What is the meaning of 2 Corinthians 3:15? And even to this day • Paul stresses that the condition he describes is ongoing; it did not end with Christ’s first coming or with Pentecost. • Romans 11:25 reminds us, “a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in”. This hardening persists alongside the age-long offer of grace. • Acts 28:26-27 echoes Isaiah’s prophecy that ears would be dull and hearts calloused, confirming that the problem reaches right into the New Testament era. • The present tense invites every reader to examine whether the same blindness could still exist in any heart today, not only among first-century Jews. when Moses is read • “Moses” represents the Law and, by extension, the entire Old Testament Scriptures read aloud in synagogue worship (Acts 15:21). • The public reading of Scripture is good and commanded, yet John 5:39-40 shows that searching the Scriptures without coming to Christ leaves a person unchanged. • Luke 4:16-21 illustrates the contrast: Jesus read Isaiah and then unveiled its true meaning by declaring, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”. Where Christ is absent, the words remain a closed book. • Simply hearing the Law cannot impart life; Galatians 3:24 teaches the Law’s role is to lead us to Christ, who fulfills it. a veil covers their hearts • Verse 14 has already said, “their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant; it has not been lifted”. The veil is spiritual blindness, not a lack of information. • 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 clarifies that “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,” keeping them from seeing “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” • John 12:40 cites Isaiah 6:9-10: hardened hearts cannot perceive or understand until God removes the veil. • The veil is over “their hearts,” the very seat of will and affection, explaining why intellectual brilliance can coexist with spiritual darkness (1 Corinthians 2:14). • The next verse offers hope: “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:16). Repentance and faith in Christ lift the veil instantly. summary Paul describes an ongoing spiritual blindness that persists whenever the Law is read apart from Christ. The Scriptures themselves are perfect, yet hearts remain veiled until they turn to the Lord. Only in Christ is the veil removed, revealing the glory toward which Moses and all the prophets point. |
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