The Bible cannot always be taken literally. While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat. This is My body." Matt 26:26 Weird. But . . . I guess it must be. I mean, Jesus doesn't lie, right? Apparently cannibalism is one of the great sacraments of Christianity. . . . all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ. I Cor 10:3-4 So when the devil wanted to turn rocks into break, he was talking to the right guy. Since Jesus was a rock and his body is bread, it makes sense. This also explains why Jesus took so long to come save the Jews. He was a rock. How often did literal thinking confuse the people around Jesus? Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, "He said that because we did not bring any bread." Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" These seem like ridiculous scenarios. How could these people be so dense? But at the same time, how can we be sure that we're not making the same mistake? Most of us imagine hell as a place of utter darkness with a lake of fire in the center. Wait? Fire and darkness? Somehow our minds accept the contradiction. After all, the Bible is God's Word. Hey, maybe the flames are invisible. Or maybe there is meaning in darkness and fire, meaning than can help our physical minds to somehow grasp a spiritual place. Like a blind man getting a sense of blue by holding a piece of ice. Same applies to heaven. Lions and lambs? Streets of gold? No symbolic language there. What about prophecy? How many Jews rejected Jesus based on their literal interpretation of prophecy? Jesus did not ascend to the throne of David, therefore he was not the Messiah. What about the Parable of the Talents? For some reason all parables are understood to be physical things describing spiritual things--seeds, leaven, pearl, treasure--but in this particular case, Jesus is actually talking about money, right? In this one case. Right? Or, wait! He means our . . . talents. Christians, what is the great and valuable gift that God has given to us through Christ? Money? The ability to play piano? This may seem valuable to me, but I'm not the one telling the parable. What is valuable to Christ is the very thing he came to give--LIFE. The Holy Spirit. And that Spirit is to bear fruit, not just sit dormant in our spirits until Christ returns. Why do we twist these parables into pocket-sized, practical life lessons? The people had Solomon for that. Jesus didn't work at OSH. Bottom line: God sees the world from a Creator's perspective. Often he speaks in symbols, types, and shadows to explain things that would be difficult for physical creatures to understand. If we don't want to sound like the Pharisees, the Disciples, or Nicodemus we need to begin to understand that perspective.
About Me
- John Barnts
- If you would like to get on a Frank Update e-mail list, send your request to johnb(at)villagechristian.org. You may also use that address for private questions or comments.
9 comments:
"While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat. This is My body.'"
To take this passage literally means to believe that Jesus actually said these words. There are parts of the Bible not intended to be taken literally (like most poetry or apocalyptic writing), but the Gospels and letters of Paul, which are largely documentary and historical, are most certainly intended to be taken literally. While many of Jesus' words were figurative, records of His existence, actions, and sayings are not meant to be taken figuratively.
Don't confuse taking the Bible literally with taking parables or other figurative speech literally; they are worlds apart.
But don't you see that people confuse literal and figurative all the time? That's why the Roman Catholics have the doctrine of transubstantiation but Protestants don't. One took it literally, one took it figuratively.
For those who speak the language of music…”I will turn my ear to a proverb; with my harp I will expound my riddle:” (Psalm 49:4 NIV) or “I will incline my ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.” (Psalm 49:4 KJV) So, the first challenge is to decide which translation we are going to take literally.
“I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:” (Psalm 78:2 KJV)
“All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ‘I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.’” (Matt. 13:34-35)
“Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel…” (Ezekiel 17:2)
Jesus explains why he speaks in parables in Matthew 13:10-17, Mark 4:11-12, and Luke 8:10. Reference is made to Isaiah 6:9; 42:20). And while in Isaiah 40… “Sing to the Lord a new song”. (40:10)
Rick
John,
Regarding Matt 26:26, Roman Catholics interpret Jesus' words literally, and Protestants interpret them figuratively, but your assertion is that the Bible (not Jesus' words) cannot always be taken literally. Both Catholics and Protestants take that passage literally in that they both believe Jesus actually said "This is my body." See?
Someone close to me tells me that my meaning in my previous comments is incomprehensible to "normal" people. It's more interesting to discuss the main idea anyway...
This post follows nicely from the previous one. In the previous post, you make the point that the Creator uses physical things to illustrate spiritual things. In this post, we see how parables are a specific example of that. (Interestingly, in parables it is often the story itself that is the "physical", created thing and its meaning the spiritual thing).
Even Jesus' disciples often (mistakenly) interpreted his words in a literal fashion. We now know not to do this with parables, partly because the meaning is explained clearly in the Bible, and we think, "Silly disciples!"
You ask whether we are making the same mistake as the disciples. If not with the parables, than in regards to what? You give pictures of hell and heaven as an example where we would tend to make this mistake. What else?
Do you think if the parable of the talents used a different word for money (like dollars), there would be far less confusion about it?
I think people interpret according to their own perspective. It's perfectly natural, and they would feel confident that they are correct. People have their own ideas about who Jesus was, what his agenda was, and what he meant by everything he said. Usually these ideas are engendered and fostered in a church setting.
Generally, in church today, we interpret parables and saying based on the "basics" of Christianity as we know them.
1) we are sinners
2) Jesus is God in the flesh
3) Jesus died for our sins
4) he was raised from the dead
5) Faith in this brings life and bridges the gap between hell and heaven.
6) we should do our best to show others the truth and follow the moral directives of Christ until we get to heaven.
So when we get to a parable like the one about the wedding, we immediately think about Christians and non-Christians. We assume the wedding must have something to do with heaven. Isn't there going to be a wedding feast up there?
However, Jesus came to earth to unite Israel with their God. Like a marriage. Branches in a vine. But the Jews (for similar assumptive reasons) refused to attend this "wedding," so God went out to the Gentlies and brought them to the party. According to Romans 11, the Jews were grafted OUT of the vine for their unbelief, and the Gentiles were grafted in.
The rending of the veil was like the removal of the veil of a bride after a wedding. The two were to be joined in spirit as one. But the Jews would have no part of it. Well, most of them. Paul went out to the "byways and alleys" to invite the Gentiles.
Just like the parable of the talents, people will continue to interpret them from their own point of view. I even heard one pastor use the parable of the sower to show how God wants homosexuals in the church. His worship pastor was a homosexual, so it worked out. Parables can be flexible that way.
They will continue - but they will be wrong...............
Luke 24: 44-45 v.44 "Now He [Jesus] said to them, "These are My Words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."
v.45 Then HE opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
It was Jesus who opened their minds to understand.....
II Peter 1:20 & 21
But know this first of all, that NO prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Genesis 40:8b "Do not interpretations belong to God?"
Phil 2:12 tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, I think that if one is born again it is up to us to study the WHOLE Bible and seek the mind of God through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Its not hard. We have His permission through Christ to come with confidence to the Throne of Grace Hebrews 4:16
Ephesians 3 - the mystery has been made known to us ......v.11-12 "This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
If we aren't living by faith and trying to figure it all out in our own minds we may miss the boat. Anonymom
Well put.
http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/father/a5.html
Post a Comment