was no doubt given in mockery and derision of his sufferings, according to the prophecy in the Psalm lxix. 21. The second recorded by Mark xv. 23 :— -And they gave him to drink, wine mingled with myrrh, but he received it not : this was the intoxicating draught which was customary with the Jews to give, in order to stupefy the criminal, and so render him insensible to his tortures, and which probably originated from the precept given in Proverbs xxxi. 6:'Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish,' i. e., to him who is condemned to death. The third potion, offered some time after our Lord had been on the cross, was the posca, or the common drink of the Roman soldiers, and of this he drank.

Hunger and thirst, though naturally endured by the infirm humanity, are predicated of our Lord in relation to Good and Truth, which he so beautifully shews us in the 4th chapter of John; and hence, according to Swedenborg, in the Ap. Ex. 64 and 195, by the Jews offering him vinegar mingled with gall in derision, and then wine mingled with myrrh, the intoxicating draught, they shewed what the quality of Divine Truth was with them, viz., altogether falsified and adulterated, even to externals signified by the myrrh; therefore he received it not:-but, after he had hung some time on the cross, he said 'I thirst,'-this thirst of the infirm humanity did but portray the intense desire of the Divine Humanity for the salvation of the human race. The entire vastation of the professing church as to Good and Truth, and its consequent utter desolation, were present to our Lord when this his last complaining cry fell from him-then there was presented unto him vinegar in a sponge encompassed with hyssop:-this vinegar was the posca or common drink of the Roman soldiers, and, as with the Jews, signified, the false principle, but such as it was among the well-disposed Gentiles, and which was grounded in ignorance, not in perversion of Truth, containing in it what was good and useful. Its purification was signified by the hyssop placed around. This was among the first fruits of the travail of the Redeemer's soul: he saw it and was satisfied. 'When therefore Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished.' (Intellectual Repository, vol. ix. pp. 147, 148).

All the facts recorded of the Lord's temptations and crucifixion are written for our specific instruction. Everything was not only real but representative. The manner in which the Lord was treated, represents the manner in which a perverted and consummated church treats his Word, and the sanctities of his kingdom and of his church. The Lord suffered as the Son of Man,' as the Word made flesh,' and the ignominious treatment to which he submitted, represents the manner in which the unregenerate man, and in general the perverted church, treats his holy Word, as the divine Truth itself. For the Lord is always identified with his Word. Thus the apostle declares that those who fall away from the truth, crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame' (Heb. vi. 6). He thus points out to us, in the clearest manner, that those who fall away from the truth by not living according to the dictates and precepts of the Gospel, treat the Lord spiritually as He was literally treated by the Jews at the time of his last temptation and crucifixion. Thus the final temptation, suffering, and death by crucifixion, was an external objective manifestation of the manner in which he was tempted from the manger to the cross. Spiritually considered, all his temptations were represented by the last, since all prior things, according to genuine philosophy and theology, are involved in the ultimate or last, and are represented thereby. We are thus enabled to form an idea of the nature of the Lord's temptations from beginning to end. In every case He was treacherously betrayed, falsely accused, treated with contempt, hailed in mockery as King, with a crown of thorns upon his head, a reed in his hand,-scourged, buffeted, and spat upon, and bearing his cross to the place of a skull, called Golgotha, or Calvary, where He was crucified between two thieves or malefactors. All this, as being the literal and ultimate temptation and suffering, was, as stated, representative of the entire process of his temptations, combats, and death, as to every evil and false tendency in the humanity He had assumed. Thus, as He requires his disciple daily to bear his cross,' so He daily bore his cross. As we are required to die daily unto sin, that we may live unto righteousness,' so He died daily as to every principle in the infirm humanity, and assumed a new life from the

Divine Nature within, and thus glorified Himself in the same manner in which He makes man regenerate and spiritual.

His resurrection and ascension, in like manner, as being ultimate acts in the divine process of his glorification, were representative of victory, and consequent resurrection and ascension, throughout every process of the glorification from beginning to end. Thus every act of conquest and victory was followed by a resurrection and ascension. The apostle points out this when he says, 'If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.' Thus every successful combat against evil is followed by a resurrection to spiritual life from the death of sin, and by an ascension into the glory and happiness of heaven. We consequently learn, from the doctrines of the New Church, that every victory over sin is followed by a more interior introduction of the soul into heaven, or by a greater elevation of the mind into the light and love of the heavenly kingdom.

Golgotha, or Calvary, denoting the place of a skull, represents, that state in which everything relating to the Lord and his Church is destroyed; it does not come to its consummation and its finish, until it arrives at Golgotha. The skull is the external covering of the head, and consequently represents the extreme, or outermost principles of the life, called sensual and corporeal; and when the church is emptied of all its interior vital principles of truth and love, it is like the skull emptied of its brains. The declension and fall of the church is from interior principles of truth and love to external professions of religion, and to empty principles of worship. It then has the mere 'form of godliness, and none of the power thereof;' it is like ‘a whited sepulchre, which may appear beautiful indeed without, but inwardly full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.' In our external man resides our sensual nature, together with our selfish and worldly principles, so closely associated with our evils and with the powers of darkness. It is by the inordinate activity and supremacy of these principles that all holy truth is perverted, the church destroyed, and the Lord himself crucified. Thus, Golgotha, or the place of a skull, represents the death of every heavenly and spiritual principle in the mind and in the church. When

led by our sensual nature to oppose and pervert the truths of the Word, or the divine principles of heaven, we are on our way to Golgotha, where everything constituting the church within us will be destroyed. That which brings the church to Golgotha, or to its consummation and its end, is the falsification of the truths of the Word, and the perversion in consequence of all its goodness and its love. Its falsification is effected by false doctrines, the 'vain traditions of men; and its goodness and love are destroyed by the application of its truth to merely selfish and worldly ends.

Thus they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall,' to shew to us that they not only added cruelty to his sufferings, but that they thereby represented the entire perversion of every truth in his Word. The vinegar, signified, the falsification of truth; and the mingling of it with gall, denoted, its perversion and destruction by evils of every kind. Gall is the refuse, or faces of the blood, and has a similar signification to the faces of the body. Vinegar, therefore, mingled with gall, denotes, the direst falsification of truth, and the entire perversion of all goodness from the Word in the church. The Lord did not drink it, to denote, that no falsification and perversion can possibly be accepted by Him, because utterly destructive of the happiness of man; for the Lord's hunger and thirst, when mentioned in the Word, signify, the infinite ardour of his divine love for the salvation of the human race. This salvation is effected in proportion as we hunger after righteousness,' or as we receive his love and his truth,-as we eat his flesh and drink his blood. But when his truth is perverted,—when the wine becomes vinegar, and when this is mingled with gall, or with evils of every kind, it is impossible that our worship can be grateful to him, and that we can be saved. In John we read that they put the sponge filled with vinegar upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth, which he received, to denote, that the truth among the Gentiles, although perverted by fallacies and by traditions of various kinds, from their not having the Word, could nevertheless be purified, and thus serve as a medium of salvation. For hyssop, denotes, a medium of purification (A.C. 7918). See Lev. xiv. 4—7: Num. xix. 6, 18: and especially in Psalm li. 7, where it is expressly said, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean' (Intellectual Repository, vol. ix. pp. 185-188).

CHAPTER XXVIII.

1 BUT in the evening of the sabbath,' as it dawned to one of the sabbaths, came Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, to view the sepulchre.

2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake:2 for the angel of the Lord descending from heaven, [and] coming, rolled away the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3 But his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4 But for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead. 5 But the angel, answering, said to the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus the crucified. 6 He is not here, for He is risen, as He said, come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And departing quickly, say to His disciples, that He is risen from the dead; and behold, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye behold Him: lo I have told you.

8 And going away quickly from the monument, with fear and great joy, they ran to tell the message to his disciples. 9 But as they went to tell the message to His disciples, Jesus met them, saying, Hail! But they, coming, laid hold of his feet and worshipped Him. 10 Then saith Jesus to them, Be not afraid go, report to My brethren, that they go into Galilee, there shall they see Me.

11 But as they were going, behold, some of the guard, coming into the city, reported to the chief priests all things that were done. 12 And being gathered together with the elders, and taking counsel, they gave money sufficient to the soldiers. 13 Saying, Say ye, that His disciples, coming by night, stole Him whilst we slept. 13 And if this shall be heard by the ruler, we will persuade him, and will make you secure. 15 But they receiving the money, did as they were taught and this saying was commonly reported amongst the Jews unto this day.

16 But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, into the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus, coming, spake to them, saying, All power is