In Memoriam

Irenaeus says that the glory of God gives life, and that man's life consists in the vision of God. If man does not see God, he does not live. The Rightness of this impressed itself upon me almost immediately, and I have adopted it as one of the formative principles of my life.

There is something terrible about this truth. When Moses asks to see God's glory on the mountain, he is rebuffed: none may see God and live. If we accept Irenaeus' assertion, we are condemned. God interprets Moses' request to see his glory as a request to see himself, and this vision of God would kill anyone who saw it.

Until the New Testament, we are at an impasse. God cannot be seen, and so man cannot truly live. Jesus tells us that eternal life is to know God and his Son, Jesus Christ. This third-person reflection may strike us as odd, especially coming in the middle of a prayer, but it is inextricably linked to his glory: "I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed" (Jn 17:4,5). It is no accident that in doing so, Jesus has disclosed the name of his Father. The revelation of God's glory, the revelation of his name, is the revelation of God himself.

This is why the apostles testified that Jesus is the image of God and the radiance of his glory; he is God's glory come to earth. He is like us. He is someone we can hold on to and grasp. He is human. He is not terrifying. His presence does not kill: it gives life, and life more abundantly.

Here, then, is the solution to the problem proposed by Irenaeus: Jesus Christ. Here is God's glory made visible to us in a fashion we can understand and hold on to. Here is God's glory that makes us live. This is the Jesus that Susan knew, and the Jesus with whom she rejoices. He is the reason for her eternal blessing, and the hope of our own. It is this Jesus she was so keen on introducing to everyone, and the one she sang about.

The Scriptures never give us leave to treat death as anything but an enemy and an unnatural curse. Yet they also promise that death is not the end, and that we have a glorious hope. When we finally pass that final barrier, we will find ourselves face to face with the glory of God, and we will finally live. Just like Susan does now.