Nature and Symbol in the Gospel Books

Florin MIHESCU

The comprehension and interpretation of the Gospel books is usually achieved through the
rational judgment and language. To enter the inner significance and the mystery of Jesus
sayings seems possible only through intellectual intuition related to the symbolic sense of
divine utterance.
It becomes obvious that Jesus speaks in parables not so much for keeping aside from the
limited mob, which in any case, is not capable of grasping too much of his sayings, but
because such an allegoric saying may include and express the heavenly mystery. Identifying
the sense of the symbols becomes the key for the acknowledgement of mysteries.
But for such symbolic knowledge to be true the symbol cannot constitute a convention, an
allegory or even a poetic metaphor. The symbol must contain in itself facets of the real. From
this perspective, every item existing within the creative act becomes a symbol, and the
support for the divine sparkle, capable of lighting up the sacred fire. The symbol completes
the gap between the earth and the sky, making the nature talk to us even in a secretly kind of
way.
Many times the language used by Jesus seems to be indirect, and we may find it allegorical
and even paradoxical. The three modes of the Christian language reveal the three levels of
reality, corresponding, lato sensu, to the rational comprehension, to the symbolic perception,
and to the intellectual intuition, with an inherent mixture between one mode and the other. By
using a symbolic language, Jesus reveals other new profound meanings, giving life to the
human creation and existence, and transcending the nature, which apparently seems to be
motionless. In reality, everything that exists speaks in itself and for the glory of God, and the
God answers with His blessing.
As we could hardly think of bringing to an end all the symbolic meanings emerging from
Jesus sayings, in the manner they are presented in the Gospel books, we will resume to the
main symbols of which we will try to pursue only a few of the most important interpretations.
As examples, we will refer to the tree regnum: mineral, vegetal and animal, as well as to the
four traditional elements.
The most banal and static item in the nature is perhaps the stone. This what the demon
thought of, the moment it asked Jesus to turn the stone into bread. Jesus could perform this
miracle, but He does not let himself lured by the demon. From the inert stone to the
nourishing bread and to words such as spiritual food, there is a hiatus interrupted by Jesus
when creating a stairway from earth to heaven, which became impossible for the demon to
climb.
Using the same constructive language, Jesus defines Himself as the stone at the end of the
angle. Another symbol of the mineral regnum is used by Jesus when talking about the salt,
the moment he addresses His disciples: You are the salt of the earth (Mathew 5.13). The salt
becomes first, a way of preservation, whereas the apostles are the ones who have to preserve
and transmit the meaning of the divine word. On physical level, the salt is transformed
through sacrifice, into spiritual fire.

Analyzing the symbols of the vegetal and animal regnum, we will resume only to two
examples. The lily is, in many countries the symbol of royalty. Its white cover is the
representation of the light. But this flower is also a cup, a chalice and a symbol of the heart,
representing the spiritual sun. This flower keeps in itself a sacred deposit, just like the Holly
Graal. The representation of the Virgin Mary as a rose results from this perspective, thus
symbolizing a sacred receptacle.
Another vegetal symbol is the grapevine representing the Tree of Life, and the carrier of
the fruit producing the wine as Eucharistic immortality beverage. Since the flowers represent
a terrestrial symbol, the birds are a celestial symbol, with further interpretations as angelic
lights. The language of the birds is the symbol of the divine Word. The transfiguration may be
extend to the interpretation of the Holly Spirit present at Jesus Baptism ceremony, as a dove.
An animal, whose signification is pretty much malefic, is the donkey, which due to its
stubbornness and its misleading kicking, manifests certain demonic characteristics. Yet, its
presence at Jesus Birth, as well as at Jesus entering the Jerusalem, may be interpreted as the
sign of its submission to man. A negative connotation is related also to other animals, such as
the pig and the dog. Upon the healing of the possessed one from Ghergheseni (Luca 8. 26),
the demon crowds (legions) are turned by Christ into so many pigs that will then drown in a
lake (lower water). The third animal assisting at the Birth is the sheep. Commonly accepted as
flock, the sheep represents the crowd waiting for its Shepard. In a supreme representation, the
lamb, due to its kindness and acceptance of the sacrifice, is one of the most commonly known
symbols of Christ. Another symbol of Christ is the fish. The fish is the seed of the higher
waters, the one regenerating the world. It is well-known the resemblance of the initials IH and
the beginning of the Greek word Ihtios (fish).
The Earth, as raw material represents the essence when it comes to germination and
fertilization of the seed. The earth constitutes the human soul or the entire world, as Christ
once said. The seed is the word of God, and together, earth and seed, result in the
acknowledgement of the kingdom of God. On another occasion, while taking about the seed,
Jesus stated that the seed cannot bear fruits until it become rancid, revealing this way, the
symbols of death and resurrection. The water is another purifying element, or an element that
includes in itself the sacred, as it is the case of the baptismal water. The third element with
symbolic characteristics is the air. On the level of a superior connotation, the air is an
ineffable wind, a symbol of the spirit, of the soul that blows whenever it whishes.
The fire has also a complex symbolic character. As purifying element of everything that is
adulterated, it becomes the main sin eradicating agent. But the fire also represents the
symbol of the sacrifice, of the corporal transformation into spiritual. But the maximum
representation of the fire is the symbol of the spiritual light and of the Holly Spirit, who came
upon the apostles under the shape of fire tongues during the Whitsuntide.
This is the way in which the four elements of the traditional cosmology transcend their
limits of significance, from the depth of the world up to celestial spheres, following specific
classification processes.
The coronation of Creation is symbolized by the two ontological aspects of the Being: the
Word and the Light. Christ the Word and Christ the Light. Together they give Life to the
world. The light and the word become the symbols of the original Creation, the manifestations
of the Supreme Being:
In our analysis of the symbol, we may notice that any creature is a symbol in itself,
because it becomes the support for certain significant qualities. These qualities are virtual
qualities, and their symbolic meaning must be up-dated if we want them to reveal themselves
to us. Such maximum replenishment could be achieved only through divine grace that gives
quality the attributes of the Idea, up to the ultimate acknowledgment. The real presence of the

spiritual influence surpasses any support, by approaching it to the God. Then, the bread and
the wine turn into the body and the blood of Christ; then within the windstorm and the fire on
the Sinai Mountain (pyre in fire) manifests the Holly Father; then the dove present at the
baptismal ceremony carries the presence of the Holly spirit. From mere virtual symbol any
creation may become an experienced symbol. It exists within our thoughts and hearts and
extends upon us its holly grace.