The word of the day is “veil.”  In our reading of 2 Corinthians. 3:12-18,  St. Paul contrasts the clarity of our vision of Christ with the reading of the Law of Moses.  The Apostle writes, “But even to this day, when Moses is read a veil lies on their hearts.  Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (vs. 13-14).

The key to the passage is its controlling metaphor, the image of the veil.  Paul refers to when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Tables of the Law (Exodus 34:29-35).  When he spoke to the Israelites, his face shown with the Glory of God.  But the people were afraid to approach him  (vs. 30). Consequently, Moses put a veil over his face as he gave the divine commandments to the Israelites.  He took the veil off when he conversed with God and put it on to speak to the people.

The Veil Hid the Fading Glory

Why did he do it?  In our reading, Paul seems to comment on the Septuagint (Greek) version of Exodus 34:33.  It reads, “when he ceased speaking, he put a veil on his face.” In today’s passage, Paul interprets this statement to mean that Moses covered his face so that the people could not see the fading glory of “what was passing away” (vs. 13).

Paul continues that “to this day” when the Old Covenant (Old Testament)  is read, there is a veil that covers the hearts of nonbelievers.  They can neither see the Glory of God revealed in it nor that its divine splendor is vanishing.

The Veil Removed

But, now in the New Covenant, Paul states that when people turn to the Lord, that veil is removed.  The Orthodox Study Bible notes that here “Paul is transforming the understanding of one God, the Lord, in the Old Covenant, into Jesus’ revelation of one God in three Persons, each of which is the Lord, in the New Covenant (OSB fn. on 3:16-18). Thus, we can say that when believers look to the Father and the Son “in the power of the Holy Spirit” (OSB fn. 3:17), the veil is removed. Their eyes are opened to the glorious revelation of God. The light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ shines on them (vs. 4:4).

Beholding as in a Mirror

Paul goes on to say that when the veil that hides the revelation of God is removed, we see “as in a mirror.”  The root of this word refers not merely to looking but to watching.  We can say that we behold the Glory of the Lord as if gazing into a mirror  (Strong’s #3700, 180).

Paul uses the same metaphor in 1 Corinthians when he writes, “Now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12).  But Paul uses this image in two different ways.  We can understand the distinct senses of the two passages when we note that the ancients at this time made mirrors of polished metal.  In such devices, they saw “dimly.” The image was obscure or indistinct (Strong’s 135, 8) for the image was not exact. Here is the sense of “seeing in a glass darkly.”

However, polished metal can give an image a special glow.  In this sense, Paul’s emphasis is on the splendor of the image, the sense of seeing the Glory of God in a shining mirror.

In our reading, the primary thought is that Jesus Christ is the image of God.  The Book of Hebrews elaborates, the Son of God is “the brightness of His [God’s] glory and the express image of His person (Hebrews 1:3).  A secondary idea, though, is that, “we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory…” (vs. 18)  as a reflection of Christ.  In Romans, Paul repeats the same thought. “For whom he foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son… (Romans 8:29).  Thus, by the renewing power of the Spirit, we are becoming what we behold. We are being refashioned in the image of Christ our Lord.

For Reflection

If we needed it, our reading also gives us the explicit warrant to interpret the Old Testament in the light of the Gospel of Christ.

Furthermore, this passage expresses the hope of  our ultimate destiny.  It is the promise that the image of God will be fully restored in us.  According to our reading, we look forward to our transformation into the image of Christ, who is the exact image of God.  The Epistle of 1 John states, “… we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.  It is better to say, ”we shall be like Him because we will see Him as He is.”  As Paul says, we will go from glory to glory, for the glory of Christ that we behold “face-to-face” ( 1 Cor. 13:12) will change us into the reflection of His Glory.