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The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by his powerful word (Hebrews 1:3a).

You may have noticed that it’s relatively easy to describe someone you don’t know well, someone you’ve just glanced at.  For example, a person who has held the door for you, you may describe as “kind.” A person who let that door slam in your face, you may describe as “rude.” The knowledge gained from that glance-encounter led you to those narrow descriptions.  

When it comes to describing someone you know well, someone you have gazed at, your job gets tougher. You find yourself digging for adjectives, then launching into anecdotes, then maybe even becoming speechless as you truly gaze into the depths of this life you thought you knew so well.

If we ramp up that describing endeavor to a boundless extent, we start to appreciate what the author of Hebrews is doing in chapter 1. There I counted 25 ways he described Jesus. (Three examples of those are in our verse above.) 

As I counted, I discovered this author had lots of help. From God! He was obviously a Jewish person who had gazed long and deep into the Jewish scriptures where God had seen to it His descriptions of His coming Son were recorded.

It is now up to us to decide whether to give these descriptions a glance or a gaze.

There is quite a difference between a glance and a gaze. Take, for example, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory…” A glance at that will give us words to describe someone who could be a stranger. But a gaze into that will beckon us into a relationship with the One Who, among other things, radiates warmth, illuminates reality, and everlastingly impacts us with His glory.  

It only makes sense, then, to gaze into these descriptions God has given us of His Son if we long to know Jesus more. Just a passing glance at them is just that—a glance that will pass, leaving no lasting impression on our hearts. A gaze, though, will leave wonderful—and lasting—impressions on our hearts.

The difference between glancing and gazing at God’s descriptions of Jesus is like the difference between a rainfall that runs off and one that soaks in. Would you say you tend to glance or gaze?  What promotes your tendency to glance? What motivates your desire to gaze?  Have a talk with God about this.

Let’s pray that our entire church family will gaze deeply upon Jesus and God’s words describing Him and will experience wonderful lasting impressions of Him as a result.

The Jesus we know will be the Jesus we convey to others. Let’s pray that we become a people who gaze upon Jesus and consequently genuinely represent Him to others.