Matins Devotion: February 4, 2025
When St. John says “we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father,” what does this refer to? Well, it could refer to a number of things. It could refer to the Transfiguration, when Peter, James, and John saw the divine nature of Jesus shining from His face on the mountaintop. It could refer to the glorious grace and mercy of God pouring out of the veins of Christ on Calvary. Could refer to His glorious victory over the grave. Or it could be all of these things while also pulling in the glorious moment when Christ was taken up into heaven with a cloud along with His glorious miracles.
The point is, not knowing exactly with 100% certainty what John is referring to is a great problem to have because it means that the glory of Christ is constantly pouring out, filling and feeding us, gathering us into the arms of God, showering us in the unfathomable love of our God. Once you were lost in the wilderness of sin, enslaved by Satan and being dragged into death. But then the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us with a glory that brought life to the desert, a glory that crushed Satan under Christ’s nail-pierced, a glory that has sworn to shatter our tombs to pieces on the last day. Whatever manifestation of glory John refers to, that glory is now yours, washing over you in the waters of your baptism, feeding you in the Sacrament of the Altar, forever clothing you in the bright and shining righteousness of God’s own son.
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