1Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

In our modern age, much of the church seems convinced that academic instruction can help one obtain a spiritual understanding of God and His ways. It seems to be assumed that if one can explain supernatural truth, the other party should be able to comprehend it.

This neglects the idea that God’’s truth is of a supernatural origin and originates with Spirit, not flesh.  Jesus declared this very thing.  This further establishes the importance of the Holy Spirit for proper understanding.

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

I realize that understanding original language can be beneficial, but to really know a person, you must understand where they are coming from and get the message they intend. Just understanding the basics of their language does not lead to a proper understanding of what they are actually saying. Jesus is a perfect example of saying things that seemed plain enough but, when taken literally, resulted in a gross misunderstanding on the part of some. This is found in the pages of Scripture.

John 6:41 The Jews then complained about Him because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”  43 Jesus, therefore, answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”  52 The Jews, therefore, quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”  53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”  59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

We experience this phenomenon almost every day in some way.  We think we know what a person is getting at when, in fact, we do not have a clue because we truly do not know them well enough to get the nuance of what seems plain to most but has a different message to those who truly know them.

Jesus was speaking in their language of things that originate in the Spirit. They could not see the forest for the trees.  Their pride in their ability to know the language properly, in the natural, led them to a wrong interpretation of what Jesus was actually saying.  They would have argued that they knew what they heard and were not mistaken.  Jesus knew that unless the Spirit gave them understanding, they would not get it, so He did not try to find other ways of describing His point to them.  Jesus was, in a way, making sense that made no sense.  I have a friend in Detroit, Michigan, who refers to this as the meta-message.  We all need the help of the Holy Spirit if we are to understand the intent of God’s communication truly.  The Bible is no ordinary book.  It’s the ministry of the Holy Spirit to bring its words to life in those who desire to know the truth.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Oh, how we need You, Holy Spirit, to help us see what we really need to see and understand what we really need to understand.