In today’s first reading, Samuel goes to anoint the new king God has chosen for Israel in place of Saul. Yet Samuel has trouble recognizing who the new king will be among the sons of Jesse; he goes through seven of them before David is finally called forward. The Lord tells Samuel, Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart. David, the youngest of the sons, is the chosen one, because he is a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14; cf. Acts 13:22).
The Pharisees, too, have trouble recognizing God’s chosen one — God’s only-begotten Son — in Jesus. They are challenged by Jesus’s newness and his authority, so they pick a fight with him over the fact that his disciples are picking grain on the sabbath. Jesus, once again, points to his identity: first, using the story about David eating the holy bread to imply that he himself is the true Bread of God’s Presence; and second, claiming to be lord of the sabbath (i.e., the place where man rests in and worships God).
We ourselves can have trouble recognizing God’s presence at times, whether because God simply does something unexpected or because there is some obstacle in our heart that blinds us. Today, then, let us examine ourselves and ask God to enlighten the eyes of our hearts so that we may always see him when he appears.