Total Eclipse of the Son

I like metaphors. They help me understand abstract ideas I otherwise can’t.  When it comes to understanding God, there's a lot I cannot understand. I think it's why He uses symbols. Ho.12:10 'I have used similitudes'. (Hebrew: 'likeness or resemblance’)  God will use a 'likeness' because He wants us to know what He’s like.

The metaphor I want to look at is the sun. ‘The Lord God is a sun’. Ps.84:11

God's use of the sun metaphor made me look at the solar eclipse as a metaphor. It not only changed the way I see God. It exposed the real reason I hardly ever do.

Which made the eclipse a sacred moment for me. And what a moment! As day turned into night. Like curtains slowly closing in a sunlit room. It felt strange. To watch the moon step in front of the sun. As if trying to hide it.  And it almost did!

Which is amazing as the sun is 400 x’s larger! Yet they look the same in size. How? In a solar eclipse, the sun is 400 x’s further away. So it looks a lot smaller than it is. 

Ever notice that the further you drift from God, the less significant He seems?

Here's another reason the moon could almost hide a sun which is 400 x’s larger. The moon is 400 x's closer in a solar eclipse. Close one eye. Put a penny in front of the other. The closer to your eye, the less you see of anything else. No matter how big.

A total eclipse illustrates what goes on in my soul when anything other than God consumed my attention. Anything that fills my vision can hide anything. Even God. It's why attention matters. Whatever captures my attention can capture my heart.

“When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.”  The God of Israel    Ezekiel 14: 4,5

This raises other questions. Do I see God in all of His glory or just the ‘corona’? Do I see His heart? Do I revolve around Him or vice versa? Is there a ‘moon' between God and I? An idol that I've set up in my heart? A treasure I love more than Him? If so, how do I ‘move the moon’? These issues matter. For they affect our view of God.

But I first just want to ask why Scripture uses a sun metaphor to describe the Son. Jesus is called the ‘the Sun of Righteousness’ in Mal.4:2. A ‘rising sun’ in Luke 1:78. And in other places, the Son is likened to our sun. Mt.4:13-16, Is.60, Re.21:23.

Why? The sun could refer to His consuming love, zeal, holiness or judgment. The Son is like our sun in many ways. I'll just look at one: The Son as ‘light’.

The sun lights up our world. And Jesus said in Jn 8:12, ‘I am the light of the world'. I’ll admit. Light isn’t my favorite metaphor. To me, it feels impersonal. Abstract. How do I have a ‘personal relationship’ with light? Or a ball of fire?

What helped me get over this hang-up is learning the purpose of a metaphor. It must not be confused with what it points to. It describes. It doesn't define. The whole point of a metaphor is that the metaphor is not the point. Dt.4:19
 
So what does this light metaphor tell us of the Son's purpose? Jesus hints at it in Jn.8. After He calls Himself light, He says ‘Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’. He again calls Himself 'The light of the world' in Jn. 9:5. And then He heals a blind man so he can do what? See.

We need light to see. By the light of the sun, we see the world. By the light of the Son, we see God. Jn.1:18, 14:7-9 And everything else. Ps.36:9,Jn.8:12 

"I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, 
because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
C.S. Lewis

It's in the face of Christ we see the glory of God. 2 Co. 4:6 ‘For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness”, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.’

Rev. 1:16 says of Jesus. ‘His face was like the sun shining in strength’. ­­­The disciples saw this glory at the transfiguration. Mt. 17:2  But why so briefly? Why does God let His glorious majesty be hidden behind a veil of flesh? "Show us your glory God! Why come as a man ‘with no beauty that we should be attracted’ to you?"

Could it be He wants us to see His heart? After all, that's where His glory lies. And  where do I see it? In a manger. In the human face of His Son. A man like us. As He hugs lepers. Loves harlots. Eats with sinners. Dies their death. "Behold your God!"

To see Jesus is to see God. Like a light, His life helps me see God as He is. After the transfiguration, 'a man approached Jesus and knelt before Him'. Mt.17:14 Would he still have run up to Jesus with such abandon if Jesus' face glowed like the sun? Why did Jesus come as a man we can relate to? To show us a God we can relate to!

Yes, God dwells in unapproachable light on His holy throne. But on this throne is an approachable God. With a merciful heart who tore the veil and bids me come. In the midst of this throne is a man. The Lamb of God. Who by His death made this throne approachable. Don’t miss the heart that the 'light of the world' illuminates.

Yet I do miss His heart. All the time. Why? There's a moon between me and the Son. For me, one ‘moon’ that keeps ‘eclipsing’ my view of God is my view of God.

“My idea of God is a not divine idea.
 It has to be shattered from time to time.
He shatters it Himself.”  
C.S. Lewis

Let me explain. I grew up in a Christian home. The son of a minister. I gave my life to Christ at age 8. Grew up learning about God. And later went to Bible college. Did well in theology and doctrine. So I  thought I knew God well. Until I met Him.

Like many college students, I had to find out if what I grew up believing was in fact true. I didn't reject my parent’s faith. I just wanted it to be my own. C.S. Lewis said ‘I want God, not my idea of God’. It's what I wanted. To see God for who He really is.

The Gospel of John kept pulling at me. But I pulled back. I saw it as a book for new believers. Christianity 101. I had no desire to relearn what I already 'knew'. What I didn't know is God was the one pulling. So I read it. This time, I asked God to show me what He's like. And He did! He opened the eyes of my heart and let me see His.

Seeing God’s heart lit a fire in my own. I grew restless. So I found a late night sanctuary in the hills near my dorm.  A place to walk. Pray. Sing. Weep. Rant. Listen.
Those rolling hills became a ‘tent of meeting’. A place to meet God. A place to talk.

Unfortunately, we stopped talking. The fire cooled. Why? I somehow lost sight  of God. And His heart. I can't stay in awe of what I don’t see. And I can't see what I don't look at. And I wasn't looking. Why? I thought I knew Him well. Again. But I only knew about Him. It's not the same. So in His kindness, He introduced Himself. Again.

The Latin root for ‘introduce’ means ‘to lead inside’. The best person to ‘lead me inside’ your heart is you. I can’t know you otherwise. I can guess but to really know  you, you have to want me to. And you'd have to invite me in.  Show me your heart. What you love, desire, believe, feel, value, choose. What it is that makes you you.

I see you best when I see your heart. It's the essence of who you are. Same with God. Moses cries ‘Show me your glory!’ And God shows him His heart. Ex.33:18-19,
34:5-7 Why? The glory of God is His heart. To see it is to see His glory. A glory best seen on a mountain called Calvary. In the broken bloody face of God's beloved Son.

Nothing fascinates the heart of man like the heart of God! So even if you know God well, ask Him to show you His heart. Again. And look at His Son. Again. And with His help, 'move the moon'. It'll be like curtains opening in a dark room on a sunny day.

FYI: I shared much of this post in a sermon for our church family after the eclipse.

Question for Reflection:
How does the sun or eclipse metaphor speak to you in your quest to know God?
C.S. Lewis said God may shatter our idea of Him. Has He ever shattered yours?