You can listen to this week’s Devotional here
Author: Lianna Campos
“What’s Up, Zak?” told the tales of Zacchaeus and Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus was based on and told the story of the blind beggar as written in Luke chapter 18. Bartimaeus explains that he knew Jesus was coming and when he cried out, the other beggars tried to stop him. The others said that they are not allowed to talk to VIPs. Eventually, Jesus orders everyone to be still and for Bartimaeus to be brought to him. When Bartimaeus gets to Jesus, Jesus asks him what he wants and Bartimaeus says that he wants to see Jesus, then says that Bartimaeus’ sight has been restored and that his faith has set him free.
This is a story that is rife with problematic language and teachable moments. The one that was brought up during ARTS camp was the toxic teaching that disabilities need to be fixed in order for the person to be “whole.” What counters that in the story is simple: Bartimaeus is the one who asks for his sight. This healing is not imposed upon him by Jesus, and his peers are not bringing him to Jesus demanding it. Rather, Jesus asks him what he wants and he wants his eyes healed.
To an extent, isn’t this a story about resource access? Bartimaeus identified something about himself he wanted to change and he fought for the access he’d need to make that change happen. I don’t think that Bartimaeus needed to be set free from his blindness in order to be whole and restored, but that his faith fought him free of the barriers that would keep him from experiencing the healing he wanted. When others tried to silence him, he kept calling out. He was an advocate.
It’s okay to want to change things about yourself.
And it’s okay not to.
What matters is that you have equitable access to the resources needed to support your decision.
A prayer:
O God, You heard Bartimaeus.
Through the noise, You heard him.
Through those who would keep him silent, You heard him. You hear the oppressed and seek to break them free of the ties that bind them.
May we have the humility to respect others’ choices with their bodies.
May we have the strength to keep reaching for what we deserve.
May we have the faith to keep shouting out to You, our Creator.
Amen.