The Reading
Jeremiah 24:1-10 (NRSV)
The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. This was after King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the artisans, and the smiths, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”
Yes: Jeremiah’s vision of the two baskets of figs is bizarre. (Why would anyone gather rotten figs into a basket, and present it to the Lord?) And the interpretation of the vision is both hopeful and harsh. But what especially captures my attention is God’s question, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
We know the answer from the very first verse: Jeremiah sees two baskets of figs. And God, of course, already knows what Jeremiah sees. But God still asks, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” Jeremiah’s answer is simple & straightforward. And then, only after Jeremiah answers, does the word of the Lord come to Jeremiah to help him understand what the vision means.
I think Scripture is teaching something important here. God’s question to Jeremiah invites him – and invites us all – to practice simply saying what we see (or hear, or feel). Don’t rush to interpret, to explain, to defend, to justify. Later, perhaps, God will help us understand. (Or perhaps not.) But ask yourself what God asks Jeremiah: “What do you see?” Answer, and then stop. Don’t rush to explain. And then listen: listen for the word of the Lord to help us understand.