Symbolic language is widely used in the gospel to convey spiritual truth. This is seen, for example, in the use of words such as 'light', used twenty two times, symbolizing God’s truth and contrasted with 'darkness', symbolizing evil and sin. In the "1 AM' sayings Jesus speaks of himself as the Bread, the Way, the Shepherd, the Vine, the Door for the Sheep, the Light of the World. There is, of course, symbolic language in the parables and sayings of Mark's gospel. Symbols and symbolic language can convey spiritual truth very vividly; we need think only of the universal Christian significance of the cross, bread and wine, as prime examples.

A notable feature of the language of John's gospel is the use of 'double meanings'. Jesus says something which we soon see has a double meaning, for example, in the conversation with the Samaritan woman, he speaks of life-giving water (4:10) which the woman understands to be the water from the well (4: 11) but the spiritual meaning of what Jesus is saying soon becomes apparent. After the feeding of the crowd (chapter 6), the discourse moves from common bread to the 'Bread of Life'. There are many other examples.

§