The Lord's Human Before It Was Made Divine

From Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Human That Appertained To The Lord
Before It Was Made Divine Was Merely A Servant

Until He had put it off and made it Divine, the human that appertained to the Lord was merely a servant. The human that appertained to Him was from the mother, thus was infirm, having with it from the mother an hereditary which by means of the combats of temptations He overcame and utterly expelled, insomuch that nothing was left of that which was infirm and hereditary from the mother, nay, at last there remained not anything whatever from the mother. Thus He entirely put off all that was from the mother, and therefore was no longer her son, as also He himself says in Mark:

They said unto Him, Behold Thy mother and Thy brethren without seek for Thee: and He answered them, saying, Who is My mother, or My brethren? And looking round on them that sat about Him, He said, Behold My mother and My brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and My mother (Mark 3:32-35; Matt. 12:46-49; Luke 8:20, 21).

And when He had put off this human, He put on the Divine Human, from which He called Himself the "Son of man," as we find many times in the Word of the New Testament; and also the "Son of God;" and by the "Son of man" He meant the truth itself, and by the "Son of God" the good itself, which belonged to His Human Essence when this was made Divine. The former state was that of the Lord's humiliation, but the latter that of His glorification.

In the former state, namely, that of humiliation, when as yet He had appertaining to Him an infirm human, He adored Jehovah as one other than Himself, and indeed like a servant; for relatively to the Divine the human is nothing else, on which account in the Word the term "servant" is predicated of that human, as in Isaiah:

I will defend this city to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David's sake (Isa. 37:35)

where the Assyrians are treated of, in whose camp a hundred and eighty-five thousand were smitten by an angel. "David" denotes the Lord, who, as He was to come, in respect to the human is called a "servant." (in the Word "David" denotes the Lord)

In the same Prophet:

Behold My servant upon whom I will lean; My chosen, My soul is well pleased. I have put My spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment unto the nations (Isa. 42:1),

manifestly concerning the Lord, of whom, when He was in the human, the terms "servant" and "chosen" are predicated.

Again:

Who is blind but My servant? and deaf, as the angel I will send? who is blind as the perfect one, and blind as the servant of Jehovah? (Isa. 42:19)

where also the Lord is spoken of; and of whom in like manner the terms "servant" and "angel" are predicated when He was in the human.

Again:

Ye are My witnesses, saith Jehovah, and My servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He (Isa. 43:10).

Again:

Said Jehovah, My Former from the womb to be His servant; to bring Jacob again unto Him, and that Israel be gathered unto Him; and He said, Thou art a slight thing that thou shouldest be My servant, to set up the tribes of Jacob I have given thee for a light of the nations to be My salvation unto the extremity of the earth (Isa. 49:5, 6)

where also the Lord and His human are manifestly treated of before He was made the "light of the nations," and "salvation unto the extremity of the earth."

Again:

Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that heareth the voice of His servant, who walketh in darkness, and hath no brightness? let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and lean upon His God (Isa. 50:10).

"Servant" here also denotes the human that appertained to the Lord; and that He was in this human and taught the way of truth, is the "voice of the servant of Jehovah."

Again:

Jehovah goeth before you, and the God of Israel gathereth you. Behold, My servant shall act prudently, he shall be lifted up, and shall be exalted, and shall be raised up exceedingly (Isa. 52:12, 13).

It is evident that "servant" is here predicated of the Lord when He was in the human; for it is said of Him that He "shall be lifted up, exalted, and raised up."

Again:

He hath no form and no honor; we saw him, but there was no appearance; He was despised, a man of sorrows, acquainted with disease. Jehovah willed to bruise him; He made him infirm; if he shall make his soul guilt, he shall see seed, he shall prolong days, and the will of Jehovah shall prosper by his hand; he shall see of the labor of his soul, he shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; and he himself hath carried their iniquities (Isa;. 53:2, 3, 10, 11).

Here, as in the whole of this chapter, the Lord's state of humiliation is openly treated of; and it is also said that He was then in an infirm human, namely, that He was a "man of sorrows, acquainted with disease, infirm, was in the labor of His soul," besides a number of other statements, in which state He is called "servant."

(Arcana Coelestia 2159)

Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and End

From Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

I am the Alpha and the Omega, Beginning and End, signifies that He governs all things from firsts through ultimates, and thus all things of heaven to eternity. This is evident from the signification of "the Alpha and the Omega," as being the first and the last, or in firsts and in ultimates; and He who is in firsts and in ultimates also governs intermediates, thus all things. These things are said of the Lord's Divine Human, for they are said of Jesus Christ, by which name His Divine Human is meant.  By means of this the Lord is in firsts and in ultimates.  But that He governs all things from firsts through ultimates, is an arcanum that cannot as yet be perceived by man; for man knows nothing of the successive degrees into which the heavens are divided, and into which also the interiors of man are divided; and he scarcely knows that man as to flesh and bones is in his ultimates.  Neither does he perceive how intermediates are governed from firsts through ultimates; and yet in order that He might thus govern all things, the Lord came into the world that even to ultimates, that is, even to flesh and bones, He might assume the Human and glorify it, that is, make it Divine. That the Lord put on such a Human, and took it with Him into heaven, is known in the church from this, that He left nothing of His body in the sepulcher; also from His own words to His disciples:

See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye behold Me having (Luke 24:39).

By this Human, therefore, the Lord is in ultimates; and by making even these ultimates Divine, He put Himself into the Divine power of governing all things from firsts through ultimates. If the Lord had not done this, the human race on this earth would have perished in eternal death....

(Apocalypse Explained 41)

The Testimony of Jesus Christ

From Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

To those who in heart acknowledge Divine truth, and the Divine of the Lord in His Human

... "to testify" signifies to acknowledge in heart, and to acknowledge Jesus Christ in heart is to acknowledge the Divine in His Human; for he that acknowledges the Lord, and does not at the same time acknowledge the Divine in His Human, does not acknowledge the Lord; since His Divine is in His Human, and not out of it; for the Divine is in Its Human as the soul is in the body, consequently to think of the Lord's Human, and not at the same time of His Divine, is like thinking of a man abstractly from his soul or life, which is not thinking of a man.

That the Lord's Divine is in His Human, and that together they are one person, the doctrine received throughout the Christian world teaches; which teaching is as follows:

"Although Christ is God and Man, yet they are not two, but one Christ; one, but not by a change of the Divine into the Human, but the Divine took the Human to Itself. Altogether one, not by confusion of the two natures, but by unity of person; for as soul and body make one man, so God and Man are one Christ" (Athanasian Creed).

From this it is manifest, moreover, that those who separate the Divine into three persons, when they think of the Lord as a second person, ought to think of both together, the Human and the Divine; for it is said that they are a single person, and that they are one, as soul and body are. Therefore those that think otherwise do not think of the Lord; and those that do not think of the Lord in that way are unable to think of the Divine that is called the Father's, for the Lord saith:

I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father but through Me (John 14:6).

Since this acknowledgment is signified by the "testimony of Jesus Christ," it is said that:

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10).

"The spirit of prophecy" is the life and soul of doctrine; and that "prophecy" signifies doctrine; and the acknowledgment of the Lord is the very life or soul of all doctrine in the church....

To "bear witness" is to acknowledge in heart, because spiritual things are treated of; and no one can bear witness respecting spiritual things except from the heart, because from no other source does he perceive that they are so. To bear witness of things that have existence in the world is to bear witness from knowledge, or from memory and thought, because the man has so seen or heard; but it is otherwise with things spiritual, for these fill the whole life and constitute it.

The spirit of man, in which his life primarily resides, is nothing else than his will or his love, and his understanding and faith therefrom, and "heart" in the Word signifies the will and love, and understanding and faith therefrom. From this it is evident whence it is that by "bearing witness" in the spiritual sense, is meant to acknowledge in heart. Since by the "heart" is signified the good of love, and this alone is what acknowledges Divine truth, and the Divine of the Lord in His Human, and since that good is signified by "John," it is also said by John that he "bears witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ." So also in another place:

And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye may believe (John 19:35);

and in another place:

This is the disciple that beareth witness of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his witness is true (John 21:24).

(Apocalypse Explained 10)