We all have heard the phrase, “what came first, the chicken or the egg?” Although it has been studied for hundreds of years and theories are plentiful, ultimately, only God can answer that question with absolute certainty. The phrase is used to describe situations where it is not clear which of two events should be considered the cause and which should be considered the effect. In other words, which one caused the other to happen? In other statements, the cause and effect can easily be identified, like “I flipped the switch and the lights came on”. 

So, I guess you’re thinking, what do chicken, eggs and light switches have anything to do with today’s readings? They don’t… well maybe indirectly.… but the question about cause and effect does. The question for today is, “do we need to see to believe, or by believing, we can see?”

For the first part of the question, we can turn to John’s Gospel, where after Jesus’ resurrection and appearance to the Apostles, they tell Thomas they have seen the Lord. What was Thomas’ reply?  He said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail-marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” And we know that a week later, when Jesus appears again and Thomas sees him, he believes… calling Jesus “My Lord and my God”. He never puts his fingers in the nail-marks or his hand in Jesus’ side. Thomas was not a true believer until he saw the resurrected body of Jesus. His doubts and skepticism were replaced by full faith in Jesus. Thomas needs to see to believe.

The second part of our cause-and-effect question is covered in today’s Gospel. Here we have a man called Bartimaeus, a blind man sitting and begging on the side of the road outside of Jericho. Just like many other Gospel stories, God uses one of the “least among us” as an example for us to follow. Let’s apply the cause-and-effect model to this story.

Because Bartimaeus is blind, he must beg for food and ask for help from others. He models for us humility in that he can’t do most things for himself. He must rely on others. Jesus asked us to rely on Him in all things. 

Because Bartimaeus believes Jesus is the Messiah sent by God as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, he calls out to Jesus with the name, Son of David, and cries out for his mercy. And because of his faith and perseverance, Bartimaeus is not deterred when the crowd tells him to be silent. We are called to do the same. In our struggles and our joys, we need to cry out to Jesus constantly, with humility, faith and confidence that He will hear us. 

Because Jesus called him, Bartimaeus sprang up and came to him. Just as Jerimiah is calling the people to return to God in the first reading, Jesus calls Bartimaeus to come and be healed physically and spiritually. We need to spring up, throw off our cloaks of sin, and be ready to answer the question from Jesus, “What do you want me to do for you?”  When is the last time you allowed Jesus to ask you that question? How did you answer? We should also ask Jesus that question often, so our relationship with him is not one-sided. 

Jesus physically heals Bartimaeus not only for Bartimaeus’ sake, but for those in the crowd, who need to see to believe. Jesus continues to offer us healing today, to help us to strengthen our faith in him.  

Jesus tells Bartimaeus to go his way, but because of Bartimaeus’ love and faith in Jesus, Bartimaeus follows Jesus on the way.  Again, another example for us. We must make sure our way is Jesus’ way. The way our God has planned for us.

So did we answer the question, “do we need to see to believe, or by believing, we can see?”  

For us, we have the advantage of the Word of God and 2,000 years making it easier to believe, which allows us to see all of God’s mercy and love for us. We see His plan for us as He reveals it to us. But there still may be times when we struggle that we need to see to confirm our belief. That’s when you answer Jesus’ question, asking him to show you the way. Keep your faith in Jesus, growing it each day and ignore the distractions and nay-sayers. Our goal, just like Bartimaeus, is to hear the words of Jesus, “your faith has saved you.”