Avoiding Signs

Gospel: John 2: 13-25

"A sign is always less than the thing it points to, and a symbol is always more than we understand at first sight.  Therefore we never stop at the sign but go on to the goal it indicates; but we remain in the symbol because it points to more than it reveals." - Carl Jung

Jesus did not come to give signs; he did not trust those who sought signs and he called it evil to seek for them.  A sign for those who seek them is always the end in itself, and they never satisfy those who seek them.  Sign-seekers always need more signs to stay satisfied, like a drug addict needing ever more product.  

Jesus is not a sign but a symbol.  In him we can remain and be at rest, for he points to more than he can reveal to us.  As symbol he is more than we understand at first sight of him.  If we seek signs we miss the symbol and find no rest.  If we remain in the symbol we arrive at the goal, for we are with the one who can lead us to the goal we seek, to the more that lies beyond our limited vision can perceive.  The Samaritan woman recognized in Jesus the symbol, for she set aside her water jar - set aside the sign that could not satisfy in order to remain with the symbol who leads us to the place of complete satisfaction.