Jesus Removed the Veil

What Did Jesus Do?

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side,
he has made him known.
John 1.18

“I Can See Clearly Now” was a popular song by Johnny Nash back in 1972. The song tells of the banishment, as of the lifting of a veil, of rain and dark clouds, as a prayed for rainbow ushers in “nothin' but blue skies.” It wasn't that the singer was blinded by the “rain,” but his ability to see clearly was inhibited, his vision was obscured.

Before the Incarnation of Jesus, the Father had allowed only a limited revelation of himself. Even Moses, who had the closest and most intimate relationship with Yahweh among the many figures of the Old Testament, was not permitted to look upon his face (see Exodus 33.17-23); the whole of the summit of Mount Sinai was shrouded in cloud when Moses went up to meet with Yahweh (Exodus 24.15-18). Yet it would be wrong say that he was totally unseen before Jesus; Yahweh was most certainly known to the Patriarchs and Prophets of Israel, and made known to the people. So, we need to understand that the point John is making is that, with the coming of Christ, the Father removed the veil, and permitted the fullness of his glory to be revealed to humanity in the Son.

It is important to note that, though Moses employed a veil over his face to shield the people of Israel from God's glory after he had met with Yahweh, it was not to hide the glory of Yahweh, but rather to prevent the people from seeing the glory fade. For the glory shining from the face of Moses was but a reflection, imperfect and incomplete, and impermanent, even as the covenant Moses received from Yahweh would be superseded by the new covenant in and through Jesus Christ. (see 2Corinthians 3.12-18)

With the sending of his Son, the Father declared that the time had come for us to know him, now to see him, and see him clearly, fully. While there was a time when people could not see Yahweh and live (Genesis 33.20), now to look upon the Son and know the Father is to receive life (John 14.5-7; cf 17.3).

The law given through Moses was never intended to be the full, clear, and lasting revelation of the one God; that remained for the coming of Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth (John 1.17). Indeed, the Father had spoken many words in many ways to his people through the Law and the Prophets (see Hebrews 1.1), but his final and eternally binding word is the Son—the Word made flesh—the unveiled shining of his glory and his exact image (Hebrews 1.2-3).

There never has, nor ever will be, any new revelation to append or surpass the Incarnation of the Word. To look for God anywhere else, or in anyone else, other than Jesus Christ is to search from behind a veil, eyes impaired, mind clouded, heart shrouded. To look neither to the right nor to the left, but straight ahead, and behold the Son, is to see the Father. Jesus removed the veil that we should behold the Glory, and so be transformed, degree by degree, into the same image (2Corinthians 3.18).

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4