A short reflection from Michael Leong at The Expository Preaching Trust, reposted by the Anglican Church League, argues that familiar church illustrations help—but preachers should also insist that Christ is superior to every earthly comparison.
Common illustrations (lifeguard, parachute instructor, advocate) can clarify Jesus’ work, but Leong urges preachers to add one step: show how Jesus is better than the illustration.
Leong’s principle, labelled ‘Jesus exceeds,’ asks preachers to press beyond analogy so congregations grasp the uniqueness and sufficiency of Christ.
# What the phrase 'Jesus exceeds' means
Michael Leong, writing for The Expository Preaching Trust and reposted by the Anglican Church League, collects common sermon illustrations—Jesus as lifeguard, parachute instructor, or Son of the King—and says they are useful. Each one maps a familiar human role (rescue, substitution, advocacy) onto what Christ has done.
Leong's point is practical: those images help people understand gospel truths. At the same time, he warns that stopping at likeness risks understating who Jesus is. The phrase he uses—"Jesus exceeds"—means that while Jesus can be like these things, he is also greater than them. Preachers should show both the resemblance and the ways Christ surpasses the illustration.
# Why this matters for preaching
Leong invites a second move. If a preacher leaves the illustration as the final image, the congregation may come away with a limited or purely functional view of Jesus. The corrective is simple: after explaining the likeness, name the limits of the analogy and then show how Jesus exceeds it—by scope, permanence, moral authority, or personal cost.
# One practical pattern for sermons
Leong's piece suggests a two-part structure you can apply in expository preaching:
# Where Leong's example lands
Leong does not reject analogies. He gives several that work well in church contexts. His call is corrective and constructive: keep the helpful teaching functions of illustrations, but make the exceeding point explicit so listeners understand both the resemblance and the surpassing reality.
# Implications for ministers and teachers
Preachers and Bible teachers can adopt Leong's suggestion immediately: review your next sermon illustrations and add an explicit sentence or paragraph that names the analogy's limits and then contrasts them with Christ's fullness. This keeps sermons both relatable and theologically tight.
# How the Anglican Church League presented it
Resources/Theology section on September 27, 2026. The repost preserves the practical thrust: expository preachers should use accessible images but not stop there.
# Bottom line
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