Bible Notes - Jesus Veils Himself

That God, when He is on earth as Jesus, hides (or veils) some of His Godly attributes is a doctrine that has been long accepted. Let's find out why...

Let's go to Ephesians 3:8-9 in which Paul is describing a task God has given Paul--to preach about something that has been kept hidden.

"To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;"

This verse is telling us that God has kept something hidden that Paul is about to reveal. Yes, in plain English it says that God hides things from us.

Colossians 1:26 says the same thing.

Colossians 2:3 says that "treasures of wisdom" are hidden in Christ. So Christ is hidding these from us.

In Luke 18:34 we see that the meaning of what Jesus is telling the disciples is hidden from them. It does not say the disciples don't understand. It plainly says that the meaning was hidden--implying it was hidden by Jesus.

We see this throughout Scripture. God does hide things from us--either because it is not time for them to be revealed or because it is better for us that they be hidden.

God is light. Things can be hidden in the light, and light can require that things be hidden.

For this example we could say God is like a flashlight. If the flashlight is shining in your eyes, everything behind that flashlight is hidden by the light. So the light is hiding some things.

But a flashlight is too small and weak to represent God. God is more light a giant searchlight. One of those really big searchlights that shoot a beam of light up into the sky. What would happen if you were to stand directly in front of a giant searchlight and it was turned on, shining directly into you face? You'd go blind. Even if you closed your eyes, so much light would come through your eyelids that you'd be blinded.

God is like a searchlight and He wants to be close to us on earth (as Jesus). So what does He do? He puts several layers of canvas tarps over the searchlight so that only a small amount of light comes through. Now we can look at Him and He can be close to us. Is the searchlight still a searchlight? Yes. But the full power and capability of the searchlight is "hidden" or "veiled" by the tarps. This is exactly what God did when He came to earth--He "hid" or "veiled" Himself. Was He still God? Yes. Just like the searchlight is still a searchlight, God was still God--but He kept part of His Godly characteristics veiled from us. He covered part of Himself with canvas tarps because He knew that was best for us.