DLORD 16, 17 - By His Suffering of the Cross the Lord Did Not Take Away Sins, but Bore Them (part 2, useful but long)

DLORD 16 [1, 5-7]

The state of the church founded on the Word
and represented in the prophets
was what bearing the iniquities and sins
of the people means.    

That the Lord, as the grand prophet,
represented the state of the church
in relation to the Word,
is apparent from the particulars of His suffering,
as for example, that He was betrayed by Judas;
that the chief priests and elders
arrested Him and condemned Him;
that they struck Him blows;
that they struck Him on the head with a reed;
that they put on it a crown of thorns;
that they divided His garments,
and for His tunic cast lots;
that they crucified Him;
that they gave Him vinegar to drink;
that they pierced His side;
that He was entombed,
and on the third day rose again.

--  The Lord’s being betrayed by Judas
symbolized His betrayal by the Jewish nation,
who had the Word;
for Judas represented that nation.

--  The Lord’s being arrested and condemned
by the chief priests and elders
symbolized His having been so treated
by the whole Jewish Church.

--  His being whipped,
spat upon in the face, struck blows,
and struck on the head with a reed
symbolized the Jews’ treatment of the Word
in a similar way in respect to its Divine truths,
all of which have to do with the Lord.

--  His having a crown of thorns put on Him
symbolized the Jews’ falsification
and adulteration of those truths.

--  Their dividing the Lord’s garments
and casting lots for His tunic
symbolized their having done away
with all the Word’s truths,
but not its spiritual sense —
the Lord’s tunic symbolizing
that level of meaning in the Word.

--  Their crucifying the Lord
symbolized their destruction and profanation
of the entire Word.

--  Their offering Him vinegar to drink
symbolized nothing but truths falsified and falsities,
which is why He did not drink it,
and why He then said, “It is finished.”  

--  Their piercing His side
symbolized their complete extinction
of every truth in the Word
and every goodness in it.

--  His being entombed symbolized His rejection
of any remaining human quality
received from His mother.

--  His rising again on the third day
symbolized His glorification.

The same things are symbolized
by those passages in the Prophets and Psalms
where they are foretold.

As a consequence, after the Lord had been whipped
and brought out wearing the crown of thorns
and a purple garment that the soldiers put on Him,
He said, “Behold, the man!” (John 19:1, 5).
He said this because “the man”
symbolizes the church,
inasmuch as the Son of man
symbolizes the truth of the church, thus the Word.

It is apparent from this now
that to bear iniquities means to represent
and portray in person
sins against the Word’s Divine truths.

. . . the Lord endured and suffered these things
as the Son of man,
and not as the Son of God;
for the Son of man
symbolizes the Lord in relation to the Word.

DLORD 17 [1-2, 3]

We must now say something about
what is meant by taking away sins.
Taking away sins has the same meaning
as the redeeming and saving of mankind.
For the Lord came into the world to save mankind.
Without His advent
no mortal could have been
reformed and regenerated, thus saved.
But this became possible after the Lord
had taken away all power from the devil,
that is, from hell,
and had glorified His humanity,
which is to say,
had united it to the Divinity of His Father.
If He had not done both of these,
no one could have received any Divine truth
and retained it in him,
and still less any Divine goodness;
for the devil,
who previously had possessed a superior power,
would have plucked these from his heart.

It is apparent from this
that by His suffering of the cross
the Lord did not take away any sins,
but that He bears them away,
that is, removes them,
in the case of people who believe in Him
by living in accordance with His commandments.

Everyone can see from reason alone,
provided he possesses some enlightenment,
that sins cannot be removed from a person
except through the practice of actual repentance,
which is for the person to see his sins,
implore the Lord’s help,
and desist from them.

To see, believe or teach anything else
is not based on the Word,
nor does it accord with sound reason,
but it springs from lust and a corrupt will,
which constitute a person’s native character
and infatuate his intelligence.