Week 1    Day 1

    Listen:

The Internal and the External

Matthew 5:21-24

21 You have heard that it was declared by the ancients, Thou shalt not murder¹; and whoever shall murder shall be subject to the judgment².

22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother rashly shall be subject to the judgment; and whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be subject to the council; and whoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be subject to the gehenna³ of fire.

23 If therefore thou offer thy gift on the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother has anything against thee,

24 leave there thy gift in front of the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come offer thy gift.

Apocalypse Explained 746:17

Whoever does and teaches, he shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens. I say to you, Unless your justice shall exceed the justice of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens. You have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not murder, but whoever shall murder shall be liable to the judgment. But I say to you, that whoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to the judgment; but whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the council; but whoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be liable to the hell of fire. If thou offer thy gift upon the altar, and shalt there remember that thy brother has anything against thee, leave there the gift before the altar, and go; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then coming offer thy gift (Matt. 5:19-24).

This whole chapter treats of the interior life of man, which is the life of his soul, consequently of his will and thought from it. Thus, it deals with the life of charity, which is the spiritual moral life. The sons of Jacob knew nothing about this life before, because from their fathers down they were external men. For this reason also, they were kept in the observance of external worship, according to statutes that were external, representing the internal things of worship and of the church. But in this chapter the Lord teaches that the interior things of the church must not only be represented by external acts, but must also be loved and done from the soul and heart. Therefore “whoever does and teaches, he shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens,” signifies that he will be saved who from interior life does and teaches the external things of the church.

“Unless your justice shall exceed the justice of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens,” signifies that unless the life is internal, and from that is external, heaven is not in man and man is not received into heaven. “Justice” signifies the good of life from the good of charity, and “to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees” signifies that the life must be internal, and not external without internal. The scribes and Pharisees were only in representative externals, and not in internals.

External life from the internal is taught in the commandment of the Decalogue, “Thou shalt not murder,” but they did not know that wishing to murder a man is murdering him. Therefore it is first said, “You have heard that it was said to them of old time, ‘Thou shalt not murder,’ and whoever shall murder shall be liable to the judgment.” For the doctrine had prevailed with the Jews from ancient time that it was admissible to murder those who injured them, especially Gentiles, and that they were to be punished for this lightly or grievously according to the circumstances of the hostility, consequently in reference to the body only and not as to the soul. This is meant by “he shall be liable to the judgment.”

Arcana Coelestia 4903

No one can see from the external alone whether a thing is false or true, but only from the internal. There must be an internal sight which shall judge concerning those things which are of external sight, and in order to do this the internal sight must be wholly in the light of heaven. And it is not in the light of heaven unless it is in faith in the Lord, and from this faith reads the Word.

That the Jewish nation were in the external without the internal, and therefore believed truth to be falsity, and falsity truth, is evident from their teaching that it was allowable to hate an enemy; and also from their life, in that they hated all who were not of their religiosity. They even believed that they were pleasing and serving Jehovah when they treated the Gentiles with barbarity and cruelty, exposing their bodies after they had been slain to be devoured by birds and wild beasts, cutting them in two with saws while alive, lacerating them with harrows and axes of iron, and making them pass through the brick-kiln (2 Sam. 12:31). Moreover, it was in accordance with their teachings to treat in almost the same way a companion who for any cause was declared an enemy. Thus it is plainly evident that there was nothing internal in their religiosity. If anyone had then said to them that such things are contrary to the internal of the church, they would have replied that this was false. That they were merely in externals, were wholly ignorant of what the internal is, and led a life contrary to the internal, is plain also from what the Lord teaches in Matthew, chapter 5, verses 21 to 48.

¹Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17

²For an example of such judgment, see Exodus 21:12.

³“Gehenna” is a hell (see AC 826 and elsewhere). The name comes from Hebrew, Ge Hinnom, a deep ravine just south of Jerusalem, where there was a leper colony.

previous		next