world. ‘I don’t know what you mean by “glory”’, replies Alice.
‘Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant, “there’s a nice knockdown
argument for you!”’
‘But “glory” doesn’t mean a nice knock-down argument’, objects
Alice. ‘When I use a word,’ says Humpty scornfully, ‘it means just
what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.’
‘The question is,’ says Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so
many different things.’ ‘The question is,’ answers Humpty Dumpty,
‘which is to be master—that’s all.’
It seems to me that, in Christian history, ‘glory’ has sometimes been
used to mean ‘a nice knock-down argument’ and determine who
would be master (usually whoever is already in charge). It’s certainly
possible to get that idea from the Bible, if you only read the passages
where God’s glory is shown by the Israelites’ victory in battle or those
where God’s glory is something that can kill those who approach it.
However, as I studied the concept of glory for these readings, I found
a kind of progression whereby God’s glory becomes increasingly
accessible to human beings. By the end, God’s glory lives among
human beings in the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9–11). It is a
journey from a transcendent God—God beyond our conception—to
an immanent God—God dwelling among us.
Yet, the merciful, gracious ‘God alongside us’ is present in the Old
Testament, too. From the start, God walks with humankind in the
garden in the cool of the evening. The terrifyingly holy, dazzling
transcendent God is present in the New Testament as well as the
Old—for instance, at Jesus’ transfiguration and Saul’s conversion.
Christian faith needs both of these aspects of God’s glory, but we
often emphasize one side or the other. At one extreme is the
majestic, enthroned Christ portrayed in Greek icons; at the other, the
clown Jesus of Godspell or the Glaswegian ex-convict Jesus figure
in Norman Stone’s film Man Dancin’.
Perhaps the vision of ‘one like a human being’ in Revelation gives us
the perfect balance: Jesus as one of us, yet so far beyond us that we
can only fall at his feet. May we meet both aspects, in our Bible
reading and our worship, and be both challenged and comforted by
them.
Veronica Zundel
[Originaly printed in www.New Daylight magazine]
