A Ransom for Many - それは何を意味するのでしょうか？

今から約2000年前、ナザレのイエス、イエス・キリストは十字架にかけられました。死にました。苦しみながら。そして、翌々日の朝には死からよみがえりました。彼の肉体は消滅した。というより、その後の出来事を考えると、それは霊的なものに変化したようだ。それ自体、考えると面白いことですが、この記事の焦点ではありません）。

その代わり、ここでは、イエスがなぜ死んだのかについて、聖書で語られているいくつかの事柄に注目したいと思います。それについては、ほぼ2000年前の混乱があります。それを掘り下げてみましょう...。

で マルコによる福音書10:42-45 にも）。 マタイによる福音書20:25-28）には、イエスの宣教の後半に起こった、よく知られた教訓が記されています。ヤコブとヨハネは、まだ何が起こっているのかよく理解していなかったので、イエスが「王」になったときに、イエスの左と右に座ることを約束してほしいと陳情していました。もちろん、他の弟子たちは不愉快な思いをしました。イエスはこの状況を知っていたので、彼らを集めて、イエスの使命の本質と、彼らの使命のあり方を説明しようとしたのです。

これがその文章です。

"しかし、イエスは彼らを呼び寄せて言われた。「あなたがたは、異邦人を支配することになっている者たちが、彼らの上に主権を行使し、その偉大な者たちが彼らの上に権威を行使していることを知っている。しかし、あなた方の間ではそうではありません。あなた方の中で偉くなる者は誰でも、あなた方の大臣となります。あなたがたの中で偉くなる者は、あなたがたの大臣となり、あなたがたの中で最も偉くなる者は、すべての者のしもべとなる。人の子といえども、仕えられるためではなく、仕えるために来たのであり、また、自分の命を多くの人のための身代金として捧げるために来たのである。"

身代金です。ここで使われているギリシャ語は、λύτρον（ルトロン）といい、λύω（ルオ）の「緩める」「解く」「自由にする」という意味から、贖罪や身代金を意味しています。

神学者の中には、この文章を、十字架の物語の中で、イエスが苦悩と神の本質からの分離感を示す3つのことを言っている文章と組み合わせた人もいます。「わが神、わが神、なぜ私をお見捨てになったのですか」、「それにしても、私の意志ではなく、御心のままにしてください」、「父よ、彼らをお許しください。

これは確かに、イエスがある種のスケープゴートの役割を果たし、父を失望させた人類の代わりに自分の死を捧げた、一種の犠牲と解釈することができます。そのように解釈した神学者もいます。西暦1000年頃のカンタベリーのアンセルムは、そのような主張をする一派のリーダーの一人でした。しかし、私たちはそれが正しい道だとは思っていません。それどころか、間違った道であったために、かなりの損害を被ったと考えています。

新キリスト教の神学では、神が怒ったというのは意味がありません。神は愛そのものです。私たちが神の愛に応えないと、神はがっかりされますか？しかし、怒ることはありません。特に旧約聖書ではそのように見えることもありますが、神の本質は愛なのです。

さらに言えば、イエスの肉体が死んだからといって、父なる神の気分が良くなるわけではないことは、もっとはっきりしているはずです。二人は一人の人間であり、一心同体であることを忘れてはいけません。

むしろ、神の受肉、宣教、死、復活という一連のサイクルは、新しい真理が人類に到達するために行われたものなのです。

で 天界の秘義1419,

"主は、愛そのもの、あるいは天上のすべての愛の本質と命であり、人類に主のすべてのものを与えることを望んでおられます。" "このことは、人の子が自分の命を多くの人のための身代金として与えるために来たという主の言葉によって示されています。"

で アポカリプスの説明 328:15という説明がありました。

"身代金を取る』という言葉は、人々を偽りから解放し、真理によって改革することを意味します。これは『真理の神エホバよ，わたしを身代金に換えてください』という言葉に示されています」。詩編31:5)

イエス様が死なれた理由の一つは、地獄の力に打ち勝つためでした。イエスは生涯を通して悪霊と戦いました。最も明確に描写されているのは、洗礼を受けた直後、荒野で40日間を過ごされた時です。イエス様の十字架の苦しみは、悪に対する最後の戦いであり、イエス様の復活は、悪に対する最後の勝利でした。

すべての人にとって、悪を克服するためには、誘惑や悪との戦いがあります。私たちが個人的に悪と闘うように、キリストは宇宙規模で悪と闘われました。キリストの死はその闘いの結論でしたが、それは敗北ではなく、勝利でした。聖書によると、神が肉と血を受けたのは、「死によって、死の力を持つ者、すなわち悪魔を滅ぼすためであった」とあります。(ヘブライ人への手紙2:14,15)

聖書がイエスの死の理由として挙げているもう一つの理由は、イエスがご自分の人間としての性質と神としての性質を一つにして、「ご自分の中で、二人で一人の新しい人を造る」ことができるようにするためでした(エフェソの信徒への手紙2:14-16を参照してください。 ヨハネによる福音書17:11, 21; 10:30)。

他にも様々な理由が挙げられます。

父のもとに行く」ことができた(ヨハネによる福音書13:3; 14:2, 28; 16:10)。彼は「栄光」を得ることができました(ヨハネによる福音書17:1,5)や「主の栄光に入る」(ルカによる福音書24:26)。彼は「完成された」ことができた(ルカによる福音書13:32)、または「聖なるもの」(ヨハネによる福音書17:19)。

スウェーデンボルグのでは真のｷﾘｽﾄ教86と書かれています。

"エホバ神は、人々を救済する目的で、神の真理としてこの世に現れた。贖いとは、地獄を支配し、天界を再編し、そして教会を設立することだった。"

磔にされた時、悪の勢力は勝ったと思った。当時の宗教的、市民的な権力者たちが主導して彼を非難した。彼はあざけられた。群衆は彼に反発した。

イエス様の肉体の死は、このように「身代り」でした。あの拷問と死を受けることによって、イエス様は自分の霊的な力が自然の死を超えていることを示すことができたのです。イエスは、私たちを地獄の支配から解き放ち、新しい教会、私たちが従うことのできる新しい道を確立されたのです。

327. Saying, Worthy art Thou to open ¹ the book and to loose the seals thereof, signifies that the Lord from the Divine Human has omnipotence and omniscience. This is evident from all that precedes; for the subject treated of up to this point is that the Lord from the Divine Human has omnipotence and omniscience, and that judgment, therefore, belongs to Him. That this is meant by "worthy art Thou to open the book and to loose the seals thereof" is clear from the series of the things explained from the beginning of this chapter to the present verse, which I will here present in their order, as follows: "I saw in the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne," signifies the Lord in respect to omnipotence and omniscience n. 297; "a book written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals," signifies the states of the life of all in heaven and on earth altogether hidden (n. 299, 300); "I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?" signifies exploration whether there is anyone such that he may know and perceive the state of the life of all (n. 302, 303); "no one was able, in heaven nor upon the earth nor under the earth, to open the book," signifies that no one from himself can do this at all n. 304; "behold the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof," signifies the Lord [as able to do this] because from His own power He subjugated the hells and reduced all things in the heavens to order, and this by Divine good united to Divine truth in His Human (n. 309, 310); "I saw a Lamb standing, having seven horns and seven eyes," signifies the Lord in respect to the Divine Human, that from it He has omnipotence and omniscience (n. 314, 316, 317); "and He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne," signifies that these things are from His Divine Human (n. 319). From this it is now clear that here "worthy art Thou to take the book and to loose the seals thereof," signifies that the Lord from the Divine Human has omnipotence and omniscience.

Фусноти:

179. Verse 28. And I will give him the morning star, signifies intelligence and wisdom from the Lord's Divine Human. This is evident from the signification of "stars," as being the knowledges of good and truth (See above, n. 72); and as they signify the knowledges of good and truth, they also signify intelligence and wisdom, for all intelligence and wisdom come by means of the knowledges of good and truth. It is evident also from the signification of "morning" as being the Lord in respect to His Divine Human, therefore "the morning star" means intelligence and wisdom from Him. "Morning" is often mentioned in the Word, and its signification varies according to the connection in the internal sense; in the highest sense it signifies the Lord, and also His coming; in the internal sense it signifies His kingdom and church, and their state of peace. Moreover, it signifies the first state of a new church, and also a state of love, and a state of illustration, consequently a state of intelligence and wisdom, and also a state of the conjunction of good and truth, the state in which the internal man is conjoined to the external. "Morning" has such various significations, because in the highest sense it signifies the Lord's Divine Human; it therefore also signifies all things that proceed from the Divine Human, for the Lord is in those things that proceed from Him, even so that it is He there.

[2] The Divine Human of the Lord in the highest sense is meant by "morning," because the Lord is the sun of the angelic heaven, and the sun of that heaven does not advance from morning to evening, or from rising to setting, as the sun of the world apparently does, but remains constantly in its place, in front above the heavens; consequently the sun is always in the morning there, and never in the evening. And since all the intelligence and wisdom that the angels have comes from the Lord as their sun, their state of love, and state of wisdom and intelligence, and in general their state of illustration is signified by "morning;" for these proceed from the Lord as a sun, and what proceeds from Him is Himself, for from the Divine nothing but what is Divine goes forth, and everything Divine is Himself. (That the Lord is the sun of the angelic heaven, and that from Him as a sun there exist all love, wisdom, and intelligence, and in general all illustration in respect to Divine truths, from which is wisdom, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 116-125, 126-143, 155, 156.)

[3] From this it can he seen why "morning" is so often mentioned in the Word when Jehovah or the Lord, His coming, His kingdom and church, and the goods thereof are treated of; as in the following passages, which I will cite by way of illustration. In the second book of Samuel:

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me. He is as the light of the morning; the son riseth, a morning without clouds (2 Samuel 23:3, 4).

"The God of Israel" and "the Rock" is the Lord in respect to the Divine Human and Divine truth proceeding therefrom; "the God of Israel" because Israel is His spiritual church, and "the Rock" because His Divine in the spiritual church is Divine truth (See Arcana Coelestia 3720, 6426, 8581, 10580). As the Lord in the angelic heaven is a sun, and as all the light that angels have is therefrom, and as the sun there is continually in its morning, it is said, "He is as the light of the morning; the sun riseth, a morning without clouds."

[4] In David:

From the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth; thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek (Psalms 110:3, 4).

This is said of the Lord as about to come into the world; "from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth" is conception from the Divine Itself, and the glorification of His Human thereby; "a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek," means that Divine good and Divine truth proceed from Him, for the Lord as priest is Divine good, and as king of holiness, who is, "Melchizedek," is Divine truth (See Arcana Coelestia 1725).

[5] In Ezekiel:

The cherubim stood at the east entrance of the gate of the house; the glory of the God of Israel was over them above (Ezekiel 10:19).

"Cherubim" signify the Lord in respect to providence and as to guard lest He be approached otherwise than by the good of love; "the east entrance of the gate of the house" signifies approach; "the house of God" is heaven and the church; the "east" is where the Lord appears as a sun, thus where He is continually as the morning; therefore it is said "the glory of the God of Israel was over them above."

[6] In the same:

The angel brought me to the gate that looketh towards the east; and behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east; and the earth was enlightened by His glory. And the glory of Jehovah came into the house by the way of the gate whose face is toward the east (Ezekiel 43:1, 2, 4).

Here, in the internal sense, the influx of the Lord into those who are in His kingdom and church is described; "the God of Israel" is the Lord in respect to the Divine Human and the Divine truth proceeding therefrom; "the house of God" is His kingdom and the church; "glory" is Divine truth as it is in heaven; "to come by the way of the east into the house" means from the sun, where it is continually in its morning. (That "glory" is Divine truth as it is in heaven, see Arcana Coelestia 4809, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429; that "the house of God" is heaven and the church in respect to good, and "temple" is the same in respect to truth, n. 3720; and that the "east," in the highest sense, is the Lord, because He is the sun of heaven, which is always in its rising and morning, consequently the "east" is the good of love from Him, see n. 3708, 5097, 9668)

[7] In the same:

The angel afterwards brought me back to the entrance of the house, where behold, waters issuing out from under the threshold of the house towards the east, they shall descend into the plain and come towards the sea, being sent forth into the sea that the waters may be healed; whence it comes to pass that every living soul that creeps, whithersoever the rivers come, shall live, whence there are exceeding many fishes, because these waters shall come thither, and they are healed, that everything may live whither the river shall come (Ezekiel 47:1, 8, 9).

Here also, the influx of the Lord from His Divine Human with those who are of His kingdom and church is described by pure correspondences. By "waters issuing out from under the threshold of the house towards the east," Divine truth proceeding from the Lord and flowing in with those that are in the east, that is, that are in the good of love to Him, is described. "The waters shall descend into the plain" and "into the sea," and "thereby the waters of the sea are healed," signifies influx into the natural man and into the knowledges which are therein; the "fishes therefrom" signifies many scientific truths in the natural man; that "everything shall live whither the river shall come" signifies that they should have life from Divine truth. That such thing are hereby signified there, no one can see except from the internal sense of the Word, yet every single expression therein involves arcana of man's regeneration by the Lord; but what is involved in each expression here will be disclosed in explaining Revelation 22:1, 2, of Revelation, where like things are mentioned.

[8] In David:

I have waited for Jehovah, my soul doth wait, my soul waiteth for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning, the watchmen for the morning; for with Him is much redemption, and He will redeem Israel (Psalms 130:5-8).

Here the Lord's coming into the world, and His reception by those that are in the good of love are treated of. The Lord's coming is signified by "I have waited for Jehovah, my soul doth wait for the Lord, for with Him is much redemption, and He shall redeem Israel;" and His reception by those that are in the good of love is signified by "more than watchmen for the morning, the watchmen for the morning." Here "morning" in the highest sense signifies the Lord, and in the internal sense His kingdom and church; and "watchmen for the morning" signify those who wait for the Lord's coming, who are those that are in the good of love, since to those the Lord is "coming."

[9] That "morning" signifies the Lord's coming into the world and then a new church is evident from the following passages.

In Daniel:

Unto evening and morning, two thousand three hundred, then the holy (sanctum) shall be justified. The vision of the evening and the morning, which has been told, is truth (Daniel 8:14, 26). "Evening" signifies the last time of the former church, and "morning" the first time of the new church, thus the Lord's coming.

In Isaiah:

Crying to me from Seir, Watchman, ¹ what of the night? watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night (D an. Isaiah 21:11, 12).

Here also the Lord's coming is treated of; "night" is the last time of the former church, and "morning" the first of the new. (What is signified by "calling out of Seir," see Arcana Coelestia 4240, 4384.) In Ezekiel:

The end is come, the end is come, the morning is come upon thee, O inhabitant of the land; behold the day cometh, the morning is gone forth (Ezekiel 7:6, 7, 10).

Here likewise the Lord's coming and the end of the former church and the beginning of a new one are treated of. In Zephaniah, where similar things are meant:

Jehovah in the morning, in the morning, He shall bring His judgment to light, nor shall He fail (Zephaniah 3:5).

[10] As "morning" signifies the Lord, His coming, also His kingdom and church, as also the good of love from Him, what is meant by "morning" in the following passages can be seen.

In David:

Cause me to hear Thy mercy in the morning (Psalms 143:8).

In the same:

I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning (Psalms 59:16).

In the same:

O satisfy us in the morning with Thy mercy; that we may sing aloud and be glad all our days (Psalms 90:14).

In the same:

O Jehovah, in the morning shalt Thou hear my voice; in the morning I will set myself in order for Thee (Psalms 5:3).

In the same:

God is in the midst of her; God shall help him ² at the turning of the morning (Psalms 46:5).

In the same:

O God, my God, in the morning do I seek Thee (Psalms 63:1).

In Isaiah:

In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to blossom (Isaiah 17:11).

In the same:

Jehovah is ³ their arm every morning (Isaiah 33:2).

In the same :

Jehovah ⁴ hath given me the tongue of the learned; he hath awakened me every morning (Isaiah 50:4).

In Jeremiah:

I speak unto you every morning (Jeremiah 7:13; 11:7; 25:3, 4). From the signification of "morning" it can be seen what is meant by the following:

That manna fell in the morning (Exodus 16:12, 13, 21).

That Jehovah descended in the morning from Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16);

That the priest kindled wood upon the altar every morning and placed thereon the whole burnt-offering (Leviticus 6:12). Also what is involved in the command respecting the sacrifice of the passover:

Thou shalt sacrifice the passover at the going down of the sun. Then thou shalt eat it; and thou shalt turn in the morning and go into thy tents (Deuteronomy 16:6, 7).

"They should sacrifice the passover when the sun went down," because "the setting of the sun" signified the last time of the church; that "they should turn in the morning," signified the establishment of a new church, thus the Lord's coming. These things are cited that it may be known what is signified by the "morning star," which the Son of man would give, namely wisdom and intelligence from the Lord's Divine Human. And as those who receive wisdom and intelligence from the Lord also receive Him, for the Lord is in the wisdom and intelligence that are from Him, even so that He is the wisdom and intelligence with them, the Lord Himself also is called "the Morning Star" in Revelation:

I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16).

He is likewise called a Star (Numbers 24:17).

Фусноти: