PARADISE REGAINED 12

Fitzwilliam Museum
Paradise Regained
Christ returns to His mother

Paradise Regained, Book 4

A fairer Paradise is founded now
For Adam and his chosen Sons, whom thou
A Saviour art come down to re-install. [ 615 ]
Where they shall dwell secure, when time shall be
Of Tempter and Temptation without fear.
But thou, Infernal Serpent, shalt not long
Rule in the Clouds; like an Autumnal Star
Or Lightning thou shalt fall from Heav'n trod down [ 620 ]
Under his feet: for proof, e're this thou feel'st
Thy wound, yet not thy last and deadliest wound
By this repulse receiv'd, and hold'st in Hell
No triumph; in all her gates Abaddon rues
Thy bold attempt; hereafter learn with awe [ 625 ]
To dread the Son of God: he all unarm'd
Shall chase thee with the terror of his voice
From thy Demoniac holds, possession foul,
Thee and thy Legions; yelling they shall flye,
And beg to hide them in a herd of Swine, [ 630 ]
Lest he command them down into the deep,
Bound, and to torment sent before thir time.
Hail Son of the most High, heir of both worlds,
Queller of Satan, on thy glorious work
Now enter, and begin to save mankind. [ 635 ]
Thus they the Son of God our Saviour meek
Sung Victor, and, from Heavenly Feast refresht
Brought on his way with joy; hee unobserv'd
Home to his Mothers house private return'd."

Luke 4
[13] And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
[14] And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
[15] And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
[16] And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up:

In Calm of Mind, Edited by Joseph Anthony Wittreich Jr, on Page121 Wittreich wrote:
"Blake is one of the very few illustrators, very few interpreters, of Paradise Regained to recognize that Milton's poem does not end with the epiphanies signaled by the pinnacle scene. Those epiphanies are followed by by the most heroic act of all. Having learned of his divinity, Christ instead of passing away into ecstasy returns to humanity. This is Christ's deed above heroic, what Blake would call his 'unexampled deed.' By withstanding the temptation on the pinnacle Christ displays his enormous love of God; by returning home he displays his enormous love of man. He can 'Now enter, and begin to save mankind.'"

The most profound events can never be described in language because it limits and restricts. All language points beyond itself but most impressively language which attempts to express archetypal experiences does so. When Jesus is said by Milton to return to his 'mother's house', or by Luke to 'Nazareth, where he had been brought up', they are saying more that can be expressed in words. The essential change in the recognition which Jesus perceived of the nature on God and Man through his experiences in the wilderness are alluded to by the simple word 'return.'

Jesus had been remade by encountering a new conception of the work that God might accomplish through him. But he returned to the community which had nurtured his outer existence, not knowing God's plan but knowing that he was a vessel containing a truth which God would have him give to the children of Adam.

Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Plate 3, (E 33)

 " As a new heaven is begun, and it is now thirty-three years
since its advent: the Eternal Hell revives. And lo! Swedenborg is
the Angel sitting at the tomb; his writings are the linen clothes
folded up. Now is the dominion of Edom, & the return of Adam into
Paradise; see Isaiah XXXIV & XXXV Chap:"

Isaiah 35
[1] The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
[2] It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
[3] Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
[4] Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
[5] Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
[6] Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
[7] And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
[8] And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
[9] No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
[10] And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Laocoon, (E 273)
"Adam is only The Natural Man & not the Soul or Imagination

The Eternal Body of Man is The IMAGINATION."

Mary the mother of Jesus is pictured in the final illustration to Milton's Paradise Regained not as an individual but as a symbol of the ministry which will be accomplished through the life and teaching of Christ. From the time that Jesus was conceived Mary recognized that the unborn child was the fulfillment of the promise of God to show mercy on his people. She experiences once again the joy of knowing that the process of salvation is being enacted.

Luke 1
[44] For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
[45] And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
[46] And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 
[47] And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
[48] For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
[49] For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
[50] And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
[51] He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
[52] He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 
[53] He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 
[54] He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
[55] As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

Peter and Andrew had waited during the forty days that Jesus struggled in the wilderness after his baptism. They had held on to the hope that Jesus was the leader who would answer the needs of the people for a means of escaping from the bondage which held them. Jesus had come back to them prepared to offer himself as God's chosen one whom they anticipated. They were prepared to follow to the best of their abilities. 

Second Corinthians 4
5] For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
[6] For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
[7] But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Acts 9
[13] Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man [Saul/Paul], how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
[14] And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
[15] But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
[16] For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
[17] And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

First Corinthians 15
[38] But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
[39] All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
[40] There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
[41] There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
[42] So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
[43] It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
[44] It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
[45] And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
[46] Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
[47] The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
[48] As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
[49] And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
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