in heaven and on earth. They are evils and falsities together, which, being let into societies, produce effects similar to those produced by leaven put into meal and new wine, by which heterogeneous things are separated, and homogeneous things conjoined and purity and clearness are effected.

36. We here read that when Jesus had sent the multitude away, he went into a house, and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. This sending of the multitude away, and going into a house with his disciples, evidently signifies a change of state in which the natural thoughts and affections recede, while the higher affections and thoughts are elevated into a higher region or faculty of the mind. It describes a state, indeed, in which man retires from the world, and enters into a more immediate communion with the Lord, and is enlightened by him respecting those external truths which had been addressed to him while in a more external state of apprehension. The Lord, therefore, expounds the parable to his disciples. His exposition we shall now consider.

37He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

37. Man cannot even think good nor will good, and therefore cannot do good, except from the Lord. A. 39.
Here redemption and salvation are treated of, and because the Lord effected these by the Word, therefore He here calls Himself the Son of Man. L. 27.
37, 38. The seed is faith, hence the Lord because He Himself is the seed, called Himself the Son of Man, that is, the Faith of the Church. A. 264.
Kings stand for those who are in truths, and from truths they are often called king's sons. The Lord also calls them the sons of the kingdom. A. 2015.
Seed, those of the human race who are in the faith of chanty, that is, who are spiritual. A. 2848.
In the internal sense are understood all those who are
sons of the Lord, thus the sons of His kingdom, or what is the same, those who are in good and truth from the Lord, and because these are seed it follows that good itself and truth from the Lord are seed, for hence are sons, wherefore also truths themselves from the Lord are called sons of the kingdom. A. 3373.
The good seed is Truth Divine, therefore it is said that the Son of Man soweth it. The sons of the kingdom are truths Divine in heaven and in the church.  A. 9807.
See Chapter XIII., 37, 38, under A. 9807. Statement repeated in E. 63.
37-39. Good seed signifies the truths of faith from the Lord. The Son of Man is the Lord as to the truths of the church. The world which is the field, is the whole human race. The sons of the kingdom, who are the seed, are the truths of faith of the church. The sons of the evil kingdom, who are tares, are the falses of faith of the church. The devil who is the enemy and soweth them, is hell. The consummation of the age which is the harvest, is the last state of the church as to the reception of the truths of faith in good. The angels who are the reapers, are truths from the Lord. A. 9295.
The world also signifies the church. R. 589.
37-40. The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his field, the kingdom of heaven signifying the spiritual world. It is evident from this circumstance that the words are spoken concerning the last judgment, and the last judgment is performed in the spiritual world and not in our world. E. 426.
37, 40-42. The good seed is the truth, the world is men, He that soweth the seed is the Son of Man, and the things that cause stumbling are falsities. A. 2813.

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COMMENTARY

37-43. He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man, signifies divine truth from the Lord; the field is the world, signifies the church everywhere; the good seed are the children (or sons) of the kingdom, signifies that divine truth is with those who are of the church; the tares are the children of the wicked one, signifies falsities with those who are in evil. The enemy that sowed them is the devil, signifies that they have falsities from evil which is from hell; the harvest is the end of the world (consummation of the age) signifies the last time of the church; and the reapers are the angels, signifies that divine truth from the Lord effects separation. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, signifies that divine truths from the Lord are about to remove those who shall hinder separation; and them which do iniquity, signifies that they are those who live in evil; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, signifies into hell, where they are who are in self-love, in hatred, and revenge: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, signifies where there is what is direful arising from evils and falsities. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, signifies that they who have done the Lord's precepts will live in heavenly loves and in their joys in heaven: they are called righteous who acknowledge the Lord and do his precepts.

38The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

38. In the Word by mother is meant the church. For this reason the sons born of that mother are truths, and are called the sons of the kingdom. A. 8900.
See Chapter V., 45. R. 20.
See Chapter X., 21. R. 543.
Those who are of the new church and in the truth of its doctrine are meant by the seed. R. 565.
See Chapter III., 2. R. 749.
An unregenerate man is a son of the wicked one, and a regenerate man is a son of the kingdom. A son of the wicked one is here a son of the devil, and a son of the kingdom is here a son of the Lord. T. 606.
They who receive the Lord, that is who have faith in Him and are not in evils of life, are called sons of God, also sons of the kingdom. T. 729.
The seed of the field stands for truths from good, which man receives from the Lord. E. 31.
See Chapter VIII., 12. E. 373.
They who receive Divine truths are understood by the sons of the kingdom. By seed is meant Divine truth, and by tares infernal false. E. 683.
The seeds which fell into the good land are called by the Lord sons of the kingdom, and the tares which are falses, sons of the evil. E. 724.
The same that is signified by the seed of man (truth of doctrine from the Word) is also signified by seed from the field. E. 768.
38, 39. Wheat signifies the good of truth, and thence also those who are in the good of truth, and tares the evils of falsity, thence also those who are in the evil of falsity. E. 374.
Tares signify falses of doctrine, of religion and worship, which are from evil, wherefore also they are called the sons of the evil one, and as evil produces them, it is said that it is the devil who soweth them. E. 740.

39The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

39, 40. In general by consummation is meant the end of the church, and the end of the church then is, when there is no longer any charity and any faith, because then the church averts itself altogether from the Lord, and is no longer in any good, but in evil. Consummation in particular is effected with every man nearly in like manner. A. 10622.
39, 40, 49. By age also is there meant the duration of the church from beginning to end. A. 10248.
By consummation is understood the last state of the church, when there is no faith remaining in consequence of there being no charity. This state- of the church is also called in the Word vastation and desolation, and by the Lord it is called the consummation of the age. E. 397.

40, See Chapter III., 10-12. E. 504.

41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

41, 42. The furnace of fire stands for the evil of lusts, for the fire of lusts is what is meant in the Word by the fire of hell. Loves also are no other than the fires of life, and lust is the continual effort to love. A. 7519.
41, 42, 49, 50. The infernal spirits are not in any material fire, but in spiritual fire which is their love, and therefore they do not feel any other fire. In the spiritual world every love, when it is excited, appears at a distance as fire, within the hells as a glowing fire, and out of them like the smoke of a fire, or like the smoke of a furnace.   R. 422.
That by a furnace or chimney of fire are understood the hells is evident. The end of the world signifies the last time of the church, when judgment takes place. That the evil are then separated from the good, to be cast into hell, is signified by the angels shall gather all things that offend, and them who do iniquity, and shall separate the evil from among the just, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. Hell is called a furnace of fire, because it appears fiery from the love of self and of the world.     E. 540.
41, 42, 50. See Chapter III., 10. A. 1861.
In this passage by fire is meant the lust which is of self-love and the love of the world, and by the smoke therefrom is meant falsity from evil. H. 570.
41, 49. Here in the spiritual sense by angels are understood Divine truths. It is not understood that the angels will do these things together with the Lord, but the Lord alone by His Divine truths, in as much as an angel has no power in himself, but all power is from the Lord by His Divine truth. E. 130.
42, 50. See Chapter VIII., 12. A. 4175.
See Chapter VIII., 12. A. 4424.
See Chapter VIII., 12. A. 9052.
See Chapter VIII., 12. H. 575.
See Chapter VIII., 12. R. 435.
See Chapter VIII., 12. E. 556.

43Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

43. The just meaning those who are endued with charity. A. 612.
What is Divine is incomprehensible, because above all understanding, even the angelic. Still this Divine which is incomprehensible in itself can flow in through the Lord's Divine Human into man's rational. When it flows into man's rational it is there received according to the truths which are therein, thus variously, and not with one as with another. The rational of internal men who are angelic as to doctrine and at the same time as to life is illustrated from the internal sense of the Word to such a degree, that their illustration is compared to the brightness of the stars and the sun. A. 2531.
They who from good acknowledge and receive the Lord's justice and reject their own justice, are they who are specially signified by the just. Shining or bright white has this meaning. A. 4007.
The intelligent are they who are in truth and teach truth, and they who justify are those who are in good and lead to good. Therefore the Lord said, Verse 43. A. 9192.
The just shining as the sun in heaven are they that -are in good from the love of the Lord, for the Lord is the sun in the other life, and what is from the Lord as a sun in that life, is the good of love. A. 9263.
They who do good from the principle of willing good, in the Word are called just. Of such it is said, Verse 43.  A. 10331.
Those who are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, and consequently in the third or inmost heaven, are called just, because they attribute nothing of justice to themselves, but all to the Lord. The Lord's justice in heaven is the good which is from Him. That they ^shine as the sun is, because they are in love to the Lord, .and that love is meant by the sun. H. 348.
See Chapter XL, 15. R. 87.
See Chapter XL, 15. E. 108.
In the Word, they are called righteous or just who "love the Lord, that is from love to the Lord do His commandments. The faces of such shine with an effulgence like that of the sun, because the Divine love of the Lord is communicated to them, and received by them, by virtue of which the Lord is in the midst of them, that is in their interiors, which manifest themselves in the face. E.401.
Celestial love appears afar off like fire in heaven, on which account the Lord also said that the just shall shine. D. L. xx.

44Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

44. See Chapter VI., 19-21. A. 10227.
See Chapter XII., 35. R. 206.
To buy and sell signifies to procure knowledges to one's self and to teach them, and in like manner to trade, to do business, and to gain. R. 606.
By the treasure is signified Divine truth which is in the Word. By the field the church and its doctrine, and by selling all whatsoever he had and buying the field, is signified in this case to alienate all things of the proprium, and to procure for himself Divine truth, which is; in the church of the Lord. E. 840.
44-46. As buying signifies appropriation, therefore in the Word the things which were bought with silver are well distinguished from those otherwise obtained. A. 5374.
The kingdom of the heavens stands for the good and the truth with man, thus for heaven with him. Field means good, and pearl truth. Buying, procuring and appropriating these to himself. Selling all he has, alienating his own which he had before, thus evils and falsities, for these are of one's own. A. 5886.
By pearls are signified knowledges, also truths themselves. By one precious pearl, the acknowledgment of the Lord. E. 840.
By the treasure hid in the field and by the pearls are signified the truths of heaven and of the church, and by the one precious pearl, the acknowledgment of the Lord. The affection for truths for their own sake is signified by the man going for joy and selling all that he had and buying the field where the treasure was hid. E. 863.

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COMMENTARY

44. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth, that field. In the previous parable the kingdom is compared to leaven hid in meal; here it is compared to treasure hid in a field. In the former case the worse is hid within the better; here the better is hid within the worse - at least, the precious within the common. Does not this point to that inversion of state of which we have spoken in treating of the last parable? The internal was occupied by an evil and disturbing element; now, when tribulation has spent its force and done its purifying work, a treasure is found where impurity dwelt. And now also the treasure is appreciated, and is a source of joy; and to obtain possession of it, the discoverer is disposed to sell all that he has. But to obtain the treasure it is necessary to purchase the field in which it lies bid. The treasure which the man found are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge as revealed in the Divine Word, and the field is the church and heaven, not the church that is without him, but the church that is within him - the principles that constitute the church, especially the good in which is truth. But if the church containing the treasure is within, why should he sell all that he hath to obtain it? Because these principles are as yet only in the inner man, and they are not truly a man's own till they have become principles of the outer man also. And they cannot become so till the evils of self-love and the love of the world, which have their abode in the outer man, are removed to make room for them. These evils of the selfhood are man's own and only property - the all that he hath; the treasure and the field are the Lord's. And these can be purchased and possessed only by selling all that he hath, which is to give up his own will and wisdom, that he may make the divine will the motive of his heart, the divine wisdom the guide of his understanding, and both the rule of his life. Nor is this now felt to be so very difficult a work; for the joy which he has in the newly-found treasure makes him willing to go away and part with his old possessions. And when he has sold all, the treasure is his, and he is the Lord's.

45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
46Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.    

45, 46. The beautiful pearl is charity, or the good of faith. A merchant is one that procures for himself knowledges of truth and good, and thence intelligence and wisdom. A. 2967.
See Chapter XIII., 44. R. 606.
By pearls in the spiritual sense are signified knowledges of good and truth, as well celestial as spiritual,, which are from the Word, in particular from its literal' sense. R. 727.
By trading and trafficking is signified in the Word to procure to one's self spiritual riches, which are knowledges of truth and good. R. 759.
The one pearl of great price is the acknowledgment and knowledge of the Lord. R. 916.
By a pearl in this passage is signified Divine truth. E. 444.
By the kingdom of heaven is understood both heaven and the church, by the merchant, those who procure to themselves goods and truths, by which heaven and the church may be attained. Pearls, the knowledges of good and truth, for these are the truths of the natural man. By one precious pearl, the knowledge of the Lord and His Divine. By going and selling all he had, that he rejected the proprium to receive life from the Lord. E. 1044.

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COMMENTARY

45. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls. The man of the previous parable found the treasure - this man goes in search of the pearls. After the mind has been freed by tribulation from its obscurity arid deadness, truths are seen and joys are felt to which the mind was before a stranger. And when these hid treasures, thus brought to light, have been acquired, they give the mind a desire for more, and prompt it to seek after them. Now, too, there is a definite object in view: goodly or beautiful pearls are the objects of his search. These pearls are the beautiful and precious truths that enlarge the mind's view of spiritual life and eternal things, and that lead to a more perfect practice; and like the pearly gates of the holy city, introduce the mind into the glories and beatitudes of the second paradise. But this searcher also becomes a finder: in seeking for pearls be finds one pearl of great price. This pearl of pearls, this truth of truths, is the truth as it is in Jesus - the knowledge of him whom to know is life eternal. It is not the merely intellectual, but the saving knowledge of the Lord, the saving truth, that makes him to us, not the Saviour of the world only, but the Saviour of our souls. This is the pearl of great price for which the merchant man sells all that he hath. But what has the regenerate man to sell if he has already sold all? A man may part with all that is opposed to religion so far as he has become religious, but a new advance in truth or goodness brings some new principle of the mind into action, and discloses some new evil or error hostile to it which requires to be removed. And that which is opposed to the love of the Lord, which has now been found, is the love of self; as that which is opposed to the love of the neighbour, as already remarked, is the love of the world. As there are two distinct possessions that belong to the selfhood, so there are two distinct acts of alienation; the alienation of the lesser evil being meant by the selling of the man's all in the last parable, and the alienation of the greater evil by the selling of his all in this.

47Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

47-49. Fishes in the spiritual sense of the Word signify the natural and external, both good and evil. See also Matthew XIIL, 27-30, 37-40.    J. 70.
See Chapter IV., 18, 19. R. 405.
The separation of the good and the evil is here likened to a net cast into the sea and gathering of every kind of fish, for the reason that fish signify natural men as to scientifics and knowledges, and these in the consummation of the age, or at the time of the last judgment, are separated from each other, for there are good natural men and evil natural men, whose separation appears in the spiritual world as a net cast into the sea drawing together the fish, and bringing them to the shore. E. 513

47-50. See Matthew XIIL, 12. A. 2449.
And gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away, so it shall be at the consummation of the age.
D. P., Page 8.

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COMMENTARY

47-50. The Lord gives still another parable, which forms the last of the present discourse. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto, a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. In a general sense the sea signifies the Word, and the fish in the sea signify the living truths which the Word contains. Fishers are teachers who draw truths from the Word that they may impart them to others and their net is the science or knowledge they employ for the double purpose of acquiring truths and converting men. The general subject, or the internal historical sense of this passage, relates to the end of the church, and the judgment by which that event is attended in the spiritual world. "The separation of the evil and the good is here likened to a net cast into the sea, which gathered fish of every kind, because fish signify natural men as to scientifics and knowledges; and they, in the consummation of the age, or the time of the last judgement, are separated from each other, for there are natural good men and natural evil men. Their separation in the spiritual world appears as a net cast into the sea, gathering and drawing fish to the shore: this appearance is also for correspondence, wherefore the kingdom is likened by the Lord to a net gathering fish." Judgment being the subject of the parable, we may extend the application. Consider it first in application to those who draw truths from the Word, and judge, and separate between them. When we first learn from the Word, we draw truths of every sort, consisting, however, of two general kinds, which are genuine and apparent truths. In the minds of the young, these are mixed or undistinguished; but when reason assumes its sway, it judges between them, gathering the genuine into the vessels of true doctrine, and casting the apparent away, that is, removing them from the others, and placing them out of the field of active use. But there is still another judgment, more practical, because entering deeper in the life than this. A time comes when it is required of us to judge of principles, not as they relate to doctrine, but to life; not to the understanding, but to the will. So far as we are natural, we cast our net into the sea of life, and take up all that comes, indulging without distinction in lawful and unlawful pleasures, gains, likes and dislikes, ends and means or if we distinguish between them, it is by a worldly rule applied by worldly motives. As we acquire, not the knowledge, but the conscience of good and truth, and act from the will, which is meant by sitting down, we gather the good into the vessels of the inner memory, which is into the life, and cast the bad away or remove worldly ends away from the life's love. That this judgment proceeds from a high spiritual principle is indicated in the parable. There is nothing said in the parable as to who cast the net into the sea, or who drew it to the shore; but in the Lord's explanatory application we learn that the separation is effected by the angels. "In the consummation of the age the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just." That is to say, when we come to act from spiritual or heavenly principles, the spiritual or heavenly principles of the internal man "come forth" into the external, where the good and bad have been mixed, and where the separation between them is to be effected. Besides separating the wicked from the good, they are to cast them into a furnace of fire, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. As the scriptural descriptions of the final place, and sufferings in the other life, is only a description of their final state, operations and experience, so, when understood of separated principles, these descriptions are only revelations of their real character. This casting into the furnace of fire means that these wicked principles are in themselves burning lusts, and that it is their very nature to give birth to evil and falsity, signified by wailing and gnashing of teeth.

The way to know the final state of the evil and the good is to know the nature of evil and goodness; and the way to avoid the furnace of fire in the other world is to quench the fire of evil lusts while we live in this.

In treating of this series of parables we have not always traced their connection. This has been done by Clowes, whose remarks we quote, as a summing up of the whole. The serious and intelligent reader will be at once edified and delighted at observing that the several parables contained in this chapter stand in a connected order as to their internal sense, and thus follow each other in a regular series, expressive of the whole process of regeneration, commencing with the first reception of heavenly truth from the Word, and advancing through all the gradation of its growths to the full maturity of heavenly love and life. Accordingly, the first parable, of the sower, describes the first insemination of truth, which is the first step towards the heavenly life. The second parable, of the tares of the field, describes the manifestation of evils and falses in consequence of such insemination, which is the second step, and an effect of the first. The third parable, of the grain of mustard seed, describes the small increment of heavenly life; whilst man supposes that he does good from himself alone, and not from the Lord, which is the third state in the regeneration. The fourth parable, of the leaven &c., describes the temptation consequent on the reception of heavenly truth and good, which is a fourth state.

The fifth parable, of treasure hid in a field, describes the further effect of heavenly truth and good, in leading man to renounce his proprium, or his own proper life, that he may appropriate the life of heaven, which is signified by selling all that he hath, and buying that field, which is a fifth state. The sixth parable, of the merchant man seeking beautiful pearls, describes the effect of heavenly truth in leading man to the acknowledgment of the Lord as the alone source of all good and truth, and the consequent renunciation of self-love and its guidance, which is a sixth state. The seventh parable, of a net cast into the sea, describes the last effect of the reception of heavenly truth and good, in accomplishing a full and final separation between goods and evils, and between truths and falses, so that goods and truths are brought into conjunction with heaven, whilst evils and falses are cast down into hell and this is the seventh and last stage of the regenerate life.

49So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
50And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
51Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
52Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
53And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.
 
49. See Chapter XIIL, 43.          A. 612.
See Chapter XIIL, 43.                 A. 9263.
See Chapter XIIL, 30, 40.           R. 658.
See Chapter V., 20.                    T. 96.
See Chapter XIIL, 30, 39, 40.     T. 755.

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COMMENTARY

51. When he had finished his parables, Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? Addressed to the disciples, this question is still asked of every one by the Spirit of the Lord, that dwells within him and every true disciple must be able to answer: Yea, Lord. Question and answer express reciprocation. Love asks and wisdom answers. And when the answer and the question correspond, there is unity of heart and understanding.

52. Then said he unto him, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. Literally, a scribe was one skilled in the law; a scribe instructed unto the kingdom, of heaven is one versed in the gospel. Things new and old, which the disciples, as scribes instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, were to bring out of their treasures, are the truths of the Old and New Testaments. Every heaven-instructed scribe must bring out of both these treasure-houses the precious things, new and old, in such due proportion as may be required for edification; for the law and the gospel are intimately connected, forming but two parts of one great whole. There are, however, other two things, included in these, which the heaven-instructed scribe must bring forth; which are the letter and the spirit of the Word. In the Scriptures these are called old and new, as where the apostle speaks of serving God, not according to the oldness of the letter, but according to the newness of the spirit. The letter without the spirit is not only old, but dead, and therefore killeth. The letter and the spirit together afford the means of perfect instruction and these new and old things every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven will bring unitedly to bear on the eternal concerns of men, and not less on his own, which it is his duty and his privilege to promote.

53. And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. When Jesus teaches - men, and departs from the scene of his labours, it is to represent that he first instructs his children, and then withdraws himself, leaving them freely to act upon the lessons of life he has imparted to them. We feel ourselves more in the presence of the Lord when reading his Word; but when we are engaged in the business of the world, we feel as if we were alone. We are not then less in his presence, but are permitted to feel as if we were alone, that we may act from liberty according to reason, and so confirm by practice what he has taught us by precept.

54And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
55Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

54. Power relates to the Divine good. R. 373.
See Chapter IV., 23. E. 120.

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COMMENTARY

54. But when the Divine Teacher withdraws from one place, he goes to another. In the present instance he went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up (Luke iv. 16). And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue. The Lord comes to his own country in us, where he was brought up, when we contemplate him as he appeared to us in our early life, when our thoughts of him, though reverential, were yet natural, when we saw him as man, but knew him not as God. When he returns, it is in the power of the Spirit, to preach a new doctrine in our old synagogues, to infuse into our early religious notions higher ideas, to emancipate us from the dominion of the senses, as well as from the slavery of sin. This state is accurately described in the narrative, which is instructive in itself. If the Lord's words and works did not produce belief, they caused astonishment. The people were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty works? The wisdom of the Lord's words, and the might of his works, were not questioned; the doubting question was, whence he had obtained them. The inquiry is one that may be legitimately and usefully made; but we should strive to obtain the true answer, which the Lord himself has given, - Of myself I can, do nothing. As I hear I judge. The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."

55, 56. The Nazarenes had seen Jesus as an ordinary man, and they could not bring themselves to believe that he was anything more. Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren James, and Joses, and Simon and Judas? and his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? They who asked these questions were more excusable than those in the present day who look upon Jesus as a mere man; for these obstacles to a belief in his divinity are now removed out of the way of the senses, which draw down the mind to sensual judgment, and the record of his whole life is presented in the gospels, while to the evidences which his words and works presented to the people of his own country are added his resurrection and ascension, which raise him out of the category of ordinary men, and, truly considered, declare him to be God in a divine humanity. But the Spirit of inspiration, in adopting these inquiries as a part of revelation, has embodied in them spiritual and eternal truths. Joseph is not mentioned by name in this passage. Jesus is called the carpenter's son. "His being apparently the son of a carpenter, or worker in wood, confirmed the people in a natural idea respecting him, not understanding its divine signification, as being representative of the good of life derived from the doctrine of truth." In the general sense, Mary, the mother of Jesus, signifies the church; and the church is constituted by life and not by doctrine without it. To teach this representatively, the Lord on the cross consigned Mary to John as his mother, and John to Mary as her son; and John, who represented the good of love, took her to his own home, to represent that where the good of love is, there is the church. Those called the brethren and sisters of the Lord represented rational good and truth. "In the Lord himself is the, celestial marriage, being the essential divine good, and at the same time divine truth. Angels and men are in the celestial marriage so far as they are in love to the Lord, and in charity towards the neighbour, and thence in faith - that is, in the Lord's good, and thence in truth. Then they are called daughters and sons, and amongst themselves sisters and brothers. The reason why rational truth is called a sister is, because it is conceived by an influx of divine good into rational truths; the good which is thence in the rational principle is called brother, and the truth thence is called sister." The contemptuous ascription of mere natural descent and relationship to the Lord, when understood by angels, as they may be obscurely by men, are changed into ideas of spiritual affinity with him, according to his own declaration, "He that doeth the will of my Father, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."

57And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
58And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

57. The prophets also were treated in like manner (not acknowledged) because they represented the Lord  as to the Word and thence as to the church, and the Lord was The Prophet. L. 15.
When a prophet is mentioned, since to write and teach the Word was his function, the Word as to doctrine or doctrine from the Word is meant. Hence it is that the Lord, as He is the Word itself, was called a prophet.  R. 8.
The reason why the Lord was willing to be tempted even to the passion of the cross was, because He was "The Prophet," and prophets formerly signified the doctrine of the church from the Word, and thence they represented the church, such as it was, by various things, and even by things unjust, grievous, and even not fit to be mentioned, which were enjoined on them by God for that purpose. T. 129.
57, 58. See Chapter VIII., 10-13. A. 10083.
See Chapter VIII., 26. E. 815.

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COMMENTARY

57. Those who pointed to his natural relationships were offended in him. This is an example of the proneness of the natural mind to judge of the Lord and his Word by appearances, and its repugnance to connect visible effects with divine causes. The Word, as divine truth, is precisely analogous to the Lord himself when on earth: it is clothed with a natural body, which is its literal sense; and those who judge of the Word by the letter alone are similar to those who judged of Jesus by the outward humanity alone. In both cases, within those human appearances, from which the natural man judges the whole to be human, there is a true spirituality and divinity that raise them entirely above ordinary men and ordinary writings. When, the Lord saw the effects of the reasonings of the people, he said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. The literal truth of this is well illustrated by the case of the Lord himself. If any one could have escaped this common fate of prophets, our Lord must have been that one; yet even he was no exception to the rule. If such was the experience of the Perfect One, how much more the frail members of his household. As to the spiritual meaning of this, the prophets represented the doctrine of truth which they taught. The native country and the house of the prophet are the understanding and will of the natural mind. The doctrines and truths of the Word are, at their first reception, laid up in the memory as knowledge, having the same place, and being on the same level, as other knowledge relating to the world. So long as they occupy this part of the mind they are not honoured above the other matters of science with which they are mingled. It is only when they are separated from other and inferior things, and made the subjects of a higher thought, and connected with higher ends, that they obtain the honour that is due to them; for they are then elevated into the spiritual mind, and exalted in the affections and thoughts, and invested with the authority which belongs to them. It is possible, on the other hand, that when the time for decision comes, the truths and doctrines of religion thus laid up in the natural memory may be rejected and degraded, instead of being chosen and honoured; when the early disciple becomes offended in Jesus, and regards him only as a man among men.

58. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. It is a very common opinion that one great purpose of the Lord's miracles was to produce belief. Here we find that unbelief was an impediment to his performing miracles. Hence the question so often put to applicants for cures, "Dost thou believe that I am able to do this?" Miracles may confirm and exalt belief, but they cannot produce it. The ground of belief is in an honest and good heart, and this miracles cannot create. The same principle holds good in our individual experience in regard to the Lord's mighty works of regenerating power. He can do no mighty work in us if our unbelief is such as to hinder the operation of his love and truth within us. The Lord works in us through our faith. And if his mighty working in our hearts and minds and lives is not experienced by ourselves, and made manifest to others, it is assuredly because of our unbelief.

AUTHOR: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (COMPILED BY ROBERT S. FISCHER AND LOUIS G. HOECK 1906)

COMMENTARY AUTHOR: WILLIAM BRUCE (1866)

PICTURES: JAMES TISSOT Courtesy of Brooklyn Museum