Reflecting God’s Glory
Exodus 34:29-35 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not realize that the skin of his face was shining because he had been speaking with the Lord. 30When Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, they were amazed that the skin of his face was shining, so they were afraid to come close to him. 31Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the rulers of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. 32Afterward, all the people of Israel came close to him, and he gave them all of the commands that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses was finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out again. Then he would come out and tell the people of Israel what he had been commanded. 35Whenever the people of Israel saw Moses' face, they would see that the skin of Moses' face was shining. Then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord again.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). Amen.
Moses was a great mountain climber! This was the second time he had hiked up and down Mt. Sinai. Forty days earlier, Moses had been on top of Mt. Sinai receiving the two tablets of the covenant. This covenant was God’s two-way promise with the children of Israel. He would be their God if they loved and worshiped him.
When Moses came down the mountain the first time, he heard the sound of celebrating in the campground (Exodus 32:18). The Israelites had talked Moses’ brother, Aaron, into making a golden calf. The people worshiped the calf saying, “This is your god, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4). Moses was rightly disgusted by their idolatrous and adulterous breaking of God’s covenant. He smashed the two tablets of the testimony.
Now, forty days later, Moses makes the long trek down from Mt. Sinia and into the Israelite campground. But the people are afraid. They see Moses’ face glowing with the glory of the Lord. Moses has no idea that after being in God’s presence for the past forty days, his face is reflecting God’s glory. The people should have been thrilled when they see God’s glory. The reflection of the glory of the Lord on Moses’ face was a sign that the two-way covenant between God and his people was reinstated. God was not leaving them.
But the people are troubled instead of thrilled. “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not realize that the skin of his face was shining because he had been speaking with the Lord. When Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, they were amazed that the skin of his face was shining, so they were afraid to come close to him. Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the rulers of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them” (Exodus 34:29-31).
Like a father coaxing his fearful children, Moses had to coax the children of Israel into his presence. God had mercy on them. Instead of destroying them with fire from heaven or leaving them alone in the desert to die, God would be present with them. His presence would be present among them as they traveled through the desert to the Promised Land of Canaan. God would go with them. They were his special people.
“Afterward, all the people of Israel came close to [Moses], and he gave them all of the commands that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. When Moses was finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak
with him, he would take the veil off until he came out again. Then he would come out and tell the people of Israel what he had been commanded. Whenever the people of Israel saw Moses' face, they would see that the skin of Moses' face was shining. Then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Lord again” (Exodus 34:32-35).
Moses’ face reflected God’s glory contained in the two-way covenant. Yet, this glory needed to be veiled, because the reflection of glory would not last. Moses wore a veil so the people would not see God’s glory fading away after every time he went into God’s presence.
St. Paul teaches about that veil covering the fading glory. “We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the Israelites could not continue to look at the end of the radiance, as it was fading away” (2 Corinthians 3:13). The glory of the old, two-way covenant would not last. It was just for the time being. Eternal life is found in another face – in the face of Jesus Christ. The glory the people saw in Moses’ face was temporary. It was fading.
God knew his people would continue to break the old covenant. That’s why he established a new covenant. The Lord declares, “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days … I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). Jesus promised, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).
This new covenant is a one-way covenant. It is only from God to his people. This covenant is established through the death and resurrection of God’s Son. This is a permanent promise. God promises that he will not leave us. He will never forsake us. He is our Father. We are his children. Instead of destroying us with fire from heaven or leaving us alone in this world to die, God is present with us. He will lead us to the Promised Land of heaven.
Yet, like those Old Testament children of Israel, we don’t act like God’s beloved children. We don’t behave like we are going to heaven. We act like we enjoy this world more than the world Jesus won for us.
We should be thrilled at seeing the glory of God. But we often act like we are afraid of God’s glory. We recoil at God’s holiness. We withdraw from God’s presence. We cringe at God’s righteousness.
We are afraid that God’s purity is going to ruin our party. We’re terrified he’s going to shine his glorious light into the dark crevices of our lives, our hearts, and our minds. We are often like those Old Testament Israelites. We want to party, drink, and indulge. We want the sound of celebration in our campground. We want to worship when we want, how we want, and what we want.
God’s purity petrifies us. His sanctity scares us. His reverence for holy things reviles us. And so, we are afraid of God’s glory. St. Paul states that we live like there is a veil over our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:15).
Paul continues, “But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:16). By God’s grace, the Holy Spirit removes the veil from our hearts. He connects us to Christ. He cleans out the filth in our hearts to make room for loving and living for purity. He shines his holy light into our minds to sanctify us for holy living. He changes our view of fun from indulging our sinful nature to finding fun in living for Christ.
Today we celebrate the Transfiguration. Frightened disciples on another mountain saw the glory of God in Christ Jesus. Moses was there as the mediator of the old covenant. He was happy to be replaced. Jesus is the new Mediator between God and people. He is the new covenant in the
flesh. “There is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Standing next to Moses was Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of those two tablets of the covenant. Jesus said of himself in his Sermon on another Mount, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus is the permanent glory, the glory that would never end. “Indeed, if what is fading away was glorious, how much more glorious is that which is permanent” (2 Corinthians 3:11)!
Jesus’ glory shone in all its brilliance there on the Mount of Transfiguration. Savor that glimpse of glory. For during the dark days of Lent, we will see our Savior betrayed, denied, and forsaken. We will see Jesus climb Mt. Calvary and put his greater glory on display on the cross. It is a glory hidden under bruised cheeks, swollen lips, pierced hands, bloodied head, and torn back. Christ’s hidden glory is in his suffering. Hidden glory in the curse of his crucifixion. Hidden glory in his substitutionary death.
God continues to hide his glory among us. The glory of God hidden in his plain words – read from Bibles, sung from hymnals, taught in classrooms, and preached in sermons. The glory of God hidden in water and Word splashed on a saint’s head at the baptismal font. The glory of God hidden under the bread and wine placed on our lips as the body and blood of Christ.
As you go out in the world, by God’s grace, you reflect God’s glory. As you curtail your cursing at work. As you discipline your children at home. As you go on a date with your spouse. As you moderate your drinking and partying. God’s glory is reflected in your face, your mouth, your hands, your attitude, and your whole life.
There is another face that shone in Scripture. Another face that reflected God’s glory. It was Stephen, the first martyr in Acts. It happened after Stephen was seized, before he was stoned. “All those who were sitting in the Sanhedrin were looking intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). Do you know what Stephen did as his face looked like that of an angel? He talked about Moses and preached about Christ. Then, as the Sanhedrin brutally stoned him to death, Stephen called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And he prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:59-60).
Stephen’s face reflected Christ’s glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. His words echoed Christ’s words on Mt. Calvary.
Stephen died a condemned man in the eyes of the world. But he was free in the eyes of God – the freest of anyone there. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). Stephen was free because he had seen the glory of Christ through the Spirit, who brought him to faith, and kept him safe – even as he was pummeled with rocks. Christ had shone the light of faith into Stephen’s heart. That light shone brightly even in that dark hour. As a man freed of his sins, Stephen forgave freely, as he had been freely forgiven.
St. Paul – who in his previous life as Saul, stood on the side holding cloaks as Stephen was stoned – could have been referencing Stephen when he wrote, “But all of us who reflect the Lord's glory with an unveiled face are being transformed into his own image, from one degree of glory to another. This too is from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). When Christ’s glory shines in us through Word and Sacraments, we will reflect that glory with unveiled faces. The world will see. They will notice. They will react. Either positively or negatively.
Stephen saw Christ and then was taken to Christ’s home. St. John writes of our heavenly home, “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God has given it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23). Our faces will shine when we are in our heavenly home reflecting the face of Christ in his full, unveiled glory!
Until then, shine for Christ now. For we end each worship service with the blessing, “The Lord makes his face shine on you.” You don’t have to be a great mountain climber like Moses to see God’s face. You see God’s face here in worship. Your face is shining as you reflect the glory of God that you have heard, spoken, sung, felt, and tasted in Word, water, bread, and wine. Shine and talk and reflect God’s glory like Moses, like Stephen, and even like Christ, our Lord and our Light! Amen.
But all of us who reflect the Lord's glory with an unveiled face are being transformed into his own image, from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18). Amen.