“The Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, whose kingdom shall be for ages of ages.” - True Christian Religion §791
Kempton New Church

Week 6
Day 3

    Listen:

Luke 24

The disciples tell about Easter morning; the Lord begins to teach them.

Luke 24

22 But also, certain women from among us amazed us, who were at the sepulcher early in the morning.
23 And not finding His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who say that He is·​·alive.
24 And certain of those who were with us went to the sepulcher, and found it even as the women had said; but Him they did not see.
25 And He said to them, O thoughtless, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things, and to have entered into His glory?

AE 677:4. In the Word “to become afraid,” “to be dismayed,” and like expressions are often used in reference both to the good and to the evil. “Terror” and “dismay” signify a state of the mind disturbed and changed by an imminent or visible danger to the life. But this is one thing with the good and another with the evil. With the good it is a disturbance of mind and a change of state from imminent and visible danger to the soul, but with the evil it is from imminent and visible danger to the life of the body. This is because the good regard the life of the soul and not so much the life of the body as the chief and final thing, while the evil regard the life of the body and not so much the life of the soul as the chief and final thing. In fact, the evil do not in heart believe in that life, and such as do believe still love only the things that are of the body, such as the appetites and pleasures of various kinds. But with the good the reverse is true.

AE 677:8. The holy tremor that seizes upon, agitates, and convulses the inner parts of the head, when the Divine flows in and fills them, is called “fear,” “terror,” “dread,” as can be seen from the following passages….

In Luke….

When the angel of the Lord stood by the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, they were afraid with a great fear; but the angel said to them, Be not afraid; behold, I proclaim unto you good tidings of great joy, which is to all the people (Luke 2:9, 10).
The two disciples going to Emmaus said to Jesus, Certain women terrified us (Luke 24:22).

From these passages it can be concluded that “terror” and “alarm” mean in the Word various disturbances of mind arising from the influx of such things as cause amazement, connected also with joy.

AC 5405. … The Lord… from His own power governed in a state of temptations, that is, overcame the hells, which were in evils and falsities and were continually pouring them into mankind. The Lord by His own power overcame and subdued the hells, and thus glorified or made Divine the Human in Himself…. This is evident from many passages in the Word, as from this in John:

The two disciples going to Emmaus said to Jesus, Certain women terrified us (Luke 24:22). I lay down My soul, that I may take it again. No man takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again (John 10:17-18).

That the passion of the cross was the last of the temptations, and that by it the Lord fully glorified the Human in Himself, that is, made it Divine, is also plain from many passages in the Word, as in… Luke 24:26.

AC 9429. … The interior things of the Word are called “glory.” This is because the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord as a sun is the light in heaven which gives sight to the angels there, and at the same time intelligence and wisdom…. From this Divine light is all the glory in heaven, which is such as to surpass all human apprehension. From this it is plain why the internal sense of the Word is meant by “glory;” for the internal sense of the Word is the Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord in heaven, thus is the light from which is all the glory there.

AC 10828. The Lord came into the world in order to save the human race, which otherwise would have perished in eternal death; and He saved it by this: that He subjugated the hells which were infesting every man that came into the world and that went out of the world; and at the same time by this: that He glorified His Human, for in this way He can hold the hells in subjection to eternity. The subjugation of the hells, and the simultaneous glorification of His Human, were effected by means of temptations admitted into His Human, and by continual victories then. His passion on the cross was the last temptation and the full victory.… “To glorify” is to make Divine. From this it is now evident that unless the Lord had come into the world, and had become a Man, and had in this manner freed from hell all those who believe in Him and love Him, no mortal could have been saved. This is meant by its being said that without the Lord there is no salvation.

Questions and Comments
  1. What kind of fear or “amazement, connected also with joy” did the disciples feel when they heard from the women that two angels had told them He was risen?
  2. In what areas are we “thoughtless, and slow of heart to believe all that” the Lord teaches us in His Word?
  3. Why was it necessary for the Lord to have suffered these things in order to enter into His glory?
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