Awed By Christ’s Resurrection: 6 Days Of DecreaseНамуна

A Celebration of Sight

In celebration, the no-longer-blind beggar joyously followed Jesus into Jericho. Bartimaeus’s praise must have been contagiously evident to all because Luke tells us that, “When all the people saw it, they also praised God” (Luke 18:43). Everyone the group passed heard the praise and witnessed the celebration. One soul in particular desperately wanted a clearer view of the Jesus at the center of the people’s joy.

Imagine with me the now-sighted beggar standing near Jesus, as Jesus looked up into the sycamore tree and said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5). We tend to read these stories as stand-alone narratives, but Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus were citizens of the same city. And though I feel rather confident stating that poor blind beggars and wealthy chief tax collectors did not eat at the same table, I have other questions that remain unanswered. Did Zacchaeus recognize Bartimaeus from the countless times he had walked past the same roadside? Did tax collection have anything to do with the beggar’s poverty? Did Bartimaeus’s praise inspire Zacchaeus to accept Jesus as the Messiah?

As I picture Jesus, Bartimaeus, and Zacchaeus celebrating the miracles of physical and spiritual sight, a reality resounds: though following Jesus is most often an individual act of faith, that act always has communal repercussions. We are interrelated. Our stories, though unique, are woven of shared thread. I can only imagine the glorious tapestry Zacchaeus and Bartimaeus presented their city after that day when Jesus stood still at a roadside and then under a tree to welcome lost brothers home.

Today’s Fast: Isolation

Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy penned a short story in 1929 titled “Chain-Links,” in which he postulated a theory that is now known as Six Degrees of Separation. A key concept in city planning and social networking, the Six Degrees theory asserts that all humans can be connected by a maximum of six steps. Spiritually, the theory highlights the truth that each life needs and in turn affects all other lives. 

Today, then, fast isolation. Meet a friend for coffee, call a cousin, visit a neighbor, or connect with a colleague. Purpose to link and be linked, to need and be needed, to see and be seen. Refuse to discount your influence, especially in seemingly small acts, and intentionally nurture your God-given web of relationships.