The epicenter of all beauty is the face of Jesus Christ. All beautifully created things originate in His beauty. The cosmic standard of beauty, and the light of the glory of God are in the face of Jesus Christ.
Every attempt, for over 2000 years, to depict the face of Jesus has fallen short. This is not the lack of artistic talent. In the face of Jesus is the glory and perfect goodness of God. It is no wonder, then, that no human ability can accurately represent Him. From great master artists, to Sunday School books, there is a stereotype of a bearded man with scars and a long white robe. But how do you capture the glory of God?
“His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire.” Rev. 1:14
The face of the Resurrected One shines. But more than that, it radiates His otherness – there is no trace of death in Him. From the dawning of the second Genesis that He began when He emerged from the tomb, until today, His face has not aged or tired. He is the Sabbath, the perfect rest of God. His passionate devotion to the Father is in His eyes – they look like flames. All His human features are ordinary. But His glory makes them magnificent.
Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. (Exodus 33:11)
Rather than being afraid of the face of Jesus, when we see His face, we know we are absolutely loved. Seeing His face awakens ultimate reality in us. We can finally stop running, because face to face with Him is our true home. He looks so completely satisfied when He looks at us, and His kind face invites us to find all satisfaction in Him.
When we see His face, it is like knowing His love for the very first time, and yet realizing we have always known it, but been asleep or distracted. Every question, every doubt, every religious demand is quieted by the look of welcoming tenderness on His face. Because, when we see the face of Jesus, we are seeing the face of God. “But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” 2Cor. 3:18
His face is the face of us all. He took on our humanity in the Incarnation. Yet, His face is the unique and holy image of the Father. Like us in all things but sin, His face felt wind and rain, water for washing and oil for soothing. His face was kissed by a betrayer, bruised by soldiers’ brutality, and restored by Resurrection power.
This relationship of face to face is what God wanted from the beginning. Didn’t He say, “Let us make man in our image…” and commanded His people not to have any other gods “before His face”. This was because the only face God wanted before Him was ours. This intimacy of friends, of covenant companions was always God’s plan. There is no word in Hebrew for “presence”. The idiom is “face to face” when referring to standing before God. And in that place of “face to face” we are transformed. “But we do know that when it is finally made visible, we will be just like him, for we will see him as he truly is.” 1 Jn. 3:2