53. Then JESUS said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. 54. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55. For my flesh is truly meat, and my blood is truly drink. 56. He that eateth Erpwywr] my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. 57. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth [rpwywv] me, even he shall live by me. 58. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead; he that eateth of this bread, shall live for ever. 59. These things said He in the synagogue, teaching in Capernaumi. 60. Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard, said, This is a hard word; who can hear it? 61. But JESUS knowing in himself that His disciples murmured at it, said unto them, This offends you. 62. If then ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before'; 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth tial principle and the divine spiritual, which is from the DIVINE HUMANITY of the LORD, is the all of life, and that whosoever doth not ap◄ propriate to himself this principle, bath no living principle in him, but whosoever appropriates it, bath in him an eternal living principle, v. 52, 55, 54. Because the divine cœlestial principle is the only nourishment of cœlestial life, and the divine spiritual principle the only nourishment of spiritual life, and therefore whosoever partakes of those principles, hath conjunction of life with the LORD, v. 55, 56. And thus deriveth life from the LORD, in like manner as He, as to His humanity, derived life continually from the divine good in himself, v. 57. In which case spiritual and living nourishment is received from the Word, and not merely natural and dead nourishment, v. 58. That this doctrine is not apprehended by those, who are under the influence of worldly and sensual love, v. 59, 60. Who are therefore instructed, that they cannot apprehend it, unless they apprehend how the LORD's human [principle] was finally united to the divine, and how the divine operation proceeding from that union is the source of all spiritual life, whilst what proceeds from the nothing; the words which I speak unto you are spirit, and are life. 64. But there are some of you who believe not; for JESus knew from the beginning who they are that believe not, and who it is that should be tray Him. 65. And He said, On this account said I unto you, that no one can come to me, ex cept it be given him of my Father. 66. From this [time] many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. 67. Then said JESUS to the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68. Then Simon Peter answered Him, LORD, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the sayings of eternal life. 69. And we have believed and known, that thou art the CHRIST, the Son of the living GOD. 70. JESUS answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71. But He spake of Judas Iscariot, [the son] of Simon, for he was about to betray Him, being one of the twelve. selfhood of man is without life; thus how the Word is the complex of divine wisdom and divine love, v. 61, 62, 63. They are instructed further, that all men have not faith, and that from eternity the LORD foresaw the principles both of what is false and of what is evil, which are opposed to himself, and therefore taught, that none would believe in His DIVINE HUMANITY, who were not under the influence of the divine love, v. 64, 65. Nevertheless, many of those, who heard this instruction, relapse into their former evils and errors, which gives occasion to tender expostulation of divine love with those of the new church, who are more confirmed in it's goods and truths, v. 66, 67. Which expostulation excites confession on the part of those who are principled in faith, that the LORD's humanity was filled with the wisdom of the divine love, and thus was one with it, v. 68, 69. Yet even amongst those, who have received the doctrines of the new church, and been made sensible of it's goods, there are some who are under the influence of infernal love, v. 70, 71. CHAPTER VI. Extracts from the Theological Writings OF THE HON. EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. . VERSES 5, 13, 28. That the Lord fed five thousand men, besides women and children, with five loaves and two fishes, and that after they had eaten and were satisfied, they took up twelve baskets of fragments, was a miracle wrought, in consequence of the Lord having first taught them, and because they received and appropriated to themselves His doctrine; this was what they had spiritually eaten, and hence natural eating followed, viz. flowed-in from heaven with them, as the manna with the Bons of Israel, whilst they were ignorant of it; for when the Lord wills, spiritual food, which also is real food, but only for spirits and angels, is turned into natural, in like manner as it was turned into manna every morning. Ap. Ex. n. 617.' Verse 13. Therefore they gathered together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley-loaves, &c. He who doth not know that the number twelve signifies all things, cannot know the arcanum which is signified by taking up twelve baskets of fragments from the five loaves and two fishes with which the Lord fed five thousand men besides women and children, when yet singular things with the numbers themselves are there significative; five thousand men besides women and children signify all of the church who are in truths derived from good, men those who are in truths, women and children those who are in goods; loaves signify the goods, and fishes the truths of the natural man; eating signifies spiritual nourishment from the Lord; twelve baskets of fragments signify the knowledges of truth and good thence derived in all abundance and fulness. Ap. Ex. n. 430. By taking up twelve baskets of fragments is signified what is full, thus full instruction and full benediction. Ap. Ex. n..543. P Verse 14. This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. Frequent mention is made in the Word of a prophet, and in the sense of the letter it signifies those to whom revelation is made, also abstractedly the revelation itself, but in the internal sense, it signifies one who teaches, also abstractedly the doctrine itself which is taught; and because the Lord, as was said, is doctrine itself, or the Word which teaches, therefore He is called a prophet, as also in Moses, "A prophet shall Jehovah thy God raise up from the midst of thee, out of thy brethren, like unto me, Him shall ye obey," Deut. xviii. 15, 18; it is said, like unto me, because the Lord was represented by Moses, as well as by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and several others; and inasmuch as they expected Him, therefore it is written in John, "Those men, when they bad seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is truly the prophet that should come into the world." A. C. n. 2534. Verse 27. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, &c. For the spiritual signification of meat, see Extracts at verses 32, 35, 34, of chap. iv. But for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. By everlasting life is meant the life of the Lord, which is the life of faith and love towards Him. Ap. Ex. n. 84. Which the Son of Man shall give unto you. The Lord is called the Son of Man when His passion is treated of, also when judg ment is treated of, also when His advent is treated of, also when redemption, salvation, reformation, and regeneration are treated of; the reason is, because the Son of Man signifies the Lord as to the Word, or divine truth, and He, as the Word, suffered, judgeth, cometh into the world, redeemeth, saveth, reformeth, and régenerateth. Doctrine of the Lord, n. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27. Verses 28, 29. Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. When man shuns evil as sin, then he is in the Lord, and the Lord operates all things: Wherefore the Lord said to those who asked Him, what they should do that they might work the works of God, this is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent, where to believe in the Lord is not only to think that He is, but also to do His words, as He elsewhere teaches. Doctrine of Life, n. 48. That works signify those things which are of love and faith, the Lord makes manifest in these words, They said to Jesus, What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? He answered, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. The reason why works are so often mentioned, is, because the sense of the letter of the Word consists solely of external things which are in nature, and appear before the eyes; and this to the intent that a spiritual sense may be in singular the expressions as the soul in the body, for otherwise the Word would not be communicative with the angels, since it would be as a house without a foundation: Hence also it is that when works are mentioned, they are not so understood by the angels, because they are spiritual, but those things are understood which give birth to works, viz. will or love, and hence the thought which is of faith. Ap. Ex. 98. Verses 31, 32, 33. The disciples said to Jesus, What sign doest thou, that we may see and believe thee? &c. In this pas sage the disciples were desirous of a sign, and that by it is signified testification that they might believe, is evident, for they said, that we may see and believe what thou workest; the reason why on this occasion they spoke of manna, and why the Lord replied concerning bread from heaven, was, because by bread is signified every good and truth which nourishes the soul, and in the supreme sense the Lord himself, from whom is the all of doctrine and the all of spiritual nourishment, by which He testified that they might see and believe. Ap, Ex. n. 706. Verses 81 to 35. They said, Our fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat, &c. &c. By bread are here signified all things which were represented by the sacrifices, thus in the internal sense the Lord himself, and because the Lord himself, it signifies love itself towards the universal human race, and the things which are of love; also the reciprocal principle of man, in respect to the Lord and towards his neighbour, thus it signifies all things celestial, that is, all love and charity appertaining to man; wherefore they, who are not in love and charity, have not the Lord appertaining to them, thus they are not gifted with things good and happy, which are signified by bread in the internal sense. A. C. n. 2165. «By manna was signified the divine human [principle] of the Lord, and because it signified the divine hunian [principle] of the Lord, it signified celestial food, which is no other than love and charity with the goods and truths of faith; this food in the heavens is given every moment to the angels by the Lord, thus perpetually and to eternity, which is also meant in the Lord's Prayer by Give us to-day our daily bread. A. C. n, 2838. Verses 33, 35, 48. The bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. The internal |