Chapter 33: Understanding the Sacramental Language
Canticles of Solomon, if you receive them as they appear at first glance, are no other than verses of love or a wedding song. It is not appropriate, therefore, to always claim the perspicuity of words.
Christ said: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear, and he that reads, let him understand." It is not convenient to immediately seize the first sense, neglecting and not considering other places. Christ said to the Apostles,
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees." They immediately thought he spoke of bread, when he spoke concerning doctrine. He said also, "Lazarus our friend sleeps." There the Apostles misunderstood him: "If he sleeps he shall be safe," when he spoke of death. Again, the Lord said: "Destroy this
Temple, and in three days I will raise it up again." Neither did they understand that he meant his body. "He that shall keep my commandments, shall not die forever." Here also the Jews thought that he spoke of common death. Grossly did Nicodemus misunderstand the new birth. No less did the woman of Samaria err concerning the water which Christ promised her. The Hebrews erred when Christ said to them: "That Abraham saw his day and rejoiced."
Wherefore, let them not always say to us that this scripture, "This is my body," is plain: for we will answer them: it is plain, as touching the signification of the words. But the sense of them is not plain, as in the like sentences it appears: "Christ is the Rock," "Christ is the Lamb," "You are the body of Christ," "We who are many are one bread." All these are the words of God, and we may pronounce that they are plain, that they are manifest: yet none of them infer Transubstantiation.
Chapter 33:
Understanding the Sacramental Language
Wherefore, there is no cause why perspicuity should be so much pretended.
It behooves us, by other places and circumstances of the scripture, to regard well what is meant here. Thus, we will expound this proposition by scanning it more deeply. God intended to draw man unto Him by ample promises because He wanted to bless and make him happy. Because we have unbelieving hearts, He ensured many benefits appeared towards mankind to allure the same unto Him.
Therefore, He not only freely gave us all creatures but also delivered mankind from the destruction of the flood, despite our ill-deserving. He showed mercy to Abraham, granted success to Isaac's lineage, and increased
Jacob's seed in Egypt. When they were oppressed, He delivered them, gave them a prosperous land, and exalted them to the dignity of a kingdom and priesthood. Yet, they were always unbelieving and minimally persuaded of God's goodwill towards them. Due to their infidelity, He cast them into various captivities and later delivered them.
Finally, to leave no doubt about His goodness, He bestowed the greatest of all benefits upon us—His own Son endowed with man's flesh, who died on the Cross for our salvation. This benefit was such that, as Paul said to the Romans, how could it be that He gave all things together with Him? And to ensure it was not forgotten, He had it renewed in our memory by the sacrament of the Eucharist, so we would recall by faith that Christ was delivered unto death for us and, in believing, we would eat His flesh and drink His blood. To make this more effectual, He added the tokens of bread and wine, which move us more earnestly than bare words.
The Bread of Life When He says, "This is my body," He meant no differently than when He promised in John 6, "I am the bread of life." He spoke of Himself, as concerning the body and flesh delivered unto death. He intended these
things to be our bread and meat, confirming and nourishing our minds, and through the mind, the body, and ultimately the whole man. Thus, in the Supper, Christ did nothing else but transpose the proposition: as He had said that His body and flesh are bread, so now He says (showing bread) that it is His body.
When He pronounced, "This is my body," it was as if He said, "My body, received by faith, shall be unto you in the stead of bread, whereby you shall be spiritually fed." The meaning is, "I give you bread to eat, and in the meantime, I set forth unto you my body which shall be fastened to the Cross, so that with a faithful memory and attentive mind, you may eat it spiritually with yourselves: as you with the body eat bread, so with the mind, you may feed upon my flesh."
Figurative Language in Scripture They argue that if we allow figures, heretics will pervert all things. On the contrary, unless we use figures, as shown in the cited examples, heretics have the upper hand. They will urge the proper sense, the sense that immediately offers itself. However, a figurative speech is often used in the scriptures. For instance, we read that "the seed is the word of God" and "the rock was Christ." While some cavil and deny a figure here, claiming Paul referred to the spiritual rock, which they say is Christ verily and not figuratively, Augustine and Origen are on our side, plainly stating that the outward rock signified Christ.
When Christ said, "I have chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil,"
Judas was not transubstantiated into a devil. Circumcision is written as, "My covenant shall be in your flesh," whereas circumcision is a sign of the covenant. Genesis 33 shows Jacob building an altar called the mighty God of Israel. Moses, after the victory against Amalek, called the altar "Jehovah
Nissi," meaning God is my banner. Jeremiah mentions a city called
"Jehovah Tsidkenu," God our righteousness, as monuments of what they expressed in names.
Examples of Figurative Language John the Baptist is written as "a burning and shining candle," and Christ said, "He is Elias," if you will receive it. Christ also said, "I am the vine, and ye are the branches," and "I am the door." He is described as "a stone set for a ruin and resurrection" in Deuteronomy, "the blood is the life," meaning it signifies life. Joseph's brother Judas said, "He is our flesh," signifying kinship. Paul said, "Many are one bread," which is figurative.
When Christ breathed on His disciples and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," the breath was not transubstantiated into the Holy Ghost. Genesis states, "My spirit shall not abide in man because he is flesh," and John says,
"The Word became flesh," which uses the figure Synecdoche, representing the whole man under the name of flesh. On the Cross, Christ said, "Woman, behold thy son," and to the disciple, "Behold thy mother," establishing a new order and relationship.
It is said, "He is our peace," meaning He is the cause of our peace, and "My words are spirit and life," indicating they bring these things to believers.
John said of Christ, "Behold the lamb of God," yet His nature was not changed into that of a lamb. The scriptures often describe the words of the Lord as judgment, truth, and righteousness, which are signified and expressed within them.
Symbols in the Scriptures In the Apocalypse, Christ says, "I am Alpha and Omega," meaning the beginning and end of all things. Paul calls his Gospel "the power of God