140. Since, then, by the Holy Spirit the Divine truth is meant, and the Divine truth was in the Lord and was the Lord Himself (John 14:6), and since the Holy Spirit could therefore proceed from no other source, it is said:
The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39), and after the glorification:
He breathed upon His disciples and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). The Lord breathed upon His disciples and said this because "breathing upon, (aspiratio)" was an outward symbol representative of the Divine breathing-into (inspiratio). Breathing-into effects insertion into angelic societies. From all this the understanding can comprehend what was said by the angel Gabriel respecting the conception of the Lord:
The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). And again:
The angel of the Lord said to Joseph, in a dream, Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy bride; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph touched her not until she had brought forth her firstborn Son (Matt. 1:20, 25). Here the "Holy Spirit" means the Divine truth going forth from Jehovah the Father; and this going forth is the power of the Most High which then overshadowed the mother. This, therefore, agrees with what is said in John:
The Word was with God, and God was the Word. And the Word became flesh (1:1, 14). That by "the Word" here the Divine truth is meant may be seen above (n. 3) on The Faith of the New Church.
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