December
16

Isaiah 60:14. “And the sons of those who afflicted thee shall walk to thee bowing down; and all those who disdained thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet.”

For the children from Matthew 28

5. And the angel answering said to the women, Fear not; for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified.

6. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

7. And going quickly, say to His disciples that He is risen from the dead; and, behold, He goes before you into Galilee; there you shall behold Him; lo, I have told you.

8. And going out quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, they ran to report to His disciples.

9. And as they went to report [this] to His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Hail. And they, coming, took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him.

10. Then Jesus says to them, Do not be afraid; go, report to My brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they shall see Me.

From the Heavenly Doctrine

AR 49:2,7. The whole heaven before the Lord is as one man, in which they who are in the Lord’s Divine celestial make the head; they who are in the Divine spiritual make the body; and they who are in the Divine natural make the feet. Hence, also, in every man, because he was created in the image of God, there are these three degrees, and, as these are opened, he becomes an angel either of the third, or of the second, or of the ultimate heaven. Hence, also it is, that in the Word there are three senses; the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural…. The feet, the soles, and the heels, correspond to natural things with man, and therefore in the Word signify things natural….

AC 7068. And they bent themselves and bowed themselves down. That this signifies humiliation, is evident from the signification of "bending themselves and bowing themselves down," as being the effect of humiliation [or humbling oneself]…. But "bending themselves" is exterior humiliation, and is that of those who are in truth, and "bowing themselves down" is interior humiliation, and is that of those who are in good…. That this is so, has often been made plain from those who are in truth and those who are in good. Those who are in truth are as it were rigid, and stand erect as if they were hard, and when they ought to humble themselves before the Divine, they only bend the body a little. But those who are in good are as it were soft, and when they humble themselves before the Divine, they bow themselves down to the earth. For truth without good is quite rigid, and when it looks to good as the end, this rigidity begins to soften. But good is in itself soft, and the truth which is being instilled, as it becomes good there, also grows soft. The reason is that truth cannot be ordered in the heavenly form except by good. Hence it is in itself hard. For the heavenly form is most free and makes no resistance; and from this the good with which truth has been rightly ordered is like it, and is soft.

AE 77. And I fell at His feet, signifies adoration from humiliation of heart in presence of the Divine. This is evident from the signification of "falling at the feet," as being adoration from humiliation. Humiliation of heart is meant, because humiliation that springs from the heart in presence of the Divine produces that prostration. All affections, whatever they are, have corresponding gestures in the body. Into these gestures the body is borne and falls as of itself, when man is interiorly in the affection. Humiliation before a man produces a bowing down, according to the estimation of him. But in the presence of the Divine it produces total prostration, especially when man thinks that the Divine in respect to power and wisdom is everything, and man in comparison is nothing, or that from the Divine is all good and from man nothing but evil.

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