10th Week in Ord. Time, Thursday – 15th June 2023 – 2 Cor 3,15-4,1.3-6; Mt 5,20-26
Light, Knowledge and Glory
In 2 Cor 4,6, we read “For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ.” This statement not only summaries the message Paul preaches, it phrases the gospel in universal terms. Only the light of the gospel can penetrate the darkness of unbelief in Jesus. Here Paul alludes to his own dramatic calling on the road to Damascus, when the light shone on him from heaven and the voice of the Lord spoke to him. That was the beginning of Paul’s call to serve the Gospel of Jesus. That’s when God shone the light into Paul’s heart, and it was the light Paul showed to all who would listen to the gospel of salvation from sin through faith in Jesus. The above quotation is also an echo of the creation of light at the beginning of the Book of Genesis 1,3 and that Paul is presenting his apostolic ministry as a new creation. There may also be an allusion to Isaiah 9,1 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light”, thus suggesting his prophetic calling as servant of the Lord and a light to the nations.
In the second part of the statement, Paul describes the gospel as the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Every culture has a “theme”, i.e. to say, an idea summarizing what the culture truly values. In Paul’s era, the Hebrews valued “light.” Greeks valued “knowledge,” as the culture of philosophy. Roman culture prized “glory,” the empire attempting to conquer the world. Here Paul’s statement incorporates all of these: light, knowledge, and glory. In this sense, Christ is the source of light and the glory shone from his face, never fades. Paul also adds a crucial detail to the gospel: the idea of God giving mankind a person, rather than an idea, as our salvation. The three elements: light, knowledge, and glory are reflected “in the face” of Christ. Rather than assigning values or virtues to mankind, God intended that human beings establish a relationship with His son.
