In (1 Samuel 24:16-21), King Saul tearfully admits that he has done wrong to David. He had sought David’s life, but David had shown him mercy. David's mercy on that occasion represents the way that the Lord Himself meets evil with mercy. It’s clear that we’re meant to follow that example. In the gospels, the Lord says that we’re to love even our enemies (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:35).

Because David showed mercy to Saul, there was a reconciliation between them. That wouldn’t have happened if he’d struck back at Saul. But, not long after that, Saul is hunting for David life again, to try to kill him. So much for their reconciliation! And... David shows mercy to Saul again, and Saul repents, again. But it’s clear that David doesn’t trust Saul anymore. He and Saul go their separate ways, and here’s the very next thing that the Word tells us:

And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.” (1 Samuel 27:1)

Saul had said, “I will harm you no more” (1 Samuel 26:21), but it’s clear that David no longer believes those sorts of promises from Saul. And who can blame him?

It’s still a good thing that he showed mercy to Saul — that he forbade his companion to stab the king while he was sleeping (1 Samuel 26:8). The Lord wants us to meet evil with mercy. Over and over He tells us to forgive. But what are we supposed to do when people seem to treat our forgiveness as carte blanche to do the bad stuff all over again? How do we show mercy to people who are actively doing things that hurt us — or to people that we don’t feel safe with, because of a pattern that’s been established over time? Let's explore that. In a nutshell, it IS possible for us to love people and protect ourselves from them at the same time. How?

Here's something that the Lord says about how we balance reconciliation with setting boundaries, in Matthew 18:15-17. These instructions outline the process that the Lord wants us to follow when someone is doing things that hurt us.

"If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. But if he doesn't listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector.

He says, “if your brother sins against you” (Matthew 18:15), but it’s pretty clear that He’s using that word “brother” to mean our neighbor in general (see Arcana Coelestia 2360:6, 7; Apocalypse Explained 746:15).

These instructions apply whenever someone that we have a relationship with is doing something that hurts us.

The last thing the Lord says is that if we can’t work it out with our “brother,” we’re to treat him as “a heathen and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17). If that’s the only part of these instructions that we pay attention to, then they sound pretty harsh. But if that’s the only part of these instructions that we pay attention to, then we’re missing the whole point — which is that we mustn’t jump straight from having a problem with someone to shunning them. There’s a process that we’re meant to follow, and we’re meant to take it one step at a time, and we’re only meant to go to that last step if we absolutely have to. As human beings, we’re prone to all-or-nothing thinking. This is especially true if we’re mad at someone, or if their behavior is making us feel unsafe. We think, “either I’m close to this person, and there are no boundaries between us, or I’ve separated myself from them and there’s no bond between us.” Cognitively we may know that it doesn’t have to be like that, but often our emotions say that that’s the way it needs to be. It takes maturity and it takes wisdom to hold the middle ground — to acknowledge and address the harm that another person’s behavior is doing to us, without completely cutting ourselves off from that person. It isn’t the easiest or the most natural path to take. But it’s the path the Lord asks us to take.

He says that if our brother sins against us, the first step is to, “go and tell him his fault between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). It makes a lot of sense that this is the first step. If you have a problem with someone, talk to them about it. The thing is, we need to make sure that this is the first step we take. Step two is to get other people involved, and sometimes we take step two before we take step one. We complain to our friends about the person who’s offended us, before we’ve even talked to that person about their behavior. When we do that, we usually just sink deeper into resentment. Sometimes we want to get advice before we talk to the person who’s hurt us — and it can be appropriate to seek advice from a mentor or a professional. But we need to not make the problem someone else’s business. At least not right away. If you’re upset with someone, start by talking to them as one grown up to another. This is what gives us the best shot at actual reconciliation. The Lord says, “… if your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother” (Matthew 18:15).

Obviously this doesn’t mean that we should put ourselves into dangerous situations. If someone’s hurt us badly enough, it might not feel safe to meet with them one-on-one. The spirit of this teaching is that we mustn’t skip step one unless we have to. And there are things that we can do to protect ourselves during that initial conversation. We can take a leaf out of David’s book, and talk to the person who’s hurt us from a distance (1 Samuel 26:13). Talk to them on the phone, or write a letter. Or we can have the conversation in a public place, like a restaurant, where we’ll feel safer.

If we have that one-on-one conversation and our brother still refuses to hear us, then the Lord says we can take with us “one or two more.” (Matthew 18:15). In other words, at that point we can get other people involved, if we need to. Just one or two people. We’re not supposed to rally a posse — that’s escalating too fast. And of course, it’s important to pick the right people. The people we involve should be wise, level-headed people. Ideally, they’ll be people who are trusted by both ourselves and the person we have a grievance with, because those people can build bridges and act as mediators. We need to bear in mind that when we get third parties involved, we are escalating things, and there’s a chance that the person we have a grievance with will feel ganged up on and react badly. If we need to get other people involved, the Lord says that we can — but we shouldn’t take this step unless we have to.

The third step is to “tell it to the church” (Matthew 18:17). This doesn’t mean that we should air our grievances with each other when we gather for refreshments after worship. The Greek word here translated as “church” (ἐκκλησία) really just means “gathering,” or “assembly.” So the Lord’s point is that if someone won’t listen to us or change their hurtful behavior — though we and a handful of trusted people have talked to them about it — then we’re allowed to speak openly about our grievance. We can get our community involved, if that’s a useful thing to do. Perhaps “telling it to the church” implies that we’re allowed to seek some sort of public arbitration. In ancient times, the leaders of the church would have done that sort of thing. Nowadays, if we want public arbitration we usually go to court.

The last step, according to the Lord’s words in Matthew 18, is to regard our brother as “a heathen and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17). This doesn’t mean that we’re allowed to disdain or revile or hate the person we have a problem with — we’re never allowed to do those things. It simply means that if all else fails, and the person who hurt us is continuing to hurt us, we’re allowed to separate ourselves from them. We’re allowed to treat them as someone who isn’t part of our sphere. In practice, this would involve limiting our interactions and communications with the person who’s hurt us.

The Lord says that we’re allowed to do these kinds of things — we’re allowed to set boundaries, if we have to. But there’s a process to follow. We can’t escalate straight from getting our feelings hurt to cutting ties with the offender. And here’s the really challenging part: right after the Lord says these things about the boundaries we’re allowed to set, He has this conversation with His disciples:

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22)

In the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Church we’re told that “seventy times seven” means “always, without counting” (Apocalypse Explained 257:4, 391:21).

In our recitation from Luke the Lord says something similar:

If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, “I repent,” you shall forgive him. (Luke 17:3, 4)

The Lord says that we’re allowed to set boundaries, but He also says that we need to forgive people every single time they hurt us. And the whole point of this sermon is that we can do both at the same time. Forgiveness is not the same thing as giving people permission to treat us badly. To forgive someone is to give up your right to hold that person beneath yourself, in your mind and in your heart. To forgive is to give up the right to hate. This is something we do for our own sake, for the sake of our own peace, because hate poisons the soul.

In a way, forgiving a person isn’t even about the person we forgive. To forgive is to get ourselves right with the Lord. When Joseph’s brothers asked him for forgiveness, he answered, “am I in the place of God?” (Genesis 50:19). In other words, he said that it wasn’t his job to either judge his brothers or absolve them of their sins. That was God’s job. Determining whether or not another human being is worthy of forgiveness isn’t our job. We are commanded to love our neighbors — to love even our enemies — and that commandment governs every interaction that we have with every other human being. And if we’re going to love someone, we cannot hold on to resentment. We cannot give ourselves permission to hate. But loving a person and setting boundaries with them can happen simultaneously. To hold on to that truth is to hold a space in the middle, to steer clear of “either-or” thinking — either we’re close and there are no boundaries, or we’ve separated and there is no love. To hold that middle space takes wisdom and maturity — and that’s what the Lord asks of us.

We’re going to wrap up by looking at a passage from the Heavenly Doctrine, a passage that describes the way the angels treat us when we choose evil.

The angels are always with us, protecting us in ways that we can neither see nor feel. (Arcana Coelestia 5854)

It’s good that they’re there! In a different passage we’re told that if they weren’t present with us, we would “immediately perish” (SH 50). But those angels can’t be present in the midst of evil thoughts or evil affections — so when we choose evil, we push the angels away.

But they don’t go all the way away. When we choose evil they’re still with us — but remotely so. The deeper we sink into evil the further away they’re driven, but they’re still there. They’d prefer to be near to us: they’d prefer to love us up close. But if they can’t do that, they love us from a distance. Sometimes we assume that love and distance are mutually exclusive: that we’re either close to someone, or we can’t love them at all. But it isn’t so. We can follow the example of the angels. We can love from a distance, if we have to. The angels themselves are following the example of the Lord — who will not say that evil is good, who is nonetheless ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all who call upon Him (Psalms 86:5). ¹

അടിക്കുറിപ്പുകൾ:

746. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, signifies when those have been separated from heaven and condemned to hell who have assaulted the life of faith, which is charity. This is evident from the signification of "cast down," as being, in reference to the dragon, that those who are meant by "the dragon" have been separated from heaven and condemned to hell (of which above, n. 739, 742); also from the signification of "the accuser of our brethren," as being those who have assaulted the life of faith, which is charity, for an "accuser" signifies one who attacks, denounces, and reproaches, for he that accuses also attacks, denounces, and reproaches. Moreover, the same term in the original tongue means an adversary and one who reproaches; and what is wonderful, those who are "dragons," although they make no account of the life, yet in the spiritual world they accuse the faithful if they observe any evil of ignorance, for they inquire into their life for the purpose of arraigning and condemning, and thence they are called accusers.

[2] But "the brethren" whom they accuse mean all who are in the heavens as well as all on the earth who are in the good of charity; such are called "brethren" because they all have one Father, namely, the Lord, and those who are in the good of love to the Lord and in the good of charity towards the neighbor are His sons, and are called "sons of God," "sons of the kingdom," and "heirs." It follows, therefore, that as they are the sons of one Father they are brethren. Moreover, it is the primary commandment of the Lord, the Father, that they should mutually love one another, consequently it is love from which they are brethren; and love also is spiritual conjunction. From this it came that with the ancient people in the churches in which charity was the essential, all were called brethren, so likewise in our Christian Church at its beginning. This is why "brother" in the spiritual sense signifies charity. That formerly all who were of one church called themselves brethren and that the Lord calls those brethren who are in love to Him and in charity towards the neighbor, can be seen from many passages in the Word. But in order that what is signified by "brother" may be distinctly perceived it shall be illustrated from the Word.

[3] 1. That all who were of the Israelitish Church called themselves "brethren" can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:

Then shall they bring all your brethren out of all nations an offering unto Jehovah (Isaiah 66:20).

In Jeremiah:

No one shall cause a Jew to serve his brother (Jeremiah 34:9).

In Ezekiel:

Son of man, thy brethren, thy brethren, the sons ¹ of thy kindred, and the whole house of Israel (Ezekiel 11:15).

In Micah:

Until the remnant of his brethren return unto the sons of Israel (Micah 5:3).

In Moses:

Moses went out unto his brethren that he might see their burdens (Exodus 2:11).

Moses said unto Jethro his father-in-law, Let me return to my brethren that are in Egypt (Exodus 4:18).

When thy brother shall be waxen poor (Leviticus 25:25, 35, 47).

But in reference to your brethren, the sons of Israel, a man shall not rule over his brother with rigor (Leviticus 25:46).

Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah (Numbers 20:3).

Behold a man of the sons of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman (Numbers 25:6).

Thou shalt open thine hand to thy brother; when thy brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, shall be sold to thee he shall serve thee six years (Deuteronomy 15:11, 12).

If anyone shall steal a soul of his brethren, and he shall make gain of him (Deuteronomy 24:7).

Forty times thou shalt strike ² him, and he shall not add, lest thy brother be accounted vile in thine eyes (Deuteronomy 25:3; and elsewhere).

From this it can be seen that all the sons of Israel were called brethren among themselves; the primary reason of their being so called was that they were all descendants of Jacob, who was their common father; but the remote reason was that "brother" signifies the good of charity, and as this good is the essential of the church, all are also spiritually conjoined by it. Another reason is that "Israel" in the highest sense signifies the Lord, and thence "the sons of Israel" signify the church.

[4] 2. They also called themselves "man and brother," likewise "companion and brother," as in the following passages. In Isaiah:

The land has been darkened, and the people have become as food of the fire; they shall not spare a man his brother; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh (Isaiah 9:19-21).

"Man and brother" signify truth and good, and in the contrary sense falsity and evil, therefore it is said "Manasseh shall eat Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh," for "Manasseh" signifies voluntary good, and "Ephraim" intellectual truth, both of the external church, and in the contrary sense evil and falsity. (But this may be seen explained above, n. 386, 440, 600, 617.)

[5] In the same:

I will commingle Egypt with Egypt, that they may fight a man against his brother and a man against his companion, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom (Isaiah 19:2).

"Egypt" here signifies the natural man separated from the spiritual; and because this is in no light of truth it is continually contending about good and evil and truth and falsity, and this contention is signified by "I will commingle Egypt with Egypt, that they may fight a man against his brother and a man against his companion," "brother and companion" signifying good from which is truth and truth from good, and in the contrary sense evil from which is falsity and falsity from evil; therefore it is added, "city against city, and kingdom against kingdom;" "city" signifying doctrine, and "kingdom" the church from doctrine, which will contend in like manner.

[6] In the same:

They help a man his companion, and he saith to his brother, Be strong (Isaiah 41:6).

"Companion and brother" have here a similar signification as above. In Jeremiah:

Take ye heed a man of his companion, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother supplanteth, and every companion doth slander (Jeremiah 9:4).

In the same:

I will scatter them, a man with his brother (Jeremiah 13:14).

In the same:

Thus shall ye say a man to his companion and a man to his brother, What hath Jehovah answered? (Jeremiah 23:35)

In the same:

Ye have not hearkened unto Me, to proclaim liberty a man to his brother and a man to his companion (Jeremiah 34:9, 17).

In Ezekiel:

A man's sword shall be against his brother (Ezekiel 38:21).

In Joel:

They shall not thrust forward a man his brother (Joel 2:8).

In Micah:

They all lie in wait for bloods, they hunt a man his brother with a net (Mic. Micah 7:2).

In Zechariah:

Do mercy and compassion a man with his brother (Zechariah 7:9).

In Malachi:

Wherefore do we deal treacherously a man against his brother? (Malachi 2:10)

In Moses:

There was thick darkness of darkness over all the land of Egypt; a man saw ³ not his brother (Exodus 10:22, 23).

In the same:

At the end of seven years every creditor shall remit his hand when he hath loaned anything to his companion, and he shall not exact from his companion or his brother (Deuteronomy 15:1, 2);

and elsewhere. In the nearest sense a "man" means everyone, and "brother" one of the same tribe because in blood-relationship, "and companion" one of another tribe because allied only by affinity; but in the spiritual sense "man" signifies anyone who is in truths, then also anyone who is in falsities; "brother" signifies anyone who is in the good of charity, and in an abstract sense that good itself, and "companion" anyone who is in truth from that good, and in an abstract sense that truth itself; and in the contrary sense these signify the evil opposite to the good of charity and the falsity opposite to the truth from that good. Both terms, "brother" and "companion," are used because ⁴ there are two things, namely, charity and faith, that constitute the church, as there are two things that make up the life of man, will and understanding; so there are two parts that act as one, as the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two hands, two feet, two lobes of the lungs, two chambers of the heart, two hemispheres of the brain, and so on, of which the one has reference to good from which is truth, and the other to truth from good. This is why it is said "brother and companion," and why "brother" signifies good, and "companion" its truth.

[7] 3. The Lord calls those of His church "brethren" who are in the good of charity, as can be seen from the following passages. In the Gospels:

Jesus stretching out His hand over His disciples said, Behold My mother and My brethren; whosoever shall do the will of My Father, he is My brother and sister and mother (Matthew 12:49, 50; Mark 3:33-35).

The "disciples" over whom the Lord stretched out his hand signify all who are of His church; "His brethren" signify those who are in the good of charity from Him, "sisters" those who are in truths from that good, and "mother" the church constituted of these.

[8] In Matthew:

Jesus said to Mary Magdalene and to the other Mary, Fear not; go tell My brethren to go into Galilee, and there shall they see Me (Matthew 28:10).

Here, too, "brethren" mean the disciples by whom are signified all those of the church who are in the good of charity. In John:

Jesus said to Mary, Go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father (John 20:17).

The disciples are here again called "brethren" because "disciples," the same as "brethren," signify all those of His church who are in the good of charity.

[9] In Matthew:

The King answering said unto them, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these My brethren ye did it unto Me (Matthew 25:40).

It is evident from what there precedes that those whom the Lord here calls "brethren" are such as have done the good works of charity; but let it be known that although the Lord is their Father He still calls them "brethren;" He is their Father from the Divine love, but brother from the Divine that proceeds from Him. This is because all in the heavens are recipients of the Divine that proceeds from Him; and the Divine that proceeds from the Lord, of which they are recipients, is the Lord in heaven and also in the church; and this is not of angel or man, but is of the Lord with them; consequently the good of charity itself with them, which is the Lord's, He calls brother, in like manner also angels and men, because they are the recipient subjects of that good. In a word, the Divine proceeding, which is the Divine of the Lord in the heavens, is the Divine born of the Lord in heaven; from that Divine, therefore, angels who are recipients of it are called "sons of God," and as these are brethren because of that Divine received in themselves, it is the Lord in them who says "brother," for when angels speak from the good of charity they speak not from themselves but from the Lord. This, then, is why the Lord says, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these My brethren ye did it unto Me." So in the spiritual sense the brethren of the Lord are the goods of charity that are enumerated in the verses preceding, and these are called by the Lord "brethren" for the reason just given. Moreover, "the King," who so calls them, signifies the Divine proceeding, which in one word is called Divine truth or the Divine spiritual, which in its essence is the good of charity.

[10] It is therefore to be kept in mind that the Lord did not call them "brethren" because He was a man like them, according to an opinion that is received in the Christian world; and for this reason it is not allowable for any man to call the Lord "brother," for He is God even in respect to the Human, and God is not a brother, but the Father. In the churches on the earth the Lord is called brother, because the idea of His Human which they have formed is the same as their idea of any other man's human, when yet the Lord's Human is Divine.

[11] As "kings" formerly represented the Lord in relation to Divine truth, and as Divine truth received by angels in the Lord's spiritual kingdom is the same as Divine spiritual good, and as spiritual good is the good of charity, therefore the kings appointed over the sons of Israel called their subjects "brethren," although on the other hand the subjects were not permitted to call their king "brother," still less should the Lord be so called, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords. So in David:

I will declare Thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee (Psalms 22:22).

In the same:

I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to my mother's sons (Psalms 69:8).

In the same:

For the sake of my brethren and companions I will speak, Peace be in thee (Psalms 122:8).

This was said by David as if respecting himself, and yet in the representative spiritual sense David here means the Lord. In Moses:

Out of the midst of thy brethren shalt thou set a king over them; ⁵ thou mayest not put a man that is an alien over them, who is not thy brother; but let him not exalt his heart above his brethren (Deuteronomy 17:15, 20).

The "brethren" from whom a king might be set over them signify all who are of the church, for it is said, "Thou mayest not put over them a man that is an alien;" "a man that is an alien" and a "stranger" signifying one who is not of the church.

[12] In the same:

Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18).

This is a prophecy respecting the Lord, who is meant by "the prophet" that Jehovah God will raise up of the brethren. They are called "thy brethren," that is, of Moses, because "Moses" means in a representative sense the Lord in relation to the Word, and a "prophet" means one who teaches the Word; thus also the Word and doctrine from the Word are meant, and this is why it is said, "like unto me." (That "Moses" represented the Lord in relation to the law, thus in relation to the Word, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 4859 at the end, 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382, 9372, 10234.)

[13] 4. That all those are called "brethren" by the Lord who acknowledge Him and are in the good of charity from Him, follows from this, that the Lord is the Father of all and the Teacher of all, and from Him as Father is every good of charity, and from Him as Teacher is every truth of that good. Therefore the Lord says in Matthew:

Be ye not called teacher, for one is your Teacher, Christ; but all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon earth, for one is your Father who is in the heavens (Matthew 23:8, 9).

From this it is clearly evident that the words of the Lord must be understood spiritually; for who that is a teacher may not be called teacher? Or who that is a father may not be called father? But as "father" signifies good, and "the Father in the heavens" Divine good, and as "teacher" or "rabbi" signifies truth, and "the Teacher, Christ," Divine truth, so on account of the spiritual sense in all things of the Word it is said, "Call no man your father upon earth, nor anyone teacher," that is, in the spiritual sense, not in the natural sense. In the natural sense men may be called teachers and fathers, but representatively; that is to say, teachers in the world teach truths indeed, but from the Lord, not from themselves, and fathers in the world are good, and lead their children to good, but from the Lord, not from themselves. From this it follows that although they are called teachers and fathers still they are not teachers and fathers, but the Lord alone is Teacher and Father. "To call" and "to call by a name" signifies in the Word to recognize the quality of anyone. Because all in heaven and in the church are disciples and sons of the Lord, who is their Teacher and their Father, the Lord says, "all ye are brethren;" for the Lord calls all in heaven and in the church "sons and heirs" from their consociation by love from Him, and thus by mutual love, which is charity; therefore it is from the Lord that they are brethren. In this way the common saying that all are brethren in the Lord is to be understood.

[14] From this also it is clear whom the Lord means by "brethren," namely, all who acknowledge Him and are in the good of charity from Him, consequently who are of His church. Such are meant by the Lord by "brethren" in the following passages. In Luke:

Jesus said to Peter, When thou shalt be converted strengthen thy brethren (Luke 22:32).

The term "brethren" here does not mean the Jews, but it means all who acknowledge the Lord and are in good from charity and faith, thus all who were to receive the gospel through Peter, both Jews and Gentiles, for "Peter" in the Word of the Gospels means truth from good, thus also faith from charity; but here "Peter" means faith separated from charity, for just before it is said of him:

Simon, behold Satan demanded you that he might sift you as wheat. But I prayed for you that your faith fail not (Luke 22:31-32);

and afterwards it is said to him:

I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day until thou hast thrice denied that thou knowest Me (Luke 22:34).

Such is faith without charity. But "Peter converted" signifies truth from good, which is from the Lord, or faith from charity, which is from the Lord; therefore it is said, "When thou shalt have been converted strengthen thy brethren. "

[15] In Matthew:

Peter said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I should forgive him? (Matthew 18:21)

In the same:

So also shall My heavenly Father do to you if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses (Matthew 18:35).

In the same:

If thy brother hath sinned against thee go and reprove him between thee and him alone; if he hear thee thou hast gained thy brother (Matthew 18:15).

Here "brother" means the neighbor in general, thus every man; but in particular it means one who is in the good of charity and thence in faith from the Lord, whoever he may be; for these passages treat of the good of charity, since to forgive one who sins against you is of charity; also it is said, "if he hear, thou hast gained thy brother," which signifies, if he acknowledges his trespasses and is converted.

[16] In the same:

Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say unto thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye, when yet there is a beam in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye (Matthew 7:3-5).

Here too, because this treats of charity the term "brother" is used, for "to cast out the mote out of a brother's eye" signifies to instruct respecting falsity and evil, and to reform. It is said by the Lord, "a mote out of the brother's eye," and "a beam out of one's own eye," because of the spiritual sense in every particular of what the Lord said; for without that sense, of what consequence would it be to see a mote in the eye of another and not consider a beam in one's own eye, or to cast a beam out of one's own eye before he casts a mote out of another's eye? A "mote" signifies a slight falsity of evil, and a "beam" a great falsity of evil, and the "eye" signifies the understanding and also faith. "Mote" and "beam" signify the falsity of evil, because "wood" signifies good; and thus a "beam" signifies the truth of good, and in the contrary sense the falsity of evil, and the "eye" signifies the understanding and faith. This shows what is signified by "seeing the mote and the beam," and by "casting them out of the eye." (That "wood" signifies good, and in the contrary sense evil, may be seen in (Arcana Coelestia 643[1-4], 3720, 4943, 8354, 8740; and that the "eye" signifies the understanding, and also faith, n. 2701, 4403-4421, 4523-4534, 9051, 10569; also above, n. 37, 152) Moreover, in some passages "beam" is mentioned, and it signifies the falsity of evil (as in Genesis 19:8; 2 Kings 6:2, 5, 6; Habakkuk 2:11; Song of Solomon 1:17).

[17] In the same:

Whosoever doeth and teacheth, he shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens. I say unto you, Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees ye shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens. Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill, but whosoever shall kill shall be liable to the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to the judgment; but whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the council; but whosoever 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 hath aught against thee, leave there ⁶ the gift before the altar, and go, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then coming offer thy gift (Matthew 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 therefrom; thus it treats of the life of charity, which is the spiritual moral life. This life the sons of Jacob knew nothing about 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 "whosoever doeth and teacheth, 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. "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees ye 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; "righteousness" 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 kill;" but they did not know that wishing to kill a man is killing him; therefore it is first said, "Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be liable to the judgment;" for the doctrine had prevailed with the Jews from ancient time, that it was admissible to kill those who injured them, especially the 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."

[18] That one who thinks ill of his neighbor without adequate cause, and turns himself away from the good of charity, will be punished lightly as to his soul, is signified by "Whosoever is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to the judgment;" "to be angry," signifies to think ill, for it is distinguished from "saying Raca," and "saying, Thou fool." "Brother" means the neighbor, and also the good of charity, and "to be liable to the judgment" means to be examined and to be punished according to circumstances. That one who from wrong thought slanders the neighbor, and thus despises the good of charity as of little value, will be punished grievously, is signified by "whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the council," for "to say Raca" signifies to slander the neighbor from evil thought, thus to hold the good of charity to be of little value, for "to say Raca" means to hold as useless and as of little value, and "brother" means the good of charity. That one who hates the neighbor, that is, one who is altogether averse to the good of charity, is condemned to hell, is signified by "whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be liable to the hell of fire," to say "Thou fool" meaning to be altogether averse to, "brother" meaning the good of charity, and "the hell of fire" the hell where those are who hate that good and thence the neighbor. These three describe three degrees of hatred: the first is from evil thought, which is "to be angry," the second is from consequent evil intention, which is "to say Raca," and the third is from an evil will, which is "to say Thou fool." All these are degrees of hatred against the good of charity, for hatred is the opposite of the good of charity. The three degrees of punishment are signified by "the judgment," "the council," and "the hell of fire;" the punishments for lighter evils are signified by "the judgment," the punishments for the more grievous evils, by "the council," and the punishments for the most grievous evils, by "the hell of fire."

[19] As the universal heaven is in the good of charity towards the neighbor, and the universal hell is in anger, enmity, and hatred against the neighbor, and hence these are the opposites of that good; and as worship of the Lord because it is internal is worship from heaven, but it is no worship if anything of it is from hell, and yet external worship without internal is from hell, therefore it is said, "If thou offer thy gift upon the altar, and shalt there remember that thy brother hath aught against thee, go, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then coming offer thy gift upon the altar;" "the gift upon the altar" signifying the worship of the Lord from love and charity, "brother" meaning the neighbor, and in an abstract sense the good of charity; "having aught against thee" signifying anger, enmity, or hatred, and "to be reconciled" the dispersion of these and the consequent conjunction by love.

[20] From this it can be seen that the Lord means by "brother" the like as by "neighbor," and "neighbor" signifies in the spiritual sense good in the whole complex, and good in the whole complex is the good of charity. "Brother" has a similar meaning in the spiritual sense in many passages in the Old Testament. As in Moses:

Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart (Leviticus 19:17).

In David:

Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity (Psalms 133:1).

In this sense, also:

Lot called the inhabitants of Sodom brethren (Genesis 19:7).

And this is meant by:

The covenant of brethren between the sons of Israel and Edom (Amos 1:9).

And by the brotherhood between Judah and Israel (Zechariah 11:14).

For by "the sons of Israel and Edom," as also by "Judah and Israel," these are not meant in the spiritual sense, but the goods and truths of heaven and the church, all of which are conjoined with each other.

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