Mirror
Mirrors in the ancient world consisted of flat metal discs (made of bronze, copper, or silver) that were polished to be as reflective as possible (Exod. 38:8; Job 37:18). Mirrors are used symbolically in three New Testament passages.
Blurred Mirrors
First Corinthians 13:12 uses the image of a mirror to contrast earthly and heavenly knowledge: “Now we see a blurred image in a mirror. Then we will see very clearly. Now my knowledge is incomplete. Then I will have complete knowledge as God has complete knowledge of me.” Mirrors in the ancient world yielded only cloudy, blurred images, so Paul used a mirror as a metaphor for the fact that we do not understand spiritual things as well now as we will in heaven. In addition, a mirror only reflects an object indirectly, in much the same way that spiritual truths need interpretation to become clear to us. We know God in part now, but one day we will see him face-to-face and know him fully.
James compares a person who hears the Word of God but does not obey it to a person who looks at himself or herself in a mirror and then forgets what he or she looks like, or ignores the implications of the image in the mirror and does nothing to improve his or her appearance (James 1:23–25). The law reflects back to us who we are—sinners in need of salvation. But if we ignore the mirror-like purpose of the law, it does us no good. We have wasted our time, just as if we had looked in a mirror and then not remembered what we saw there. If our Bible reading makes no change in our attitudes and behavior, the problem lies not with the Word of God, but with the inattentive reader.
Blurry reflections are an image for our incomplete or skewed view of spiritual truth.
Reflecting God’s Glory
Just as mirrors are made to reflect back the most accurate image possible, so we as God’s creatures should strive to reflect back the glory of the Creator in whose image we are made. Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “As all of us reflect the Lord’s glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (The Greek term translated reflect means “to look at in a mirror.”) Paul contrasts Moses’ donning a veil to shade the glory of God after receiving the law (Exod. 34:33) with the unveiled heart and mind of a Christian after salvation. Jesus liberates believers so that they can reflect the glory of God as in a mirror. We shine his glory back so others can see more of him, in effect multiplying his greatness. Those who look at us should see Jesus reflected back.
Mirrors were rare in the world of the Bible, and reflection was more often accomplished through a water source.
Key Verse
As all of us reflect the Lord’s glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)