JESUS HAD MUCH TO SAY ABOUT SYMBOLIC INTERPRETATION
Jesus had important words of instruction about taking what He said literally or symbolically when the disciples asked him about speaking in parables (i.e. symbolically). Basically, what Jesus said was that only true disciples (learners) will understand parables. Here is what he said in Matthew 3: 11 and Luke 8:10:

These words were addressed to Jesus’ disciples who would, after Pentecost, become new New Covenant disciples. When the Holy Spirit came, the law would be written on their hearts and they would no longer be subject to the rules and regulations of the Old/First Covenant. They would be spiritually transformed from the Old/First Covenant wineskin to the New Covenant wineskin. And only then would they be able to hear God’s spoken voice that would explain the secrets of the kingdom of God to them.

In the meantime, they were in an awkward period of transition from Old/First Covenant to New Covenant. They recognized that Jesus was the Messiah. They followed him for three years to watch and learn how to understand parables. They had moments of insight, but they did not yet have full understanding. And when they did not understand the literal parables, they asked for understanding of the spiritual meaning.

Just as Jesus had come to fulfill/complete the law in his physical body, his disciples were also meant to fulfill and complete the law in their physical bodies. Thus, the “knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God” is nothing less than the law written on their hearts. That meant that they could eventually (i.e. after the Holy Spirit teaches them) see beyond the literal interpretation of Jesus’ parables to the underlying, spiritual meaning of his words. And because they can do this, they are simultaneously coming to spiritual understanding of God’s laws and his character which would be revealed in their lives. This is how they become “lights to the nations,” which is the ultimate purpose of the New Covenant:

Jeremiah 31:31-34: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Before the day comes when the New Covenant will be established, however, the existing Old/First Covenant religious system would need to be demolished. We tend to assume that this prophecy, along with other prophecies, will happen on a global scale at a unique point in time that affects everyone. This is a totally wrong assumption. Making this assumption is one of the errors that Old/First Covenant religionists commonly make when they interpret scripture literally. Indeed, the literal interpretation does forecast a unique event in time that appears to affect the whole of Israel. The correct, symbolic interpretation, however, is that this prophecy and other prophecies are directed to individual Israelites — not to the entire nation — and that it will happen person by person over a period of time as God determines in a way that is consistent with what God said in this famous scripture:

Jeremiah 29:11-14: For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

COMMENTARY: Applying a little common sense to this scripture we would clearly understand that this is a prophecy that applies first to individuals and eventually to all, or most, of Israel. And if we take a broad view of Israel, which we should do, we will interpret this prophecy to apply to spiritual Israel (i.e. the Gentile church) not just to ethnic Israel. If this was not the proper interpretation, the coming of the Messiah would not make any sense because he is the mediator of the New Covenant (i.e. the one who makes it spiritually possible for everyone to transition from Old/First Covenant to the New Covenant.

MORE COMMENTARY ON Jeremiah 29:11-14: Application of this scripture to the New Covenant, the main theme of Jeremiah, is evident in verse 13. In the Bible, “heart” is always a code word for the New Covenant. Seeking with the heart is contrasted with seeking with the natural mind which is what we do when we try to make some sense out of the literal words of the Bible. Similarly, we do not seek with all our heart when we seek to learn about God from a religious leader. In God’s view, it is idolatry when we go to a human mediator (i.e. false prophet) for something (e.g. wisdom, teaching, understanding, etc.) that God wants to give to us through his spirit.