The year was 1919. Astronomers gathered in the tropics of Brazil and the island of Principe off the west coast of Africa to observe the longest eclipse of the 20^th century. This was not just an entertaining stargazing effort; it was to conduct an extraordinary experiment of monumental significance. They were attempting to verify Albert Einstein’s novel theory of relativity, which was shocking to the scientific world at that time. The whole concept of time-space was being upturned with the idea that light might be affected by the warping of time-space and not primarily by gravity.

Astronomers planned to observe the path of light from distant stars as it passed by the sun during a complete solar eclipse. They would determine the precise locations of certain stars that appeared close to the sun (from an earthly perspective) before the eclipse and then compare with their positions during the eclipse. The measurements, of course, were not of the stars themselves but the positional appearance of the light traveling from the stars as the starlight passed by the sun. The results showed a change in the positions in a way that verified Einstein’s calculations; the light, as it passed the sun, appeared to bend more significantly than previously thought when explained by the sun’s gravitational. But the “bending,” according to Einstein’s calculations, was not of the light itself but of time-space bending like a trampoline under the effect of a person jumping. The scientific world has been different ever since, and Einstein’s theory of general relativity has become a staple of theoretical physics.

An eclipse is a celestial event in which the moon momentarily obscures the sun. However, when Jesus Christ entered the world, the exact opposite occurred. He did not come to hide or overshadow God, but to showcase Him in all His magnificent glory. The Bible proclaims this not as a theory of relative truth, but as an absolute truth that…

And [Christ] is the radiance of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power … (Heb. 1:3)

The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (John 1:18)

Jesus came to display the fullness of God to us in human form. One day, He will return, and His brilliance will lighten all of existence. As the Scripture describes eternity in the image of a New Jerusalem, we read:

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. (Rev. 21:22–23)

And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. (Rev. 22:5)