A Meditation for the Thursday after the Fifth Sunday in Lent

By Shruti Kulkarni

“Nevertheless when [a man] shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.”

2 Cor. 3:16

When the people of Israel gathered atop Mount Sinai, the Lord gave to them a marvelous gift: his true presence. The Lord dwelt among them, visibly, showing them tangible signs of his presence, power, glory, and love. But the Lord’s glory was so great, and the Lord’s power so terribly frightsome, they could not–and would not–draw near with faith.  

The Lord, ever gracious and merciful, still found a way to reach this people. Through Moses, God spoke to them, and gave them a sacred covenant. It bound the Lord to this people, taught them how they ought to live, and promised–when they inevitably failed to keep their end of the covenant–that the Lord would provide them a way to be forgiven and reconciled to God. After  receiving this covenant in the presence of God, Moses returned to the people with his face shining too brightly for them to look upon him. So, when speaking to them, Moses would wear a veil.  

That veil was for their protection. It safeguarded them from being blinded by a brightness that they could not safely see. But in time, another veil formed around many of them, which covered not their eyes, but their minds and hearts. It was a veil of spiritual blindness, which kept them from seeing the Law of Moses as it was and our Lord and Savior as he is.  

The Law of Moses was not only a guide to godly living for Israel. No one, apart from Jesus Christ, could keep the Law of Moses perfectly. That would have been evident to those who sincerely tried. As such, the Law of Moses was also meant to show their inadequacy and need for God. But far too many misused the Law of Moses to show off how godly (they thought) they were. Then their hearing of the Law of Moses drove them not toward but away from admitting their faults and accepting the Way (Jesus Christ) for them to receive forgiveness.  

We are no less culpable than they are. How many and various are the veils we construct for ourselves, by “follow[ing] too much the devices and desires of our own hearts” which keep us spiritually blind? It is far too easy for us to become complacent about how we’re doing or to tell ourselves that, if only we did more of this and less of that, we’d do alright. Sometimes, we manage to do both (be complacent and try harder) at the same time. In so doing, we lose sight of who we are–flawed, sinful humans, unable to save ourselves–and lose our focus upon the One who is able and willing to save us.

The very nature of the spiritual blindness that afflicts us is that it prevents us from seeing our faults clearly, then from doing the right things to address these faults. We have no power to cast off our spiritual blindness. The veil is too heavy, and its power over us too great. There is only One–our Lord Jesus Christ–who can, and will, free us from it.  

He has told us what to do: “Turn to the Lord!” 

Our Lord, who made us, has always known of our weakness; and, right from the beginning of humanity’s existence, our Lord made arrangements to do something about it. Our Lord became flesh and dwelt among us, then lived and died as one us, for us. In so doing, he gave us his promise that, for all those who “turn to the Lord” and draw near with faith, he himself shall remove from us the veil of spiritual blindness that we cannot by ourselves put away.  

Our Lenten season began with the call to “Return to the LORD” (from Joel 2:13). Now, as this season nears its end, we are called again to do so. Soon, Holy Week will be upon us, and our Lord will invite us anew to “turn to the Lord,” and will remind us of what he has done for us to cast off the veil that spiritually blinds us.  

Let us therefore keep our Lord’s command to “turn to the Lord” ever before us, as we journey with our Lord through this most sacred time. It is in “turn[ing] to the Lord” that we shall find our strength renewed, grace to persevere, and hope in God’s promise to free us. Thereafter, as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, let us look forward to the resurrection on the last day.  At that time, our Lord will at last cast off our veils of darkness, so that we, being “changed into the same image from glory to glory,” shall walk forever in his glorious light.  

Shruti Kulkarni is a student in the Master of Sacred Theology (STM) program at Nashotah House. Raised in a Hindu family, she came to the Christian faith through the Lutheran church, where she first discovered the joy of loving and serving the Lord. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Columbia University and Master of Divinity from Wartburg Theological Seminary. The readings for the preceding devotional may be located here from Forward Movement.