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Matthew Chapter 8

    Chapter 8

THE INTERNAL SENSE,

  1. But when he was come down from the mountain, many multitudes followed Him.

That they who are in truths, acknowledge the lord's Divine Humanity. Verse 1.

  1. And behold there came a leper and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.
  2. And stretching forth the hand, Jesus touched him, saying, I will, be you cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

And that they also, who had falsified truth, are delivered from such falsification by the same acknowledgement. Verses 2, 3.

  1. And Jesus says to him, See you tell no one; but go away, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony to them.

That truth rescued from falsification ought to open itself to the reception of heavenly good, by acknowledging that it thence derives its life and quality. Verse 4.

  1. But when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came to Him a centurion, beseeching Him,
  2. And saying, Lord, my child [boy] lies in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

That they of the church, which was about to be established, complain of the disjunction of truth and good, and supplicate relief. Verses 5, 6.

  1. And Jesus says to him, I will come and heal him.

Which is promised. Verse 7.

  1. And the centurion answering said, I am not worthy that You shouldst come under my roof, but say the word only, and my child [or boy] shall be healed.

That they humble themselves in the acknowledgement of the lord's Divinity and consequent omnipotence. Verse 8.

  1. For I am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers; and I say to this [man], Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does [it.]

And submit all their own powers to His. Verse 9.

  1. But when Jesus heard, He marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say to you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel.

That their acknowledgement and submission are pleasing to the lord, and they are preferred before the perverted church. Verse 10.

  1. But I say to you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall lie down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens.

That all who are in the good of love, of every degree, are of the lord's church and kingdom, and have conjunction with His Divine, and Divine Human, according to the degree of good in which they are, be it celestial, spiritual, or natural. Verse 11.

  1. But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

But that they, who have the knowledges of truth alone, without the love of good, perish through direful falses, being deprived of all heavenly good, and delivered up to perpetual dispute and combat one against another. Verse 12.

  1. And Jesus said to the centurion, Go away; and as you have believed, be it done to you. And his child [or boy] was healed in the same hour.

That they, amongst whom the church is about to be established, are required to live according to the truths they have received, that they may thereby attain the conjunction of good and truth, which conjunction is the sure effect of such a life. Verse 13.

  1. And when Jesus was come into the house of Peter, He saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.

That the affection of truth in the church is infested by the love of evil. Verse 14.

  1. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose, and ministered to them.

But is delivered from the infestation by communication of power through faith in the lord's Divine Humanity, to whom it submits itself. Verse. 15.

  1. But when the even was come, they brought to Him many that were possessed with demons; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and He healed all that were in an ill habit of [body]:

That by the same power, they who are infested with falses of evil are liberated, and made receptive of truth and good. Verse 16.

  1. That it might be fulfilled what was declared by Esaias the prophet, saying, He took our infirmities, and bare [our] diseases.

As had been predicted concerning the lord's Divine Humanity, that by enduring in itself the assaults of all evils and falses from hell, and subduing them, it would thereby procure to itself omnipotence. Verse 17.

  1. But Jesus seeing many multitudes about Him, gave commandment to depart to the other side.

That they who are in truth are exhorted to cleave to good. Verse 18.

  1. And one of the scribes coming, said to Him, Master, I will follow You whithersoever You go.
  2. And Jesus says to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven nests, but the Son of Man has not where to lay the head.

That the Divine had no place anywhere, or with any man, at that time. Verses 19, 20.

  1. But another of His disciples says to Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
  2. But Jesus said to Him, Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.

That a father on earth and the proprium of man, in respect to the Father in Heaven, or to the Lord, is as one that is dead to one that is alive. Verses 21, 22.

  1. And when He was entered into the ship, His disciples followed Him.
  2. And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, so that the ship was covered with the waves, but He was asleep.

That during regeneration, before the natural man is entirely submitted to the spiritual, there arise various natural lusts which cause disturbance in which case the Divine seems absent. Verses 23, 24.

  1. And His disciples coming to [Him], awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us, we are perishing.
  2. And he says to them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

But that when the spiritual, man prevails, then the disturbance ceases, because then the spiritual mind is open, and the lord,by or through that mind, flows in with good and truth into the natural mind. Verses 25, 26.

  1. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of [man] is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!

That hence is excited holy worship and adoration, at perceiving how hell and its cravings are subject to the Lord. Verse 27.

  1. And when He was come to the other side to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two possessed with demons, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

That during regeneration, the falses of evil are excited by infernals, and offer violence to goods and truths. Verse 28.

  1. And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with Thee, Jesus You Son of God? Art You come here before the time to torment us?

And especially to the Lord's Divine Humanity. Verse 29.

  1. And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.

Against whom, when the infernals cannot prevail, they entreat permission to have their abode in filthy lusts. Verse 30.

  1. But the demons besought Him, saying, If You cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
  2. And He said to them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and behold the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.

Which is granted, and both themselves and the lusts are removed from the regenerate, and cast into hell. Verses 31, 32.

  1. And they that fed them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told all things, and what was befallen to the possessed of demons.

That they who are in evils of life and falses of doctrine, are instructed that the lord has power over the hells. Verse 33.

  1. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they besought Him that He would depart out of their coasts.

In consequence of which instruction they make enquiry about Him, but the more their understandings are enlightened with knowledge, so much the more violently their evil loves reject Him. Verse 34.

Chapter viii.

  1. But when he was come down from the mountain, many multitudes followed Him.
  2. And behold there came a leper and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.
  3. And stretching forth the hand, Jesus touched him, saying, I will, be you cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
  4. And Jesus says to him, See you tell no one; but go away, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony to them.
  5. But when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came to Him a centurion, beseeching Him,
  6. And saying, Lord, my child [boy] lies in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
  7. And Jesus says to him, I will come and heal him.
  8. And the centurion answering said, I am not worthy that You shouldst come under my roof, but say the word only, and my child [or boy] shall be healed.
  9. For I am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers; and I say to this [man], Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does [it.]
  10. But when Jesus heard, He marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say to you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel.
  11. But I say to you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall lie down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens.
  12. But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
  13. And Jesus said to the centurion, Go away; and as you have believed, be it done to you. And his child [or boy] was healed in the same hour.
  14. And when Jesus was come into the house of Peter, He saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
  15. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose, and ministered to them.
  16. But when the even was come, they brought to Him many that were possessed with demons; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and He healed all that were in an ill habit of [body]:
  17. That it might be fulfilled what was declared by Esaias the prophet, saying, He took our infirmities, and bare [our] diseases.
  18. But Jesus seeing many multitudes about Him, gave commandment to depart to the other side.
  19. And one of the scribes coming, said to Him, Master, I will follow You whithersoever You go.
  20. And Jesus says to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven nests, but the Son of Man has not where to lay the head.
  21. But another of His disciples says to Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
  22. But Jesus said to Him, Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.
  23. And when He was entered into the ship, His disciples followed Him.
  24. And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, so that the ship was covered with the waves, but He was asleep.
  25. And His disciples coming to [Him], awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us, we are perishing.
  26. And he says to them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith ? Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
  27. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of [man] is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!
  28. And when He was come to the other side to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two possessed with demons, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
  29. And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with You, Jesus You Son of God? Art You come here before the time to torment us?
  30. And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
  31. But the demons besought Him, saying, If You cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
  32. And He said to them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and behold the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
  33. And they that fed them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told all things, and what was befallen to the possessed of demons.
  34. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they besought Him that He would depart out of their coasts.

EXPOSITION,

Chapter VIII.

verse 2. And behold there came a leper, &c. - By the leprosy is signified the profanation of truth, and truth is profaned when it is believed, and yet the life is contrary to it. AC 6963, 7524.

By all the diseases named in the Word, and which the Lord cured, are signified spiritual diseases, which are evils destroying the life of the will of good, and falses destroying the life of the understanding of truth, in a word, destroying the spiritual life which is of faith and charity;natural diseases also correspond to such, for every disease in the human race is from that source because from sin; every disease also corresponds to its evil; the reason is, because the all of the life of man is from the spiritual world; wherefore if his spiritual life is sick, evil is thence also derived into the natural life, and becomes disease there; see what has been said concerning the correspondence of diseases with evils. AC 5711, 5727, 8364. See also AC 9031.

Verse 3. Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him.-By putting forth the hand, and touching with the hand, is signified to communicate and transfer to another what appertains to one's self, and also to receive from another; and when spoken of the Lord, as in the present case, it denotes to communicate and transfer life from Himself. AE 79.

Verse 10. I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel, &c. - The reason why the Lord, in this instance and in others, healed the sick according to their, faith was, because the first and primary [principle] of the church about to be established was, that they should believe the Lord to be the omnipotent God, for without that faith no church can be established, for the Lord was the God of heaven and the God of earth, with whom there is not any conjunction given, except by the acknowledgement of His Divinity, which acknowledgement is faith: that the centurion acknowledged the Lord for the omnipotent God, is evident, for he said, "I am not worthy that You should come under my roof, but say the word only, and my child shall be healed." AE 815.

It was often said by the Lord, when the sick were healed, that they should have faith, and that it should be done according to their faith, Matt 8:10-13. The reason was because the first principle of all is to acknowledge that the Lord is the Saviour of the world, for without that acknowledgement no one can receive any thing of good and of truth from heaven, thus neither faith, and because it is the first and most essential principle of all, therefore, that the Lord might be acknowledged when He came into the world, in healing the sick, He questioned them concerning their faith, and they who had faith He healed; the faith was that He was the Son of God about to come into the world, and that He had the power of healing and of saving; all healings also of diseases by the Lord, when He was in the world, signified the healings of spiritual life, thus the things which are of salvation, AC 8364, 9086, 9031: inasmuch as the acknowledgement of the Lord is the first of all the principles of spiritual life, and the most essential principle of the church, and since without it no one can receive from heaven any thing of the truth of faith, and of the good of love, therefore, the Lord also often says that whoever believes in Him has eternal life, and that whoever believes not, has not life. AC 10083.

Verse 11. Many shall come from the cast and west, and shall lie down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens.-They who are to come from the east and from the west, denote all who are in the good of love, and thence in the truths of faith; that the four quarters in the Word signify such, see the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, HH141-153; and that by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is meant the Lord as, to the Divine itself and the Divine Humanity, see the Arcana Coelestia, AC1893, 4613, 6098, 6185, 6276, 6804, 6847; hence to lie down with them, denotes to be conjoined with the Lord, and to consociate one amongst another by love, and by that conjunction, and by this consociation, to enjoy eternal blessedness and happiness, and this from the Lord alone. AE 252. See also AC 2187, 3305, 3778, 4804, 9192, 10442. DP 330.

Verse 12. But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.-By the sons of the kingdom are meant those who are of the church, which is not under the rule of truths but of falses. AE 48.

Outer darkness-denotes the more dire falsities of those who are in the church, for they darken the light, and induce falsities contrary to truths, which the Gentiles cannot do. AC 1839.

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. - Inasmuch as sensual men do not see any genuine truth in the light, but reason and dispute about every thing, whether it be so, and these disputes are heard out of or beyond them, as gnashings of the teeth, which considered in themselves are collisions of falses with each other, and also of what is false and true, it is evident what is signified in the Word by gnashing of teeth; the reason is, because reasoning from the fallacies of the senses corresponds to the teeth. TCR 402.

Gnashing of the teeth is the continual dispute and combat of falses with each other, consequently of those who are in falses, joined also with contempt of others, with enmity, derision, ridicule, blasphemy, which also burst forth into butcherly assaults of various kinds; for every one fights in favour of his own false, and calls it truth. These disputes and combats are hoard out of the hells as gnashings of the teeth, and also are turned into gnashings of the teeth when truths from heaven flow in thither; for all falses in the spiritual world gnash or make a grating noise, and teeth correspond to the ultimate things in nature, and also to the ultimate things belonging to man, which are sensual corporeal things. HH 575. See also AC 9052, and AE 386, 435, 484.

Wailing and gnashing of teeth signify the state of the wicked in another life, wailing their state as to evils, and gnashing of teeth their state as to falses; for teeth in the Word signify lowest natural principles; and in an opposite sense their falses; teeth also correspond thereto; wherefore gnashing of teeth is the collision of falses with truths. AC 4424.

Verse 14. Sick of a fever. - A burning fever denotes the lust of evil. AC 8364.

All the infernals induce diseases, but with a difference, by reason that all the hells are in the lusts and cravings of evil, which was thus confirmed by experience: there exhaled from hell a troublesome heat, arising from lusts of various kinds, as from haughtiness, lasciviousness, adulteries, hatreds, revenges, and contentions; when this heat acted into my body it occasioned, in a moment, a disease like that of a burning fever, but when it ceased to flow in, instantly the disease ceased. There are also spirits, who infuse unclean colds, such as are those of a cold fever, which it has been given also to know by experience. AC 5713, 5715, 5716.

Verse 16. They brought to Him many that were possessed with demons. - The term spirit [demon] here signifies the infernal spirits themselves, by whom mankind are troubled. D.L. 48.

Verse 20. The Son of Man has not where to lay His head. - He who knows that by sons are signified truths, and by daughters goods, may see several arcana in the Word, especially the prophetic, which otherwise would be concealed; as also what is specifically meant by the Son of Man, whom the Lord frequently calls himself in the Word. AC 9807.

The Lord is called the Son of Man, where the subject treated of is concerning the passion, concerning judgement, concerning His coming, and in general concerning redemption, salvation, reformation, and regeneration; the reason is, because the Son of Man is the Lord, as to the Word; and He himself, as the Word, suffered, judges, comes into the world, redeems, saves, reforms, and regenerates. By not having a place where to lay His head is meant, that the Word has no place with the Jews, as also the Lord says, John 8:37; nor did it abide with them, because they did not acknowledge Him. John 5:38, 39. D. Lord.23, 27.

By the Son of Man not having where to lay His head, is signified that the Divine had no place anywhere, or with any man, at that time. AE 63.

Verses 21, 22. Suffer me first to go and bury my father, &c. - A father on earth, in respect to the Father in heaven, or to the Lord, is as that which is dead to that which is alive; as the law itself concerning honouring parents is as it were dead, unless there be in it honour, worship, and love to the Lord, for the former law descends from this Divine law, and the living principle itself, which is in the former law, is from this source, wherefore the Lord says, "Follow Me, let the dead bury their dead." AC 3703.

By the dead are meant those who have not the life of heaven in them, consequently, who are in evils and thence in falses. AE 186.

By the above words of the Lord is signified a total submission, that is, that man should not be in part his own, and in part the Lord's, for in such case there are two lords, whom man cannot serve at the same time: by the father who is here to be buried, are signified, in general, those things which are of man's proprium received hereditarily. AC 6138.

Verse 24. There arose a great tempest in the sea, &c. - Hereby was represented the state of the men of the church, when they are in a natural principle, and not yet in a spiritual principle, in which state the natural affections, which are various lusts arising from the loves of self and the world, ascend, and excite various commotions of the mind [animus]; in this state it appears as if the Lord was absent, which apparent absence is signified by the Lord's sleeping.; but when they come from a natural state into a spiritual, then those commotions cease, and the mind is rendered tranquil; for the tempestuous commotions of the natural man are appeased by the Lord, when the spiritual mind is open, and the Lord by [or through] that mind flows into the natural man [or mind]. Inasmuch as the affections, which are of the love of self and the world, and the thoughts and reasonings thence derived, are from hell, for they are cravings of every kind, which rise up thence into the natural man, therefore these also are signified by the winds and by the waves of the sea, and hell itself by the sea, in the spiritual sense. AE 514. See also TCR 123, 614.

Verse 26. He says to them, why are you fearful, O you of little faith? - The reason why the Lord called the disciples men of little faith, when they could do no miracles in His name, and why He could not do miracles in His own country, on account of their unbelief, was, because the disciples did indeed believe the Lord to be the Messiah or Christ, likewise the Son of God, and the prophet of whom it was written in the Word, but still they did not yet believe in Him as God Omnipotent, and that Jehovah the Father was is Him; and yet in proportion as they believed Him to be a man, and not at the same time God, His Divine [principle], to which omnipotence belongs, could not become present with them by faith, for faith causes the Lord to be present, as was said above; but faith in Him, as a man only, does not bring His Divine omnipotence present, which is also the reason why they cannot be saved, who at this day in the world look to His human [principle], and not at the same time to His Divine. AE 815.

Verse 28. There met Him two possessed with demons coming out of the tombs. - By tombs are signified things unclean, consequently, also infernal; and hence it is evident why the possessed by demons were in the tombs, namely, because they who possessed them, during their abode in the world, had been in falses derived from evil, or in knowledges derived from the Word, which they made dead by applying them to confirm evils, and also to destroy the genuine truths of the church, especially the truths concerning the Lord, concerning the Word, and concerning the life after death, which dead knowledges, in the Word are called traditions. Hence it was that they who were possessed by such, were in the tombs, and the demons were afterwards cast out into the swine, which ran headlong into the sea; the reason why they were cast out into the swine was, because, whilst they lived in the world, they were in sordid avarice, for such avarice corresponds to swine; the reason why they ran headlong into the sea was, because the sea there signifies hell. AE 659.

Verse 32, When the demons were come out, they went into the herd of swine, &c. - The removal of sins, which is called their remission, may be compared with the demons sent by the Lord into the swine, which afterwards immersed themselves into the sea; by the sea in this and other passages of the Word, is signified hell. TCR 614.

The whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, &c. - By the sea is here signified hell, where and whence are the falses of evil, by reason that the spirits who are there, during their lives in the world, were in the falses of evil; they appear to dwell in the bottom as of seas, and at a greater depth there, in proportion as the evil was more grievous from which the false was derived. AE 538.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.

Chapter VIII.

verse 1. Many multitudes followed Him. - See note at verse 25, chap. iv.

Verse 12. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. - The intelligent reader will not fail to notice in this passage another instance of the Lord's usual mode of speaking, in reference to the two principles, the will and the understanding, thus in reference to their marriage, in this case their infernal marriage: weeping having relation to the deprivation of heavenly good, and gnashing of teeth to the deprivation of heavenly truth: thus the former expression denoting the dominion of the love of evil, and the latter the contention of false principles thence derived.

Verse 29. What have we to do with You? &c.-It has been supposed by some learned expositors, that they, who were said of old to be possessed with evil spirits, were merely afflicted with some bodily distemper, which presented the appearance of such a possession. But how shall we reconcile with this idea the account here given of the exclamation uttered by the two afflicted persons, when they cried out to Jesus, "What have we to do with You?" &c., or the succeeding part of the history, where the evil spirits ask for permission (which is granted them) to enter into a herd of swine; surely both the exclamation and the petition bespeak something more than a bodily disease, especially when it is further considered what a violent and destructive effect was produced on the herd of swine by the influence of the infernal agents.

Verse 34. And besought Him to depart out of their coasts. We have here a remarkable instance how little efficacy miracles have to produce a full and profitable conviction in the minds of men respecting religious truth; for the Gergesenes, we find, notwithstanding their being witnesses to a remarkable miracle performed by the Lord, yet were so little convinced by it of His Divine authority, that they besought Him to depart out of their coasts. Still the continual cry of mankind is, "Do miracles, and we will believe," not aware that previous faith is necessary to believe the miracle, and, consequently, that where a disposition to believe is not previously implanted in the mind, it is impossible that any miraculous agency can produce it. It is plain, then, that miracles do not produce faith, but only confirm it, and that saving faith springs from another source, namely, from a well-disposed will, agreeably to what the Lord declares in another place, "He that is of God, hears God's Word."

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