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This past Fall, we went through C.S. Lewis’ The Horse and His Boy online. The most powerful scene, really the crux of that book, comes in chapter 11. There the main character Shasta finds himself all alone, except that he’s not really alone. He finds by his side an unwelcome fellow traveler, as the title states. It takes Shasta a while to gain the courage to even ask if anyone else is there. It’s hard to see as a fog is all around them.
Shasta ends up recounting to this stranger his journey and struggles throughout the book. When the stranger hears his story, he merely states, “I do not call you unfortunate.” Shasta is baffled by this, especially as he had the misfortune of encountering so many lions. The stranger then tells him, “I was that lion.” This lion, it turns out, has been with Shasta throughout his journey and throughout his life, helping push him forward on his journey, chasing away dangers, and protecting him from near death.
As the lion reveals himself, the fog lifts and Shasta can see Aslan, the lion who represents God in Jesus Christ throughout the Narnia series.
When the veil is lifted, Shasta learns the truth. That is what we witness in our readings today.
During his ministry on earth, Moses shown so brightly with God’s Spirit that he had to wear a veil just so people could look at him. In those days, the fullness of God was covered up, not yet fully revealed.
Then Jesus took His Disciples to the mountain to pray, as we heard in the Gospel. There the veil was torn away and Jesus was revealed in His full glory. There Moses and Elijah joined Him, showing Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. The Father’s voice cries out revealing that Jesus is His Son with whom He is well pleased.
God’s full purpose in this world is revealed through Jesus. He fulfills all that comes before. He opens the path for us to come in full relationship with God and to full know Him. The veil is now torn from our eyes, as Paul tells us. Now we see.
The Season after the Epiphany comes to a close with this final manifestation of Jesus in the world. It is a reminder to us to be open to seeing God’s action in the world. It is a reminder to not let the veil prevent us from seeing our Lord in front of us as we walk on the way. As we move into Lent, the time of preparation for celebrating our Lord’s death and Resurrection, we would do well to lift the veil from our own eyes in order to see more clearly who Jesus is and what it is He is working in this world.