67 THE RULER'S DAUGHTER RAISED. MATT. ix. 18 to 27. While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped Him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come, and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live, &c. &c. Q. WHAT do you here understand by a certain ruler and his daughter? A. According to the sense of the letter, by a certain ruler is to be understood a person, who was in authority amongst the Jews; and by his daughter is to be understood his daughter according to the flesh; but agreeable to the spiritual sense of this miracle, by a certain ruler is to be understood the church, or the members of the church, principled in heavenly truths, from which comes all spiritual rule or dominion; and by his daughter, in agreement with the same sense, is to be understood the affection derived from that truth, for such, in the language of inspiration, is the signification of the term daugh ter, and therefore so frequent mention is made of the daughter of Zion, the daughter of Jerusa lem, and the daughter of the uncircumcised, denoting the affection of good, the affection of truth, and the opposite affections of evil and of error. Q. What then do you understand by this ruler's daughter being dead, according to this spiritual signification of the term ? A. By being dead, according to the sense of the letter, is to be understood natural death, or the separation of the soul from the body, but by being dead, according to the spiritual sense, is to be understood spiritual death, or the separation of the soul from the life of the love of GoD, and its consequent immersion in the unclean loves of self and of the world. When therefore it is said by the ruler, My daughter is even now dead, it is to be understood that the affection of truth was thus separated from heavenly love, and thereby immersed in unclean loves. Q. But it is added concerning the ruler, that he said unto JESUS, Come, and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live-what do you conceive to be implied in these words? A. They are words expressive of a strong faith in the divinity of the GREAT SAVIOUR, and are therefore recorded for the instruction and benefit of the church in all succeeding ages. For when the ruler says, Come, in application to the GREAT SAVIOUR, he manifestly intended to supplicate His divine presence, mercy, and benediction; and when he added, lay thy hand upon her, he meant further to supplicate a communication with the Divine Omnipotence; and lastly, when he concludes, she shall live, he expresses a strong confidence in the effect of such communication, by restoring a dead affection to the newness of heavenly life, vigour and enjoyment. Q. And what do you understand by the words which follow, where it is written, that JESUS arose, and followed him, and so did His disciples? A. According to the sense of the letter, by these words is to be understood, that JESUS and His disciples rose up, and followed the ruler to his house, but according to the spiritual sense, by JESUS arising, is to be understood the elevation of His humanity to a closer and fuller union with His divinity, agreeable to the process by which He gradually made His humanity divine, by uniting it fully with the ETERNAL FATHER in Himself. This divine process was called His glorification, agreeable to His own words, where He says, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in another place, Father, glorify Thy name. And by His following the ruler, is to be understood, according to the same sense, the intenseness of His love to fulfil the desire which He had before implanted in the ruler's mind. It is added, and so did His disciples, to denote that JESUS and His disciples are always united, because His disciples are all those who admit into their wills and understandings His divinė love and wisdom. Q. But it is written, that when JESUS came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, He said unto them, Give place; for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth: and they laughed Him to scorn- A. These words, like the foregoing, have their spiritual as well as their literal meaning, and according to their spiritual interpretation, by JESUS coming into the ruler's house, is sig nified His divine influx into the minds of those who are represented by the ruler, viz. such as are principled in the knowledge of the ETERNAL TRUTH, but without that affection, which the truth is calculated to produce. And by His seeing the minstrels, and the people making a noise, is further signified, according to the same sense, His divine inspection of the disorderly state of their affections and thoughts; for by the minstrels are spiritually denoted the things relating to the will; and by the people, the things relating to the understanding; and by their making a noise, is signified the disorderly and disturbed state of both. Again, by His saying unto them, Give place; for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth, is to be understood, His divine control over that disorder and disturbance, that so he might restore the affection of truth to its proper state of vigour and activity, inasmuch as it was not really dead, or voluntarily and deliberately immersed in evil love, but asleep; in other words, immersed for a time, and unintentionally, in mere natural appetites and affections. And by their laughing Him to scorn, is further to be understood, that they were incapable of apprehending this distinction between death and sleep, and therefore made light of it, as a distinction not worth attending to. Q. It is lastly written, that when the people were put forth, He went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that landdo you understand these words? -how A. By the people being put forth, is to be understood the separation of disorderly thoughts; and by His going in, and taking her by the hand, is to be understood His divine influx into the affection of truth, and a communication thereby of divine power; and by the maid arising, is further to be understood the elevation of that affection out of the natural affections and appetites in which it had been immersed. Lastly, by the fame thereof going forth into all that land, is denoted the church's acknowledgment of a divine supernatural agency, proceeding from the HUMANITY of the INCARNATE God. Q. What then is the general instruction which you learn from this miracle? A. I learn again to adore the divine omnipotence of my GOD AND SAVIOUR, as exercised in the double kingdom of matter and of mind; of matter, by raising up to life a dead body; and of mind, by elevating out of unclean loves a mental affection. I learn further, to distinguish in myself between an affection which is dead, and an affection which is asleep and to see that the latter is capable of admitting divine influx and power, and thus of being raised out of sleep; in other words, of being elevated out of the natural |