Exodus 3:13-20 / Matthew 11:28-30 (2019)
In our common understanding, the name of a person is used to identify the person.
However the biblical understanding of a name is that it points to the person himself. The name is not just a means for a cognitive identification but the name is the person.
When Moses asked for the name of God, he was given this mysterious and enigmatic name - I Am who I Am.
The "I Am who I Am" was revealed to Moses as the God of Abraham, Issac, Jacob.
Yes there is so much we know about God and yet there is also so much more that is waiting to be revealed to us.
God is more than a name; He is a mystery that keeps revealing Himself to us.
There is this poem by Helen Mallicoat and this can be helpful for our reflection on what God is revealing to us at this moment in time.
"I was regretting the past and fearing the future. Suddenly my Lord was speaking : My name is I Am.
He paused. I waited. He continued :
When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I Was.
When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I Will Be.
When you live in this moment, it is not hard. I am here. My name is I Am."
Indeed, God is the Lord of all eternity, yet He is also the God of the "Now", the God whose name is I Am.
And God is saying to us : I Am with you now.
And He is telling us to come to Him, with our labours and burdens of heart and He will give us rest.
Not just in the past, not just for the future, but now!