05_Tack_copiaaaaa_85-112 28/04/15 12:35 Pagina 103 A FACE REFLECTING GLORY 103 parallel is indeed appropriate. Contextual arguments will be pro- vided in a third and last section. Second, for the interpretation of h`mei/j pa,ntej in relation to katoptrizo,menoi it is important to keep in mind that throughout the Pauline corpus there is always some kind of reciprocity involved or aimed at in the relationship between Christ, his envoy Paul, and the Christian community. In this regard, M. Hooker speaks of “inter- change” between Christ, Paul and his community. Just as Paul is im- itating Christ in his ministry, she says, the Christians are exhorted to follow his example and to become like Christ as well, by living a morally just life 64. It is the same as saying that the community itself must work for its own salvation (cf. Phil 2,12), and it is precisely Phil 2,12 that enlightens our understanding of the kind of reciprocity that is asked from the Corinthian community. It is initiated by God, as it is God who is at work amongst them (Phil 2,13), and it has to be completed in the daily life of the community 65. All this shows that the letters of Paul generally assign an active role to the community, in co-operation with Paul, Christ and God. This mutuality does not imply that the community is or will ever be on the same level as Christ. The interaction of h`mei/j pa,ntej with the divine do,xa in 2 Cor 3,18 is, after all, described as a gradual process in which the community is never completely identified with Christ. The community only reflects the do,xa indirectly as a mirror. T. Nick- las reminds us of the subtle distinction that is introduced by the mirror imagery: “Christus als Bild Gottes trägt Gottes Herrlichkeit an sich, seine Anhänger wiederum reflektieren diese aufgrund ihrer Chris- tusbeziehung wie ein Spiegel, lassen sie — unverhüllt und doch im Ansatz — an sich selbst erkennen und werden in einem Transforma- tionsprozess mehr und mehr zum Bild Gottes verwandelt” 66. A further solution to both problems can be found by approaching 2 Cor 3,18 as a vital link in the whole of 2 Cor 2,14 – 4,15. After all, 2 Cor 3,18 does not only elaborate the idea of the letter of re- commendation that is so explicitly spelled out in 2 Cor 3,1-3, but also introduces the main topic of 2 Corinthians 4. In other words, 2 Cor 3,18 is not only the climax of 2 Corinthians 3, as Wright in- dicates, but it also looks ahead to the next chapter, 2 Corinthians 4. 64 M. HOOKER, “Interchange in Christ and Ethics”, JSNT 25 (1985) 3-17. 65 J. REUMANN, Philippians (New Haven, CT 2008) 408-411. 66 NICKLAS, “Herrlichkeit”, 256.