John 3:4

John 3:4. Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

Thus do men interpret Christ’s figures literally, and this has been the basis of a great many mischiefs and false doctrines. When he is using metaphors to make the thing plain, they straightway use the metaphor rather as a cloak to hide the meaning than as a glass through which to see it. This is the reason why the doctrine of transubstantiation has come up. Because our Saviour said, "This is my body," men have not been able to understand that he meant, "This represents my body. This is a figure." Truly "the letter killeth." It is the inner spirit that gives life.