Gazing at the Son

If you look directly up at the sun for even a few moments, you will find that when you look away, you can’t help but see a round image of the sun superimposed on everything else.

That’s because the intensity of the sun’s light rays has caused its image to be burned onto the retina of your eyes. And for a while at least, you can’t help but see that circular image of the sun wherever you look. It’s superimposed on your vision no matter what else you’re seeing.

That’s not a good thing – it’s bad and damaging for your eyesight. That’s why whenever there’s a solar eclipse and people are tempted to look up at the sun, there are warnings about wearing special eye protection before doing so. 

Here comes the Son

But an interesting thing happens if you take the word “sun” and change its spelling to “son”. Suddenly, the same action of gazing intently changes from being a bad thing to a very good thing!

When you truly behold the Lord – look intently at Him – the intensity of the light and glory of Jesus the Son burns His image onto the “retina” of your soul and your mind.

Thereafter, wherever you look, you can’t help but see the image of the Son superimposed over everything else.

When you begin to see the image of Jesus superimposed over your family, your work, your church, your school, over all that you read in the news or watch on your phone, it’s going to change the way you feel, the way you think, the way you react, the way you behave. In short, it is going to transform you.

Transformed into the image of Christ

That is, I believe, a way of understanding what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”

Transformation is a thoroughly biblical idea. Elsewhere Paul says in Romans 12:2 that it is the responsibility of every Christian to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind”.

The word “transformed” in Romans 12:2 as well as 2 Corinthians 3:18 is translated from the Greek word metamorphoó, which is also the word from which we derive “metamorphosis”, the process by which a caterpillar changes radically into a butterfly. 

An Anglican clergyman was asked: “How many Anglicans does it take to change a light bulb?” And his reply was: “Change?! What do you mean, Change?! We Anglicans never change!” 

Now, as an Anglican clergy myself, I believe in the value of tradition and history, but I also believe God wants all Christians, Anglican or otherwise, to be willing to change and transform where necessary.

The word “conform” means “to become like”. We all start off being conformed with the culture around us (the world). But as we turn to behold Christ, we need to be transformed from that, and be conformed more and more to the image and character of Jesus Christ.

And the key to such transformation is to intently behold the glory of the Lord. 

The Anglican Learning Festival is the first event of its kind and has as its theme ‘Transformed From Glory To Glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Though this conference is pitched at Anglicans, it is open to all. It’s an opportunity for members of the family of Jesus to come together over a couple of days to gaze at Jesus, and begin to see His image more clearly in our lives, in our churches, in our Diocese and in our nation.

Let the glory of Jesus be burned on the retina of our souls! 

THE ANGLICAN LEARNING FESTIVAL
DATE: September 17 to 19, 2026
VENUES: St Andrew’s Cathedral and St Andrew’s Junior College
Registration closes 17 Aug 2026 (for workshops), 14 Sep (for plenaries) Click here to register.

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