Hermeneutics, Anyone?

Understanding how to practice the art of interpretation

05/19/2025

John 14:21-26 Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, "Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. "I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name-- he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”

I love visiting families for supper, because that is a great way to get to know my parishioners and for them to know me. But sometimes I need help translating a foreign language they speak, and I don’t mean Spanish or Vietnamese. A small child will speak to me in their own made-up language and I cannot understand them. They sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher: “Wa-wa, wa-wa, wa-wa.”

But amazingly, an older sibling knows this arcane language and translates for me what their little brother is saying. Have you ever had this experience? The older sibling is practicing the art of hermeneutics, or interpretation and translation. They take an incomprehensible message and make the meaning plain. And I am convinced this is one of the greatest skills a person can possess.

In the first reading today we get a clue where the word hermeneutic originated, namely, with the Greek god Hermes. Paul and Barnabas are on their first missionary journey in Lystra and Paul speaks to a cripple and heals him. And St. Luke notes: “They called Barnabas ‘Zeus’ and Paul ‘Hermes’ because he was the chief speaker.”

You see, the god Hermes was a messenger from the gods on Mt. Olympus to mortals on earth. He was not merely a mailman, though, he was really an ambassador, who made sure the message was not only delivered but also understood, and indeed, received with joy or sorrow as the contents warranted. The people of Lystra thought Paul was “Hermes” because he did the hermeneutics of explaining their apostolic mission, like an older brother interprets his little brother’s baby talk.

If you give it a little thought, you will quickly see how we find ourselves in the role of Hermes quite frequently, that is, practicing the art of hermeneutics. For instance, anxious and worried parents call me and beg me to talk to their teenage son who is into gangs or drugs.

The parents want me to be their ambassador, their Hermes, and deliver their message of love, concern, and succor. Why? Well, because when the parents talk to their teen, they sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher, “Wa-wa, wa-wa, wa-wa.” There is no communication bridge between parents and teenagers.

Often couples come to me for marriage counseling because their communication has broken down. They both speak English but they cannot hear or comprehend what the other party is saying. Like Hermes carried messages from Mt. Olympus to earth, so I feel I carry the feelings, hurts, and hopes of struggling spouses to each other. Good hermeneutics requires careful attention to what someone does not say as well as what they do say.

And if we read the gospel in this light we see the Holy Trinity itself need two effective Hermes to serve as Ambassadors from heaven to earth. How so? First, Jesus says: “Yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.” And later he adds: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name – he will tech you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”

In other words, the eternal source of wisdom, love, and grace is God the Father. And he wants desperately to communicate his infinite glory with us mere mortals. But when he speaks, he often sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher, or that toddler in the family I visit. God's naked words are incomprehensible to mortals.

Therefore we need two Hermes – the Son and the Spirit – to interpret, translate, deliver, and even embody the Father’s good news. This is the indispensable task of hermeneutics, and you and I are inevitably engaged in it. And if I may say so with due reverence, not even God can avoid it. A little hermeneutics, anyone?

Praised be Jesus Christ!