The Shining Face of God
One connection has been growing in my mind that I do not remember hearing before.
The priestly blessing is among the most beautiful words in all of Scripture:
“The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.”
— Numbers 6:24–26
The shining face of God is His blessing. His presence. His grace. His peace.
Throughout the Old Testament, God’s glory is inseparable from His presence. When Moses came down from Sinai, his face shone because he had been with the Lord. The light was not his own. It reflected the One whose presence he had encountered.
Then Jesus came.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, His face shone like the sun. This was not reflected glory. The glory belonged to Him.
Then John records something that has captured my attention.
Just before His Passion, Jesus says,
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
— John 12:23
When I hear the word glory, I think of majesty, victory, a throne, a crown. Yet Jesus is speaking about the Cross.
John keeps bringing us back to this. The Cross is not merely what precedes glory. It is the hour of Christ’s glorification.
That has caused me to hear the priestly blessing differently.
What if the Cross reveals the deepest meaning of the shining face of God?
Paul writes,
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
— 2 Corinthians 4:6
The face of Jesus Christ is the face of God turned toward us.
John says the Son is glorified on the Cross.
Paul says the glory of God is seen in the face of Christ.
I cannot help but wonder if they are inviting us to see the same mystery.
The Cross is where the Father’s heart is unveiled.
There we discover what God’s glory has always been:
Self-giving love.
Then another connection came to mind.
The priestly blessing ends with peace.
On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus says,
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.”
— John 14:27
His peace comes through the very hour John calls His glorification.
The Cross is where peace is made because the Father’s love is revealed without reservation.
Now when I read the ancient blessing, I cannot help but hear it through Christ.
“The LORD make His face shine upon you… and give you peace.”
The face that shines upon us is the face of Jesus Christ.
In Him, the Father’s countenance is forever turned toward us.
The glory revealed on the Cross is the glory of self-giving love.
The peace that flows from it is unlike anything the world can give.
Perhaps the ancient blessing reaches its fullest expression here. In the crucified and risen Christ, the shining face of God is no longer hidden behind cloud and fire or reflected in the face of Moses. It is revealed in the face of the Son, who loved us to the end.
That is the glory that transforms us.
That is the face that shines upon us.
That is the peace that remains.