^ S. D. Gordon, Quiet Talks on Service, 17.
'J, H. Jowett, in The British Weekly, March 2, 1911.
84 TRANSFORMED BY BEHOLDING
L
The Beholding.
"We all, with open face beholding as in a glass." In the Revised Version of this verse there are four changes, three of which are clear gains : " unveiled " instead of " open," " mirror " instead of " glass," and " transformed " instead of " changed," But " reflecting " for " beholding " is of doubtful advantage ; Chrysostom, followed by Theodoret, expounds the word as meaning " reflect like a mirror," But it is not found in this sense in any inde- pendent passage. This meaning was suggested to Chrysostom probably only by this verse. The verb in question is never predicated of the reflecting mirror; but always in the active voice of him who causes the reflection, and in the middle voice of him who sees reflected in a mirror either himself or some object beneficial (or hurtful) to himself. Of these two meanings of the middle voice, the latter is in the passage before us suggested at once by the accusative, " the glory " governed by the verb. And that this is the sense designed by the Apostle is made clear by the context. For, if the unveiled ones are already reflecting the glory of Christ, it is needless and meaningless to say, as_ the Eevisers make St, Paul say, that they " are being transformed into the same image " : for the change would be already effected, especially as the word "image" suggests outward form, not inward essence. The other rendering, now pushed into the margin, states appropri- ately the means of the change, viz. contemplation of the reflected glory; and thus supplies the link connecting the unveiled face with the progressive transformation into the same image. It also ke^ps up the contrast, suggested by " we all," of the unveiled Christians and the veiled Jews ; while the word " transformed " reminds us of Moses returning unveiled into the presence of God, and thus rekindling his faded brightness.
The analogy is taken from the effect of a mirror — not of glass as ours are, but of burnished metal. The effect described is that of sunshine thrown back from polished metal. You may stand before a mere painting of light and colours, but there is no trans- mission of the light to you. On the other hand, stand before a mirror whence the sun is reflected, and you too are bathed in light and dazzled with the glory.
2 COR. III. 1 8 85
1. We all behold. Notice the emphasis on the universality of this prerogative : " We all." This vision does not belong to any select handful : the spiritual aristocracy of God's Church is not the distinction of the lawgiver, the priest, or the prophet; it does not depend upon special powers or gifts, which in the nature of things can belong only to a few. There is none of us so weak, so low, so ignorant, so compassed about with sin, but that upon our happy faces that light may rest, and into our darkened hearts that sunshine may steal.
In that Old Dispensation, the light that broke through clouds was but that of the rising morning. It touched the mountain tops of the loftiest spirits — a Moses, a David, an Elijah caught by the early gleams, while all the valleys slept in the pale shadow, and the mist clung in white folds to the plains. But noon has come, and, from its steadfast throne in the very zenith, the sun which never sets pours down its rays into the deep recesses of the narrowest gorge, and every little daisy and hidden flower catches its brightness, and " there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." We have no privileged class or caste now ; no fences to keep out the mob from the place of vision, while lawgiver and priest gaze upon God. Christ reveals Himself to all His servants in the measure of their desire after Him. Whatsoever special gifts may belong to a few in His Church, the greatest gift belongs to all. The servants and the handmaidens have the Spirit, the children prophesy, the youths see visions, the old men dream dreams, " The mob," " the masses," " the plebs," or whatever other contemptuous name the heathen aristocratic spirit has for the bulk of men, makes good its standing within the Church as possessor of Christ's chiefest gifts. Redeemed by Him, it can behold His face and be glorified into His likeness. Not as Judaism with its ignorant mass, and its enlightened and inspired few ; we all behold the glory of the Lord.
2. We behold with unveiled face. The words refer to the immediate and clear view which we obtain in the New Testament of the character and work of Christ. Under the Jewish dispensa- tion Christ was exhibited, but it was as it were through a veil. In the infancy of the Church it was instructed by the Law as a schoolmaster, after the manner in which the teacher is accustomed
86 TRANSFORMED BY BEHOLDING
to instruct his younger pupils, by means of vivid representations, by signs and by symbols. But, just because the teaching was by means of shadows, there was a mystery attached to it. The people could not worship except through a priesthood and sacrifice. From their holy temple the light of day was excluded, and the only light was that supplied by the seven-branched golden candlestick. Into the holiest of all, representing the Divine presence, the high priest alone entered, and this only once a year, and not without blood. In the service of the synagogue, the worshippers sat with their heads veiled in deepest reverence when the Law was read. But now, when Christ came, the mystery which had been hid for ages was revealed. At the hour when Jesus said, " It is finished," the veil, which hid the holiest of all and the innermost secrets of the covenant, was rent in twain from top to bottom.