Glory

 December 11, 2023

Last week the weather was a bit odd for WNY. The air was cooler than the ground, which meant…fog. It’s a beautiful thing to crest the top of a hill and see for miles around the hilltops poking through the blanket of fog in the valleys. At night however, it’s not always such a beautiful thing. 

Years ago, I was riding shotgun with a friend. I can’t remember where we were going, but the fog was thick and he was driving. Suddenly out of the fog there appeared a car heading straight for us. We both swerved, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision, after which he remembered to switch on his headlights. I never rode with him again.

Driving in a fog without headlights on is suicidal, but there is a caveat: use only the low beams. High beams in a fog are blinding; all you can see is light diffused. Others may see you, but you can’t see a thing in the brilliance reflected off all the minuscule water droplets in the air.

This morning I was reading in John’s gospel about the glory of God. John tells us that 

“In [the Word] was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:4-5, 14 

In the book of Exodus, we read, 

 “The cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”

—Exodus 40:34-35 

I used to think it strange that the glory of God was like a cloud, but that it was also described in terms of dazzling light. What I now think is amazing is that the glory of God was hidden in the ordinary body of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that there was nothing about him that would make us take a second look (Isaiah 53:2); God’s glory was shrouded in flesh. Christians often throw around religious language without asking what it means, so I was asking, “What is this thing we call glory?” The more I looked, the more I learned. God’s glory is the inner reality of his character, ie, who he really is. It is the manifestation of who God really is—hidden from view, revealed only by faith. It is dazzling, according to Exodus, and it is hidden in Jesus, according to John. The radiance of Christ is diffused by what one ancient mystic called “the Cloud of Unknowing;” we can’t see his form, but know that we are in the Presence of splendor. 

We see glimpses of God’s glory in Christ, but the most amazing thing is that we are ourselves to be vessels of that same glory. In John 17:22, Jesus says that the glory he received from the Father, he gave to us. Sadly, too often that glory is hidden by our obtuseness, our sin, our unwillingness to humbly give ourselves to others as Jesus gave himself for us. God’s glory is seen in Christ’s humility, as John tells us, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory…” God’s glory is seen today as we walk in Jesus’ footsteps. Wouldn’t it be something if people could look at us and say, “We beheld God’s glory.”