The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor
© 2022, Dr. Tamilio
Have you ever wondered why brides wear veils? It is not as popular as it used to be, but many a bride will still don one when she walks down the aisle with her father. I have officiated at numerous weddings throughout my ministry, but never really thought about why.
So, I Googled it. Isn’t that what we all do now when we have a question?
One source stated, “Seen as a symbolic reference of the bride’s virginity, the veil was designed to cover her hair and face while worn during the ceremony. The father of the bride would then lift the veil and present her to the groom, or alternatively, the groom would lift the veil and kiss the bride to symbolically consummate the marriage. Once a significant part of the wedding ceremony, over the years it has become an essential part of any bride’s outfit.”[1]
Some brides still wear them. Some don’t.
Upon further research, I realized that the piece I just quoted came from a business that makes…you guessed it…wedding dresses and bridal veils! Time to find a more objective source.
In her article, “You Might Want to Rethink Wearing a Veil,” Venus Wong — I love her name — Wong tells us that historically there are four reasons for the practice.[2] They are:
- To scare off evil spirits.
- To signify purity and obedience.
- To indicate the groom’s ownership.
- To prevent the bride from escaping.
We are not going to unpack all of these but let me simply say that if the goal is to “prevent the bride from escaping,” then maybe you should rethink the whole marriage thing. Most feel as if it is simply a nice tradition and that it signifies the purity of the bride to be. One thinks of the maidens clad in white in stories of brave knights who came to rescue them.
Today’s Scripture readings are about veils. All three of the passages we are reading this morning talk about them, but in quite a different way. It isn’t about our purity, or God’s purity, or anything like that. It is more about shielding our vision.
First, we have the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments in Exodus. He veils his face when he spoke to the Israelites because, as the text tells us, “the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.” Whenever Moses went back to speak to the Lord, he would remove the veil.
And then we have the Second Letter to the Corinthians in which Paul, referring to Moses, says that the Israelites have a veil over their minds when they read the Law to this day. This suggests that they are blind to the true meaning of the Word. Paul compares to the new covenant in Christ, and writes, “one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.”
This brings us to today’s Gospel Lesson, and one of the strangest stories about Jesus: the story of the Transfiguration. We discuss this reading every year just before Lent. Jesus brings his inner circle (Peter, James, and John) to a mountaintop to pray. There, they are joined by Moses and Elijah, who represent the Law and the Prophets: the two canonized parts of the Old Testament at the time. Just as Moses and Elijah appear we are told that “the appearance of [Jesus’] face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” There are no veils here. The disciples are overjoyed, filled with awe and reverence. They are so elated that they want to remain on the mountain. Peter says, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” The lectionary connects this passage to the one about Moses veiling his face, because he, like Jesus, is all a-glow. Moses was in the presence of God when he received the Ten Commandments and led Israel out of Egyptian bondage. On the mountain, he is in the presence of God again — the God made known in Jesus Christ. Yet this time, it is God (in Jesus) who is a-glow with glory. None of the other characters — Peter, James, John, Moses, Elijah — are wearing veils. They look fully upon the glory of God revealed in Jesus.
If anyone is wearing a veil, I think it is us. We go through life expecting God to do everything for us or to appear out of a burning bush giving us clear directions. That is not how God works. God speaks to us in numerous ways: through worship, prayer, song, even through fellow believers. However, the primary way that God’s will is made known to us is through the Scriptures. The Word is our ultimate guide for faith and practice. Yet we live at a time of great biblical illiteracy.
Renowned Pastor Chuck Swindoll, host of the radio program Insight for Living, tells the following story. “During my days serving as a pastor in New England, I heard of a teacher named Thayer S. Warshaw who quizzed a group of college-bound high school juniors and seniors on the Bible. The quiz preceded a Bible as Literature course he planned to teach at the Newton…High School, is generally considered a top public high school in the nation. Among the most astounding findings he got in his replies from the students were:
Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers.
Jezebel was Ahab’s donkey.”[1]
When asked what was Golgotha, the place where Jesus was crucified, respondents said that “was the name of the giant who was killed by the apostle David.”
And it gets worse with time. Today’s students do not catch the biblical themes and references that fill the pages of the works of classic secular literature. They have no clue.
But aside from the fact that such biblical literacy is a loss to culture, it is, more importantly, a loss to the soul. Scripture is either the Word of God or it isn’t. If it is, and I believe that most (if not all) of you think it is, then no one can afford to walk around wearing a veil. The veil may be a symbol of a bride’s purity, but when it comes to blinding ourselves to God’s truth, it is anything but pure.
Jesus is God in the flesh. No veil is needed for us to approach God for any reason: for forgiveness, for the truth, or for spiritual nurture. In fact, the reason why the curtain is torn in the Temple when Jesus died on the cross — the curtain that covered the Ark of the Covenant in the holiest of holies — the reason it was torn is because his death, the ultimate sacrifice for human sin, made it so everyone could approach God in his most sacred inner sanctum. Jesus removed all veils. Dr. Tom Lovorn writes, “the invisible hands of God reached down and removed this barrier himself, tearing it from top to bottom.”[1]
Jesus removes all veils. Look upon him, through his Word, wide-eyed and with joy. Amen.
[1] “Pastor Explains Significance of Veil Being Torn at Christ’s Death,” from The Progressive Index, September 10, 2014 (online).
[1] Chuck Swindoll, “Biblical Illiteracy,” from Insight for Living, January 4, 2011 (insight.org).
[1] Taken from brittenweddings.com.
[2] Venus Ward, “Why You Might Want to Rethink Wearing a Veil,” July 27, 2017 (from Refinery29).