Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
Today is the feast of St. Bartholomew, one of the Chosen Apostles who followed the Lord. I read this passage with fresh eyes today as Bess and I recently watched the show "The Chosen." That YouTube series focused on Jesus through the eyes of those he chose. While Bartholomew (Nathaniel) has played a fairly small role thus far, I was able to read this as Jesus may have been imagined in the show.
The show does a fantastic job of portraying the humanity of Jesus in a compelling way. It is a reminder that sometimes in our effort to take Jesus seriously we sometimes make him too inaccessible. We forget that the incarnation is the Son of Man descending to be with us, among us, and one of us.
To me, this human, accessible Jesus might have a double meaning in his phrase "There is no duplicity in him." Certainly, he might be commending Bartholomew's character and honesty. He also might be having a little fun with Bartholomew. Just a couple lines earlier Bartholomew did not use guile to disguise his words about how he felt about Nazarenes. Jesus reveals that he saw Bartholomew under the fig tree because he also reveals that he knows how clearly Bartholomew speaks his mind.
Now, this is not an interpretation that you should run off with as officially supported. It is rather an interpretation that stems from something we don't often talk about. Jesus was compelling. Jesus attracted some and repulsed others because his personality, his mode of operating, those he engaged with, and the way he spoke compelled a response from people. Sometimes the Jesus we conceive of in our minds might be compelling theologically, but is stodgy, boring, and bland as far as a human person goes. This boring Jesus wouldn't have demanded a response much less been faced with rejection.
Rather we know that Jesus was anything but boring. He may have been non-violent, but he was not non-threatening to those who thrived on the status quo. He exploded all of our categories. He was enigmatic, charismatic, and nomadic. He was not a stiff, one-dimensional, cardboard cutout caricature of what we think holiness should look like. Rather he illuminated for us the paradox of what Holiness is to look like: pure and filthy; merciful and just; passionate and gentle... and yes probably a little funny.
I think I want Jesus to be ruffling Batholomew's feathers, not because I'm convinced it is the most accurate reading of the passage, but because I've tried following my cardboard cutout version of Jesus before and we didn't go anywhere. May we encounter the dynamic challenging Jesus whose call makes it all worth it, even before we witness the truly magnificent He has in store for us.
- Spencer Hargadon