The Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes
Wednesday, April 8, 2026
“Take courage, you who prayerfully work for Christ with only scant success—it will not always be this way; better times are ahead. Your eyes cannot see the wonderful future: borrow the telescope of faith; wipe the misty breath of your doubts from the viewfinder; look through it and behold the coming glory.” – C.H. Spurgeon
Launched on December 25, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope is the largest and most powerful telescope ever designed. Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, it does not orbit around the Earth. Instead, it orbits the Sun, 1.5 million kilometers (1 million miles) away from the Earth at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2.
Despite the Webb's mirror diameter being 2.7 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, it produces images of comparable resolution because it observes in the infrared spectrum, which has longer wavelengths than the Hubble's visible spectrum. However, the infrared spectrum allows Webb to view objects too old, distant, or faint for Hubble to see.
I love the “word picture” that Spurgeon paints in today’s quote, asking his reader to “borrow the telescope of faith” to see things that aren’t visible to the naked eye. One such possibility, Spurgeon suggests, is the eternal results of our earthly deeds.
Let me give you another illustration, this one from personal experience.
When I was a boy, I had a View-Master, as did many of my friends. The View-Master was invented by William Gruber in 1939 and manufactured by Sawyer’s. Basically, it was a stereoscope toy that allowed you to see 3D images on a rotating cardboard reel. If you tried to look at the 3-dimensional slides without the View-Master, the pictures would be blurry. But put them into the top slot of the View-Master and click the little lever to the right and PRESTO! Everything instantly came into focus.
My friend, someday – on the other side of eternity – all our earthly questions and concerns will be answered and/or laid to rest. Until then, remember to use the long-range lens of the telescope of faith to put things into proper perspective.
“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” I Corinthians 13:12 (NLT)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
