The Book of Wisdom or The Wisdom of Solomon 1:2 Commentary

Even if one who is pure of heart and another stained with impurity are found in the same place, the fact that they are in the same place cannot harm the one or benefit the other. The one whose heart is pure will see God; the one whose heart is not in the same condition, however, will not be able to see what the other sees. In my view, the same can also be said of Christ when he was visible in the body. Not all those who laid eyes on him were able to see him.They saw the body of Christ, but they did not see Christ as Christ. His disciples, however, saw him and contemplated the greatness of his divinity. I think this is the reason why, when Philip asks him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us,” the Savior responds, “Have I been with you all this time and you do not know me? Philip, he who sees me sees the Father as well.” In fact, neither Pilate nor Judas the betrayer gazed on the Father, for while they were gazing at Jesus, neither Pilate nor Judas gazed on Christ as Christ. Nor did the crowd that pressed around him. Only those whom Jesus deemed worthy of beholding him actually saw him. We too, therefore, should work in such a way that God might appear to us in the present (as the sacred words of Scripture promised, “He lets those find him who do not test him, and he appears to those who believe in him”). And, in the life to come, he may not be hidden from us. Rather, may we see him “face to face.”