The Glorious Face Of God: A Sermon For Transfiguration Sunday

The Glorious Face of God

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The sightings of God are indeed rare. Moses got a glimpse from the rear as Yahweh passed by in Exodus 33:19-23. There the LORD says no one can see His face and live. John 1:18 asserts that no one has seen God at any time. Paul adds this in Colossians 1:15: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” There are other Scriptures which affirm the invisibility of God.

Yet, one finds Scripture which affirms that some people have seen God. Isaiah in the 6th chapter records a glorious vision of Yahweh in the Temple. He does not see the face, but he at least sees the feet and the train of His robe. Abraham, when he entertains the three angels, actually sees Yahweh in human form as he was one of the angels. Samson’s parents saw the LORD ascend in the smoke of the sacrifice. There are other Scriptures in which the LORD is seen either in vision or in person. It even says in the same 33rd chapter of Exodus that Yahweh spoke with Moses face to face. so how do we reconcile the statements that no one has ever seen the invisible God with these occasional glimpses of God?

In the same passage in the Gospel of John says that the Divine Word became flesh. This same Word is said that this Word has made God known. John 14:8 adds: that the one who has seen Jesus has seen the Father as well. The Father is indeed Spirit and is veiled in glorious light. Just as one should not look with the naked light at the sun, even during an eclipse, one cannot penetrate the shekinah glory of God. We observe solar eclipses indirectly to prevent blindness or severe damage to the retina. Even the glory of God is too much for our mortal bodies. Whenever it happens in Scripture, the one who sees the vision has a feeling of being undone. Samson’s father thought they would die. Isaiah cries out “Woe is me: I am undone. John and Daniel both fall as dead. The disciples upon the Mount of Transfiguration fall asleep. when we realize that sleep is often used as a euphemism for death, we should realize that Peter, John and James were totally overwhelmed at the glory of the transfigured Christ.

We reconcile the verses of the invisibility of God by realizing that the glorious face of God has to be veiled to some degree so that the beholder will not die. When Jesus walked the earth, he was veiled in His human nature. Except for a brief moment on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Glory of Jesus was not revealed, and then only to certain chosen people. He is also seen in his glory at His Ascension. There is perhaps one other time Christ’s glory was glimpsed. this was in the Garden of Gethsemane. It says that the disciples fell asleep three times. Was it just because they were sleepy? Perhaps. But perhaps we should consider that they encountered the Divine Jesus there. If so, it says that the glory of God cannot be hid, even in the face of the cross. Jesus was as much God in His humiliation and weakness as He was at the Mount of Transfiguration where Luke records that Jesus spoke of His coming exodus at Jerusalem, It would be as the Passover lamb that Jesus would set us free at the cross. Behold the face of God wearing a crown of thorns rather than the crown of the glorious King of the Universe!

John, in his first epistle, records that the apostles of Jesus saw His earthly ministry from its beginning. They not only saw, they beheld. They also touched the Word of Life of one who is fully God and fully man. They were granted extraordinary privilege to see God in human flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. This privilege has not yet been granted to us, yet. But we shall see Him as He is one day, What we do have is the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets recorded in Scripture as well as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We are those who have not seen Jesus with human eyes, but in a way, we do see Him. We may see for now as though a glass darkly, but one day we shall see Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12).