2 Cor. 3:8. Shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
Since he called the law the ministry of death, it was natural to call the Gospel the ministry of life; but the apostle gave it a higher name – he called it the ministry of the Spirit. For the New Testament has the power to impart not only life, but – what is far more important – the Spirit Himself, who gives life. All the more glorious, then, is it in comparison with the law.
2 Cor. 3:9. For if the ministry of condemnation is glorious, then much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.
Again in another way he presents the same thought. Explaining his own words, "the letter kills," he calls the law "the ministry of condemnation," as the punisher of sins, not their cause. The Gospel, however, he calls "the ministry of righteousness," because it not only frees from punishment, but also makes sinners righteous. Therefore the Gospel will possess far greater glory.
2 Cor. 3:10. For even that which was glorified has not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the surpassing glory of what follows.
For what am I, he says, comparing the Old and New Testaments with each other? The superiority of the New Testament is such "in this regard," that is, in comparison, that the glorified one, that is, the Old Testament, appears to have no glory at all, by reason of the surpassing glory of the New. For although the law was glorious in itself, yet by reason of the superiority of the evangelical glory it appears inglorious. Note that by this too he commends the Old Testament; for things that are compared are usually of the same kind.
2 Cor. 3:11. If that which is passing away is glorious, much more glorious is that which remains.
He presents another syllogism. If the law that was ceasing and subject to abolition was given in glory, then how much more shall the law that is unshakeable and eternal – the New Testament – be in glory.
2 Cor. 3:12. Having such a hope, we act with great boldness,
Since he ascribed extraordinary glory to the New Testament, to those who, having heard this, would wish to see his glory in a sensible manner, he says that we have such hope. What kind? That all of us who believe have been deemed worthy of more than Moses, and therefore we use great boldness toward those whom we instruct, hiding nothing and omitting nothing, and we do not cover our face from you, as Moses covered his from the Jews. For you are not as weak as they were. Moses, when he received the tablets for the second time and came down from the mountain, had such a radiant face that the Jews could neither approach him nor speak with him until he covered his face with a veil. Paul points to the history of this event when he says the following.
2 Cor. 3:13. And not as Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the children of Israel could not gaze upon the end of that which was passing away.
That is, we do not need to cover ourselves, like Moses. For you can look upon that glory which we have, I mean the glory of the Gospel, although it is far more radiant than that of Moses. That is, you can understand the mysteries of God, namely the Gospel, and we do not need to hide them from you with obscurity, as with a veil. The Israelites, being carnal, could not see that the law has an end and that it would be abolished; for the veil signifies their carnal mind, as you will learn below. Some, however, understood this as follows: the very fact that they could not gaze upon the face of Moses showed that this glory has an end. For as soon as they did not see the glory, it was no more, and by this it was shown that it was short-lived, because it did not manifest itself as glory.
2 Cor. 3:14. But their minds were blinded: for the same veil remains unlifted to this day in the reading of the Old Testament, because it is taken away by Christ.
Their mind has been blinded, he says, and therefore neither those who lived then saw, nor those who live now see, being blinded and having the same veil on the face of Moses during the superficial reading of the law. For Christ calls the law Moses, as in the following place: "they have Moses and the prophets" (Luke 16:29). And it is not revealed to them, it is not recognized by them, that Christ was to abolish the Old Testament. Therefore, their error is an error of the mind, because blindness is a sin of the mind. Do not be surprised, he says, that the Jews cannot see the glory, the glory of the law. If they had seen the glory of the law, they would have also seen the glory of Christ. For the glory of the law consists in turning to Christ. But where is it said that the law would be abolished by Christ? There, where it says: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet — listen to Him" (Deut. 18:15). Therefore, when it is commanded to listen to Him, and He abolished the Sabbath, circumcision, and everything else, it follows that the law itself gave the command concerning this abolition. Besides this, by the fact that it was commanded to offer sacrifices in one temple, and Christ destroyed it, are not the sacrifices completely abolished? And: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. 110:4), also: "sacrifice and offering You did not desire" (Ps. 40:6) — all this constitutes the abolition of the law.
2 Cor. 3:15. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart,
Since he said above that a veil lies upon the reading of the Old Testament, lest anyone think that by the veil he means the obscurity of the law, he says: no, I call the veil the blindness and dullness of heart of the Jews. For even on the face of Moses it lay not for his sake, but because of the dullness and weak sight of the Jews.
2 Cor. 3:16. But when they turn to the Lord, then the veil is taken away.
2 Cor. 3:17. The Lord is the Spirit,
Now he speaks about the way in which the Israelites can be corrected. "When they turn to the Lord," he says, that is, when they abandon the law and approach the spiritual Gospel, then the veil will be removed. For Moses too, as the narrative relates, when he turned to the Lord, removed the veil from himself. And this prefigured what was to come afterward, namely, when someone turns to the Spirit (for He is the Lord), then he will see the uncovered face of the lawgiver, and even more — he himself will be on par with Moses and will enjoy the glory that surpasses, as was said, the glory of the law. For the Spirit will grant it, as Lord and Almighty.
2 Cor. 3:17. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
The law had a yoke and slavery, but in the law of the Spirit and in the Gospel there is freedom, so that the glory of the Lord is contemplated without hindrance and freely.
2 Cor. 3:18. But we all, with unveiled face, as in a mirror, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord the Spirit.
We enjoy, he says, such freedom and nobility, that all of us who are faithful, not as there — Moses alone, "with unveiled face" (for believers have no veil) "beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory," that is, we receive the same glory, and, like a mirror, receiving radiance, we reflect it. Just as silver, lying in the sun, itself also emits certain rays under the influence of the sun, so we too, purified by the Spirit in baptism and illumined by His rays, reflect a certain spiritual radiance and are transformed according to the same image from the glory of the Spirit into our own glory, and indeed into such glory as is proper to have for one who is enlightened by the Spirit of the Lord, Who is subject to no one. For being Lord, He also possesses sovereign lights. For all believers through baptism are filled with the Holy Spirit and their soul is illumined, and Moses too, beholding the divine glory, was himself transformed into it, that is, he himself received radiance, and his face was illumined, prefiguring us.