to the disciples sent from John, "Tell John the things which ye hear and see, the blind see, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead rise again, and the poor hear the gospel," Matt, xi. 4, 5. Hence it is, that it is so often said, that the Lord healed every disease and languor,'" Matt, iv. 23.—Heavenly Arcana, 8364.
Sores signifiy works grounded in the proprium, and thence evil, because from man's proprium nothing but evil can possibly be produced; for the proprium of man is that into which he is born, and which he afterwards contracts by his own life; and whereas his proprium is thus from its very birth composed of mere evils, therefore man must be as it were created anew, that is, regenerated, in order that he may be in good, and so may be received into heaven. When he is regenerated, then the evils which are from the proprium are removed, and in the place thereof are implanted goods, which is effected by means of truths. That sores signify works which are from man's proprium, may appear from the Word where sores and wounds are mentioned, likewise diseases of various kinds, as leprosies, fevers, hemorrhoids, and several others, all which correspond to cupidities arising from evil loves, and thence signify them.—Apocalypse Explained, 962.
