2 Corinthians 3:12-18, 4:1-6
Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit…
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 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.
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Epistle reading for Sunday, February 11, come from Second Corinthians chapter three, verses 12 through 18. And chapter four verses one through six. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face, so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day when they read the Old Covenant, that same veil remains on lifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord has the spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. From this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning, or to tamper with God's word. But by the Open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, for what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as Your servants for Jesus's sake. 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. Here ends the reading. So this reading begins with a reference to Moses, who had to put a veil over his face when he went up to see God. And so it says, since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. So the story is a story of when Moses would come down from the from talking to God, His face glowed. It was so bright, that it terrified the people. And so he had to put a veil over his face, so that they wouldn't be scared by his glowing face. And their hearts and their minds were hardened so that they did not see Moses and understand what was going on. And they still don't in Paul's day, he says, For to this day, when they read the Old Covenant, that same veil remains unlisted. Because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. So when synagogues would read the law of Moses, Paul says that the Jewish people, there was a veil over their hearts, preventing them from seeing the glory of Christ, just like the veil prevented people from seeing Moses's face when it was glowing. And what that is, is when when you don't have Jesus Christ, to unlock the key, to be the key to unlock the Old Testament, you never truly understand and see the glory of what God is doing. Without Christ. The law is just a series of rules and an old covenant that people have to obey or else. But in Christ, what we see is that this Old Covenant has become a promise that through Christ, God would save the world, and that all of the things that were requirements and rules and laws have been fulfilled by a Savior, who came to reveal the true heart of God by dying on a cross and rising from the dead. And with that key, you can finally unlock the treasure chest of the Old Testament to see God's love for the whole world. And that is why Paul says, But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. He continues is now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. So similar to Moses, who would go up and see God with his unveiled face, and then would come down in Vail, Paul is saying that we who are seeing the glory of God through the Word through the proclamation of the gospel, and and by understanding Christ in the Old Testament, are being transformed, like Moses was to have the glory of God reflected in us that into the same image from one degree of glory to another. That's what he's talking about. So then he goes to the word, therefore, therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. So we have this glorious transformation in us so we don't lose heart. And then, but we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning, or to tamper with God's word. But by the Open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. Isn't that the best way to do ministry, right? He says, We do not lose heart. But we also don't try to trick people. He says, We do not tamper or with God's Word or practice cunning. Now there's, there's lots of, of people who kind of lost confidence in the power of the proclamation of the gospel, and the power of God's Word. And we act like we have to dress it up, we have to, we have to coat it with something else, we have to tamp it down, we have to hide it, we have to feed it to people with a spoonful of sugar, or maybe just the spoonful of sugar, without any medicine to go with it. And we act like the the world just is unable to accept the true Word of God, the full power of the gospel. And I think that's why the Christian church is where it is, or dithering about all sorts of things. And we just don't seem to be willing to preach the full gospel of Jesus Christ. And St. Paul is, he says, We do not tamper with God's word. We commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And you know, what happens if there are people who hear the word of God in the proclamation of the gospel, and they don't believe that's not the church's fault. St. Paul says, and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. And so if the gospel is veiled, it's only veiled to the people who don't understand it and don't believe it, that there is a barrier that keeps them from understanding, it's not a problem with the Word of God, it's a problem with the hearer. Now, sometimes people take that too far. And they use that as an excuse to be cruel and mean with God's word. And then they act like well, it's not my fault, I'm being a jerk, you're the one who's supposed to be better. Now, we can't do that either. We can't be jerks with the gospel. There's other passages that talk about that. But what it does say is that when the gospel is proclaimed, sometimes people just aren't going to believe. And that's not a problem with the Proclaimer. Or a problem with the gospel. It's a problem in the heart of the person who hears it. Because the God of the world has blinded their mind, so that they cannot see pogos for what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as Your servants for Jesus sake. 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. So we don't proclaim ourselves but Jesus Christ, and the God who said, let the light shine out of darkness. He brings the gospel, the light of Christ into our hearts. And isn't that enough? I know I know. Many people who may be listening to this many people who grew up in the Church lived in a time when the church had so much respect and power, and there was money and kids and we were building buildings and everything was great. And it might not seem like that now But
isn't that the sort of the side beside the point of the church? Maybe it's just enough that a 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 a son of the face of Jesus Christ. That's all I have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai