He Came as a Thief in the Night

As we read in <<Secrets of Heaven>>, "The crown woven from thorns which was placed on the Lord's head when He was crucified, and when He was hailed as King of the Jews and He said, 'Behold the Man!', John 19:2-5, represented God's truth as it was at that time in the Jewish Church, namely truth smothered by the falsities of cravings" (AC9144). Let us zoom in first on that phrase "falsities of cravings". The term "yearnings" also occurs elsewhere, and this term is equivalent to cravings. What we have here, in any case, is the customary pairing of evil with falsity, of that bread of iniquity and that wine of violence which are opposite the bread and wine, the love and wisdom, the good and truth of God. We read also in the same Writing that "There cannot possibly be any yearning that does not produce falsities" (AC1666). In other words, you cannot so much as be proud or lustful or condoning of pride or lust or appropria...

We read in Matthew 4:11 "Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him". This verse marks the Lord's victory over temptation after having been tempted for "forty days and forty nights", a number whose equivalence with the great flood of the Noah's ark story in Genesis is not an accident. For "'forty days and nights' means the duration of temptation" (AC730), and the Church known as Noah experienced just such a duration of temptation, much as Jesus Christ experienced just such a flood of passions and falsities (SE4155). We read immediately subsequent to this victory over temptation that "leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim 4:16 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esais the prophet, saying 4:17 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephtalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles (4:15-17...

Matthew 22:36-40 - King James Version (KJV) <36> Master, which is the great commandment in the law? <37> Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. <38> This is the first and great commandment. <39> And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. <40> On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. When the Jewish Church called for Jesus Christ to be crucified, they had arrived at that precise point in the charity life cycle of the Jewish Church when they were effectively breaking both of the greatest commandments, right on schedule. One would refer this particularly to the interesting comment that Jesus made above, in Matthew 22:40: King James Version (KJV) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. See that? The "prophets" "hang" on these two commandments! In other words, the prophecies of the Bi...

Psalm 111:10 - King James Version (KJV) <10> The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. "A good understanding have all they that do his commandments." This favourite verse's pairing of good and truth is not a mere abstraction but can be depended upon in everyday life by anyone at all. The relationship between righteousness and understanding corresponds to the bread and wine of the Eucharist as well as to being a "doer" and a "hearer" of the Word. For as James says, James 1:22 - King James Version (KJV) <22> But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. and as God says in John 14:15 - King James Version (KJV) <15> If ye love me, keep my commandments. In the New Church, we often hear of the relationship between good and truth and also of that between love and wisdom. We can depend upon knowing about...