HEBREWS 1.3-4: He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (4) having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (ESV)
From the prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament to the accounts of Jesus and His actions in the Gospels, there is certainly a wonder and amazement about the person of Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 53.2 it was prophesied that from the standpoint of His personal appearance, He had “no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” (ESV)
Yet in the first chapter of the Gospel of John it is written that Jesus was in the beginning with God and that He is God, and that all things have been created through Jesus. And even though all of the universe has been created by Jesus, His life while He was on earth, before His resurrection and except for the transfiguration, appeared to be ordinary and human like all other people. For example, His appearance and personality was such that people felt free to ridicule Him in Matthew 9.24.
And even though Jesus submitted Himself to live fully human as we live, the verses above teach that Jesus was and is the “radiance of the glory of God.” And this radiance of God was present at all times in Jesus, even though it was not naturally perceived by people evaluating Him on the basis of His humanity alone.
Scholars teach that the “radiance” communicated by the word used in verse 3 is like the rays of light coming to earth from the sun. For His radiance to be seen required spiritual perception. There were people in the Gospel accounts who could spiritually grasp the radiance of Jesus’ glory. Simeon and Anna written about in Luke chapter 2 are two such people.
I believe the Centurion written about in Matthew chapter 8 also demonstrated that he could spiritually observe the glory of Jesus by his unquestioning faith that Jesus could do whatever He spoke, by means of His authority.