After initiating his study of Jesus with a review of certain texts in the Book of Deuteronomy, Pope Benedict jumps to the Book of Exodus to examine a text that relates to the Deuteronomy citation. In Exodus there is a presentation of Moses’ relationship with God. The first Moses — Jesus being the second — in Ex 33:18 says "I pray thee, show me thy glory." Two verses later we read God’s refusal: "You cannot see my face." And three verses later God continues with these words: "You shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen."
The Holy Father cites these texts as important for anyone studying Jewish and Christian mysticism because they "served as the basis for attempts to discern how far contact with God can extend in this life and where the boundaries of mystical vision lie" (pg 5). This text — You shall see my back ... — shows us that God has put limits on Moses who has served as his mediator with the people. What this is intended to teach is that the promise of a "prophet like me," points the reader or hearer to an ever greater hope: that "the last prophet, the new Moses, will be granted what was refused to the first one — a real, immediate vision of the face of God.
This is important to understanding Jesus’ role because it attests to his ability to present God’s will because he has seen and spoken with the Father. Consequently, there arises a further expectation for the new Moses, Jesus. He will be the mediator of an even greater covenant than the one brought by Moses from his Sinai meetings with Yahweh, God.
The end of the prologue in John’s gospel is: "No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart who has made him known" (Jn 1:18). So, as the Holy Father writes, it is in Jesus that we encounter the fulfillment of the new prophet, the new Moses. His relationship with the Father far exceeds Moses’ experiences in his conversations with God. Jesus, the son of Mary, as a human being, lives before the face of God, "not just as a friend, but as Son; he lives in the most intimate unity with the Father" (pg 6).
This is where we have to plant our feet to begin our journey toward truly understanding the New Testament presentation of Jesus. What we learn later about his talks to people, his deeds, the pain and agony of the final days and those moments of glory are, as the Pope, states, "anchored here" (pg 6).
