Leaves for the Healing of the Nations

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 appropriate any other strong craving or yearning without some falsity in married association with it. In the Word, the inner meaning of the term idol or idolatry is precisely the falsity under our cross-hairs, so that the mentions of idols all have to do with "rendering the commandment of God of none effect" (Mark 7:13). The mentions of idolatry in the Word, therefore, concern particular falsities which come of the gradual succumbing over time of people in a particular Church to their yearnings and associated falsities. When this process or life cycle arrives at its "fullness" or "night" then the voice of the bride and the bridegroom no longer sounds, and there is likewise no sound of the millstone heard (Revelation 18:23).

We read further that "There are three universal kinds of idolatry. The first comes of the love of self; the second, of the love of the world; the third, of the love of pleasures. All idolatrous worship has one or other of these for its end. The worship of idolaters can have no other ends; for they know not and care not for eternal life; they even deny it" (AC1357). In the context of the charity life cycle of the Church from head of gold / morning / white horse to feet of iron and clay / night / pale horse, human lusts such as pride, greed, and lust more narrowly speaking begin to weigh down what began as a healthy Church. A healthy Church, by definition, involves a conjunction with Jesus Christ, as also it involves a conjunction of good and truth. When there is no more such conjunction, then the abomination of desolation has taken place and there is no more faith on earth. But let us look at this in another form, so that you have a basis for comparison.

We read in John's Gospel that "they crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst". The Rev. John Clowes explains this verse with reference to "they who are in the falsities of ignorance [and who] are led to reject the Lord"; further that He is "totally rejected by the perverted church, together with faith and charity" (New Christian Bible Study). The rejection of faith and charity as well as the non-acknowledgement of Jesus Christ is that very voice of the bride and bridegroom no longer sounding, as well as the two thieves crucified to either side of Jesus on the cross. Now, the Lord is no less than also the Word. So every part of Jesus' crucifixion has something to do with the evil and falsity of the Jewish Church over time in relation to its doctrine (gradually falsified) and its practice (gradually polluted). This same process would occur also with the Christian Church, as documented in <<Revelation>>.

One mentioned the non-acknowledgement of the Word precisely in the context of His hanging on the cross. We read in Jesus' Sermon on the Word in John's Gospel, "Why do you not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my Word" (John 8:43). Remember, everything that occurred in the historical parts of Jesus' life has a representative function. The fact that the Jewish Church could not accept that they were listening to God in real-time is, in addition to its historical aspect, representative of their actual non-acknowledgement of the Word at that time, which corresponds to the "night" of the Jewish Church. The Jewish Church even goes so far as to say, "Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hath a devil?" (John 8:48). To put this into modern terms and thus perspective, the Jewish Church basically accused their Creator of being possessed, which is profoundly dishonouring, the customary evil, in association with simply not true, the customary falsity.

We see this same conjunction of evil with falsity in a description of the exact same situation in John's Gospel, where we read that "the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others, himself he cannot save" (John 15:31). For mocking, of course, is an evil, and it is outright falsity also to deny the Lord's capacity to save Himself by resurrecting from the dead. The Lord explicitly confirms His capacity to save Himself when He says "Destroy this temple, and in three days will I raise it up"; which, of course, He did (John 2:19). And He who raised Himself from the dead, our Everlasting Father, has told us clearly that those who acknowledge Him in Word and deed while also keeping His commandments as if of ourselves will have eternal happiness in use, ever perfecting and ever learning, safe from sin and error, home at last.

But let us consider now the extremely meaningful conclusion of Jesus' Sermon on the Word in <<John>> chapter 8, when God says "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:57). One means obviously to draw attention to the divinity of Christ, first of all. But additionally, the verse should be considered in relation to two specific other verses. The first of those verses is in <<Exodus>>, where we read that "God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exodus 3:14). The second of those verses concerns Pilate, who says (in response to Jewish Church objections to his inscription "The King of the Jews), "What I have written, I have written" (John 19:22). The parallel structure of the two statements is not an accident but deliberate, as its occurrence in the same Gospel emphasises.

We read besides in Jesus' reply to Pilate's question "Art thou a king then? " both "Thou sayest that I am King" and "Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice" (John 18:37). We heard the same thing expressed in Jesus' Sermon on the Word, where He says, "He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God" (John 8:47). The reason one has drawn attention to these two verses side by side lies in the significance of Pilate's interactions with the Word. One would emphasise that what follows will only scratch the surface of this civic-spiritual Gospel situation. For Pilate, as both a historical figure and character in the caste of the Gospels, has much the same utility to the text of the Bible as a notary public does in human life. In other words, mentions of Pilate serve as a convenient place to deposit statements which directly concern the truth of God's word. That would be why the two verses quoted are mentioned, with the understanding that "heareth my voice and "heareth God's words" (or God's Word) are one and the same.

That would also be why the dialogues between Jesus and Pilate strewn through the several Gospels involve mentions of the term "king" in various relations to other matters. We read for instance, as previously said, that Pilate asked Jesus "Art thou a King then?" (John 18:37). We read also that it was specifically Pilate who had an inscription hung up saying "JESUS OF NAZARETH KING OF THE JEWS" (John 19:19). It should not come as a surprise, then, that the term "king" relates to the fact "That "Messiah," "Anointed," and "King," are the same as the Divine truth" (AC3009); in other words, "as the Divine truth" of the Word itself, which was written in "Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin", as Pilate's inscription also said. (John 19:20). Both the General Church and the Lord's New Church have traditionally taught that these three languages refer, respectively, to the First, Second, and Third Testaments.

This brings one to the Writings themselves, which some acknowledge as a special access key to the Old and New Testaments but not the Word and others as that Third Testament, the Word of God. It should be noted that both sides of the matter agree that the truths of New Jerusalem found in these Writings are of the utmost penetration and utility for spiritual life, being in synergy with the living God and the Bible by design. As we read in <<Spiritual Experiences>>, the Writings act on some people "persuasively, so that it penetrates to the improvement of their lives" (SE2995). The key factor that separates the Word of God from other material is the salvific significance of the Divine truths that it contains; in other words, any Testament of God conveys "The truth" that "shall set you free" (John 8:32).

This brings one to two improvements in one's life that have occurred as a result of the aforementioned synergy between the Writings, the living God, and the Bible; these being improvements precisely in mental and external behaviour and in understanding. To be clear, one began to believe in Jesus Christ in late 2015, when one encountered a "joy unspeakable and full of glory" that convinced one 100% that Jesus is, A, intricate joy, B, outside time, and C, all intelligence, will to live, and creativity (1 Peter 1:8). Knowing that Jesus was real, and eternity with Him, did not answer the numerous scriptural and doctrinal questions which followed the acknowledgement of His bewildering and unexpected existence in everyday life and in general... Let me just emphasise that when "the Day Star dawns in your heart", the last thing on your mind is an abstract matter like the existence or nonexistence of God or some notion of the Godhead; rather, Someone is there! And just as you do not doubt the existence of your friend or partner but simply relate to them, so do you not doubt the existence of God when the relational event known as the "dawn" occurs in your life, and you meet Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the fact that three years had passed and someone who usually could understand a book after one reading was still acknowledging that <<Isaiah>>, <<Revelation>> and the other prophecies remained a blur of satyrs, Moabs, and other dimly perceived images came increasingly to seem like a big deal and huge problem. Neighbour, perhaps you too have felt utterly confused by the way that the Bible reads, by the obviously orderly way that its images relate to one another and yet the difficulty of working out what relation, if any, these images have to spiritual life. It was in late 2018 that one encountered the Writings for the first time. There followed a rather steep learning curve, to put it mildly, as well as the unmistakable experience of the Bible, previously so opaque and enigmatic, opening up.

Neighbours, the whole point of New Church doctrine, of the Writings, of this sermon, involves your coming to see how much meaning there is in the Bible, as hidden from mainline Christians as much of the Old Testament is hidden from the Jewish Church. Armed with the truth that bread and wine are good and truth, and that bread of iniquity and wine of violence are evil and falsity, you can reliably understand more of the Bible. Add to this the charity life cycle of the Church, and the characteristic imagery associated with it, and the Bible becomes the book you always expected it to be yet could never quite access. Some people can fail to understand the Bible despite years of reading and yet overlook this fact somehow. Others quietly lament the fact that they cannot join their faith in the living God with the kind of Biblical understanding that they would expect to follow from this relationship.

Those who genuinely "hunger and thirst for righteousness", or who are in New Church terms "in an affection for truth", quietly and honestly recognise that there is something wrong with how the mainline Church explains things, because otherwise they know that their practice and Bible study would be going better. Without dwelling too much on this, one was not personally a very good Christian at all for the first three years of belief in Jesus, albeit there was conventional chastity, some burgeoning forgiveness and attenuation of more problematic desires. But it was especially after encountering the Writings and learning that those terrible thoughts one sometimes had were the very thoughts of devils -- evil spirits who once walked this Earth as you and I do now -- that one began to notice faster improvements in practice and understanding; improvements which, if not large ones generally, had previously eluded one or dragged their feet all those three years of Moab being a blur! Neighbours, it is in the hope of reaching people who are tired of Moab being a blur that we should share these Writings and these truths of New Jerusalem, these "leaves for the healing of the nations" (Revelation 22:2).

Amen.