The Saints of Old Longed to See It

This mystery, then, which was revealed in the flesh, appeared in the world, and was preached to the Gentiles, many of the saints of old longed to see in the flesh, just as they foresaw it in the spirit. For the Lord says: “Truly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men have longed to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.” And so the prophet Isaiah says: “O that you, Lord, would tear open the heavens and come down!” And David too: “O Lord, bow the heavens and come down.” Moses also says: “Show me yourself, so that I may see you plainly.” [a]

No one ever came nearer than Moses, who received the law, to God speaking out of the clouds, and to the very presence of his glory. And if no one ever saw more closely into God than he did, why did he ask for a still clearer vision, saying, “Show me yourself, so that I may see you plainly”? Simply because he prayed for what the apostle tells us, in almost the same words, actually did happen: that the Lord might be openly revealed in the flesh, might openly appear to the world, and might openly be taken up in glory; and that at last the saints might see with their very bodily eyes all those things they had foreseen with spiritual sight.