Day 227: When God Wore A Mask

 DAY 227

                              Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic                     

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Thirty-three    Tuesday 27 October 2020

When God Wore a Mask

“In the Bible the Apostle Paul writes about Moses having to wear a veil to mask the glory of God that shone from his face after his personal encounters with God. Paul goes on to say, “We all, with unveiled (unmasked) faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Along these lines, it occurs to me that the incarnation of God in Christ involved a masking of divine glory in the veil of human flesh. That veil was lowered in the Transfiguration of Christ, which dazzled Jesus’ closest disciples, ripped in twain at the crucifixion, and left among the grave clothes in the glorified, transcendent bodily fullness of God’s eternal life and glory. As thrilling as his full revelation was, the mission of Christ required him initially to wear the mask for our sake. Without the mask of human flesh, without its tearing on the Cross, no resurrection could have occurred – neither for Jesus nor for us.” - From the blog of the president of a Christian university.

It is a commentary both tragic and troubling that a national health crisis should become politicized, and the wearing of a mask or not the subject of encounters sometimes public and sometimes violent. What have we become as a nation? The world looks at us aghast and is unsettled by the America they have known for so long as a beacon of stability and strength, now in its present state of disarray.

When God wore a mask it was for the benefit of others. Had Jesus not veiled or masked his eternal glory and deity in human flesh, the world could not have handled it. It was his disguise, so perfectly planned it was said that “… though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” John 1:10. Indeed, when was the first time we recognized Jesus for who he really is, so that our perception of him has been forever altered?       

Jesus has modeled for us the wearing of a mask for the benefit of others – let’s follow Jesus.

Reflective question: How does your wearing a mask out of concern for others honor Jesus?

Reflective Scripture: John 1:14 – ‘And the Word became flesh and lived among us.”

Reflective hymn:

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” – verse 2 - Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

Christ, by highest heaven adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord,

Late in time behold him come, offspring of the Virgin’s womb:

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail th’ incarnate Deity,

Pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel.

Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King.”