The symbols and the Reality

What do the following sentences mean?

"In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.... That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world." -John 1:4, 9

"Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.'" -John 6:32

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser." -John 15:1

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her... 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This is a great mystery, but I am speaking concerning Christ and the church." -Ephesians 5:25, 31-32

There are other lights, and there is the true Light. Moses is not the giver of bread from heaven, because the true Bread is the Son of Man, and He is also the true Vine. Becoming one flesh is a great mystery, and the true subject of that mystery is Christ and the church.

He is the true Light; what then, in this world, is light? It is that which is like Him in His brightness.

He is the true Bread. By what right, then, do we call this baked stuff bread? Because it imitates the One who is truly Bread: this comes down from heaven and mingles with that which is on earth, it springs up only to be plucked and crushed, but finally emerges from fire and darkness to become life and strength to the world. (It is "bread" because it always relives the history of the true Bread.)

He is the true Vine. How dare we call these humble plants by His name? Because in their own way they too are His disciples: they pour their own life into fruit and offer it to sustain, to refresh, to make hearts glad.

The "great mystery" of marriage is a mystery about Christ and the church. What do the groom and the bride in each earthbound little wedding have to do with such cosmic glories? He is Christ to her, and she is Church to him. The one true Husband condescends to let this man fill His role, and opposite them both the Church offers Her place to this woman.

Again, He is the true Light. Whatever else is called "light" has its name not of itself, but by His courtesy. To speak of "light" is to use a metaphor--as if the brightness of a lamp, or of the sun, were itself the Eternal! Likewise with bread, vine, husband: we call these things by His names, and it makes sense, because in their various ways they remind us of Him.

But even so, is it really that simple? No! "Light" is not merely a symbol of Him, as we understand symbols. When the sun shines on us, He Himself is shining on us. When we eat and drink, it is His own life in the form of bread and wine that comes into us, that conveys His own strength to our muscles and bones. At the wedding, He (the Head) is Himself in him, and She (the Body) is Herself in her. "In Him all things consist."

All of what we call "light" is nothing other than the shining of the True Light. "Bread," "vine," "marriage": it is He at the center of each of them that makes them what they are.

"Bread" that was not saturated with His presence would not be bread. But then, "bread" that was not saturated with His presence would not even be.