Be a Visionary, a Disciple
“I tell those idiots who argue for ‘big bang theory’ and ‘evolution theory’, to read the Bible about creation”. These were the words of a proud Catholic. When I told him that the story of God creating everything in seven days is not meant to be a scientific explanation on the origins of the world; it is rather the theology of the relationship between humans and God. In fact, the scientific theories do not contradict the Bible, understood properly. He couldn’t believe my response. He said, “So all this time, I was the idiot to use the Bible story of creation to refute the big bang and the evolution theories?” The problem with my friend was that he had some catechesis as a child and never tried to have adult catechism of the Church. He was a man of faith, yet needed to grow a lot to see things in a proper Christian way. Mark’s Gospel has the story of Bartimaeus, making a similar point.
Mark’s narration of the healing of the blind man, Bartimaeus, is metaphorical. The location of the sight giving is Jericho, the last stop for pilgrims who were on their way to Jerusalem, the city of God. Bartimaeus represents Christians who have travelled a fair deal in their earthly pilgrimage to the Kingdom of God. He called out, “Jesus, son of David”, a title which defined the identity of Jesus, but only partially. The blind man did not know any better. He wanted to “see again”. That means though he was blind, he had some faith insight to call Jesus “Son of David”. Answering his request to “see again”, grow deeper into faith, Jesus gave him the proper vision needed to walk the Christian way of life with Jesus. As a man of vision, he throws away his cloak, because he no longer is a beggar and the cloak of the beggar is not needed any more. Now Bartimaeus is like someone who has matured in his faith through adult formation. Happily he follows Jesus to enter the Kingdom of God.
You as Christian is a pilgrim, journeying to the Kingdom of God. You may be at the last stop before entering the Kingdom . Jesus is coming your way. Are you seeking proper vision like Bartimaeus at Jericho? Unfortunately, many Christians are happy just to spread their begging cloak each day to collect the bits and pieces of motivational sayings on social media. Little do they know that they are stuck as a beggar on the way, looking for small handouts, blinded to the path of discipleship to Jesus. Life is much greater than those little handouts. A far sight into the pattern of Jesus will take you to the real destination, which otherwise will be oblivious to you. Therefore, ask Jesus to open your eyes by participating in the adult faith formation programs available to you. Be an adult Christian walking with Jesus to his Kingdom. Be a visionary and a disciple.
