Meanwhile, down at the pub, the Jews all gathered around their new hero to ask him to explain his gestures. The Pope first said that all of you Jews are going to have to leave town and find another place to live. And I pointed to all of us and told him we are staying right here. Then the Pope declared that in three days not one of you will be left, and I told him that not one of us would leave. So, there you have it.
Words do help to understand it, however.
That is a good justification for preaching, too, so that we understand the meaning of the symbols of faith all around us in this sanctuary. Two pivotal ideas in scripture help explain our human plight and why the world we know is so far from God's original blessing. The first hinge is God's gift of free will to us all, and the second hinge is our abuse of that freedom by defying God's command. We are the only ones in his creation who are given such a command from God. It is a huge compliment.