The Shining
"Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, "Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: The LORD bless you, and keep you; The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace." So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.'" (Numbers 6:22-27)
It’s important to listen carefully to God speaking to us in these verses, because our liturgy for Sunday worship closes with a benediction that is usually quoted from these verses. So this passage is so familiar to us that it is in danger of being as empty and sentimental as the text of a commercial greeting card. Yet in its historical context of God speaking to His chosen people, to the Church, it is not sentimental at all, but a shocking and urgent commandment of the Gospel...
The "face of God" is crucial in the last two of three pairs of states or conditions invoked in this so-called "Aaronic blessing". What can it mean, first of all, for Yahweh's face to shine upon the sons of Israel, upon the members of our church? It has a very nice soothing and poetic sound to it; but it becomes weighty and mysterious if you attend to its strangeness.
So I was thinking a lot about these words throughout the week, and as I was walking in the center of town saw hundreds or thousands of faces, most of them looking numb or sad. Certainly none of them could be described as "shining". But then something ordinary but illuminating happened: I saw two very good friends whom I had not seen for a good while, and their faces immediately beamed involuntarily with broad smiles when they recognized me in the stream of faces. And I realized that God's face shining must have something to do with love-filled pleasure at the face of another.
This impelled me to search for anything like this in the Scriptures. I searched the whole Bible, and I found just two instances of this happening; two instances, but one face, one face that calls forth the torrent of God's pleasure. Words prophesied by Isaiah, and quoted as fulfilled in Matthew 12, are spoken by God Himself at the Baptism of Jesus -- and in one other instance, at His Transfiguration: "This is my Son I love in whom I am very, very pleased."
So how can this part of Aaron's blessing be fulfilled for us, be concretely experienced by us? How can he look at a face as numb and sad as ours and shine on it with pleasure? The answer is plain -- only if He recognizes in us the face of His Son....
[PV, in a sermon of November 14, 2010]]
It’s important to listen carefully to God speaking to us in these verses, because our liturgy for Sunday worship closes with a benediction that is usually quoted from these verses. So this passage is so familiar to us that it is in danger of being as empty and sentimental as the text of a commercial greeting card. Yet in its historical context of God speaking to His chosen people, to the Church, it is not sentimental at all, but a shocking and urgent commandment of the Gospel...
The "face of God" is crucial in the last two of three pairs of states or conditions invoked in this so-called "Aaronic blessing". What can it mean, first of all, for Yahweh's face to shine upon the sons of Israel, upon the members of our church? It has a very nice soothing and poetic sound to it; but it becomes weighty and mysterious if you attend to its strangeness.
So I was thinking a lot about these words throughout the week, and as I was walking in the center of town saw hundreds or thousands of faces, most of them looking numb or sad. Certainly none of them could be described as "shining". But then something ordinary but illuminating happened: I saw two very good friends whom I had not seen for a good while, and their faces immediately beamed involuntarily with broad smiles when they recognized me in the stream of faces. And I realized that God's face shining must have something to do with love-filled pleasure at the face of another.
This impelled me to search for anything like this in the Scriptures. I searched the whole Bible, and I found just two instances of this happening; two instances, but one face, one face that calls forth the torrent of God's pleasure. Words prophesied by Isaiah, and quoted as fulfilled in Matthew 12, are spoken by God Himself at the Baptism of Jesus -- and in one other instance, at His Transfiguration: "This is my Son I love in whom I am very, very pleased."
So how can this part of Aaron's blessing be fulfilled for us, be concretely experienced by us? How can he look at a face as numb and sad as ours and shine on it with pleasure? The answer is plain -- only if He recognizes in us the face of His Son....
[PV, in a sermon of November 14, 2010]]
posted by CS at 4:31 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks Chase and Sha, this is a powerful connection of the Numbers blessing to the baptism and transfiguration. These posts are much appreciated. Jennifer
Thanks, Jennifer -- we're really glad for that. Miss you -- roll on the next retreat!
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