In today’s readings, the Israelites with Moses and the crowd listening to Jesus had seemingly very different experiences as they witnessed God speaking. In both, God was very obvious in some respects but hidden in others.

God wants the Israelites to know who Moses is speaking with on Mount Sinai. God says so directly to Moses: “I am coming to you in a dense cloud, so that when the people hear me speaking with you, they may always have faith in you also.” God says he will come down “before the eyes of the people.” God intends to be both visible and audible, in such a way that nobody could doubt that Moses was speaking with God (and, in context, so they would trust the priests to whom Moses delegated). But first, the people needed to prepare themselves for three days – there are a few instructions God left for this preparation which are not included in today’s reading. And indeed, when Moses led the people “out to meet God,” they witnessed Moses in conversation with thunder before he was called to the top of the mountain in a lightning storm! This experience seems spectacular and clear!

I’m sure you, as I and most people I’ve talked to, have at one point wished that God would be as clear to us as to the Israelites in today’s readings. “Give me a sign!” we say. “Tell me what you want me to do!” say many college students making decisions about their major, career, or relationships. Or, as a character in one of my favorite TV shows said, “If there’s a right way to live, a right way to be… why isn’t it obvious?”

And yet, even after preparing to hear God and see God, the people could not understand what God was saying to Moses. It sounded like thunder to them, but they knew it was God. They trusted Moses to interpret. In the Gospel reading, the people have God speaking directly to them in their language (like us, reading this scripture passage), and somehow find Jesus less clear than the cloud, thunder, lightning, and fire. What is going on here? The disciples certainly seem to think Jesus could be more direct. But then, the disciples believe that God is speaking to them in Jesus. They have been prepared with the foundation to receive what Jesus is saying, and even they don’t understand most of the parables on the first hearing. It seems likely to me that Jesus gives the truth in parables because a story or metaphor encourages us to wonder about the meaning, to reflect and interpret and discuss and pray about it in the context of our own lives. By that very process we can open our eyes, ears, and hearts to receive Jesus’ message and healing. It’s a collaborative process.

In which areas of my life do I want to close my eyes, cover my ears, and harden my heart rather than allow God to heal me? Where have I already experienced spiritual revelation and healing?

“Open My Eyes, Lord” by Jessi Manibusan