Moses' Veil in the Face of Christ's Glory

Festival of the Transfiguration

February 10, 2013

Moses' Veil in the Face of Christ's Glory

Exodus 34:29-35

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Once a long time ago someone actually had to say this to Moses: “Excuse me, Moses. Your face is glowing.” Finally Moses understood why everyone, including his own brother Aaron, had kept their distance from him ever since he had come down the mountain of Sinai.

They had been at Mt. Sinai for a few months already. During this time Moses had been up on the mountain with God for 40 days and nights and had brought down two tablets of stone with God's commandments written upon them. But during his absence his own brother Aaron had passed the collection plate for gold from the people (gold they had gotten from the Egyptians as they exited Egypt), and had made a golden calf.

At this point, the Lord said to Moses:

“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” (Exodus 32:9-10)

But Moses pleaded with God not to go through with His plan. Moses pleaded with God not based on Moses' opinion, but on God's promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

“Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” (Exodus 32:12-13)

Then God relented and did not destroy Israel. But as soon as Moses went back down the mountain, his anger burned and he threw the stone tablets down and they were broken to pieces.

Now you need to know all of that so that you understand what had gone on before Moses' face started glowing. Since he destroyed the original stone tablets, God graciously set Moses to the task of replacing them with a duplicate set. And then for another 40 days and nights, the Lord was with Moses up on the mountain. And this is when Moses' face started to shine.

The radiance of God's glory was reflected in Moses' face. (Think of those glow-in-the-dark stars you can stick on your bedroom ceiling.) But instead of a light that draws people closer, like children gathering around a lighted candle, Moses' face scared everyone away at first.

Then once he realized what he looked like (maybe someone told him or maybe he looked down at the stone tablets at night and could read them), he called them back to him and spoke to them. What did he say? He preached. He proclaimed as a glowing messenger, like an angel, the Word of God for His people.

[Moses] spoke to them … and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. (Exodus 34:31-32)

And after he preached, he put on a veil over his face. Why? St. Paul tells us exactly why: to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away (2 Corinthians 3:13). While at first the Jews had been terrified by the glory of the God's Law, they soon found ways to tame God's Commandments. They lusted for the fading glory of their own righteousness of their own law. Moses didn't want them to stare and stare at God's commands—Do this! Live like that! Love in this way!—and start to think that they could perfectly do, live, and love as God desires.

No. Moses wanted them to look ahead to the Savior who would do, live, and love perfectly. The radiance of His promises, His Gospel, will never fade away.

Look at glorious little Ethan. Jesus' Gospel promises belong to him because the Holy Spirit has washed away the shame and guilt of his sinfulness. And this forgiveness will never fade away from Ethan. It will always belong to him, a gift from his Savior, Jesus Christ.

Granted, no one will ever walk up to him and awkwardly have to tell him, “Uh, excuse me, Ethan. Your face is glowing.” But whenever Jesus calls him, He'll notice and tell him, “Ethan, your face is glowing because I forgave you. I can see My radiance in you because I'm God and can see things that humans, like you, can't see. So come and eat with Me in My heavenly banquet prepared just for you.”

For now, our radiance in Christ is hidden as by a veil, but soon for each of us and then all together with Moses and Elijah and all the saints, we will shine in the everlasting light of our radiant Jesus.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.