Thursday, August 24, 2023
Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Listen to the story of Bartholomew
You will see greater things than this. You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.
This man called both Bartholomew and Nathaniel would have his eyes opened wide to a vision of heaven. Perhaps, as the lectionary alludes, it resembled John’s vision in Revelation:
The angel took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city coming down out of heaven from God. The wall of the city had twelve courses of stone as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
It’s a long way from “under the fig tree” to having your name etched into the foundation of heaven. Bartholomew traveled all the way to India to deliver the gospel message. Not long after the deaths of Peter and Paul, Bartholomew died in 68 A.D. in Armenia, skinned and decapitated by the king’s brother as punishment for converting the king.
Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Imagine King Polymius in the capital city of Armenia, Albanopolis, sitting on a throne (so uncomfortable) waiting all day for somebody to tell him something interesting. Then Bartholomew comes in and tells his story. Found by Jesus in a miraculous way, watching Jesus live his remarkable life that “ends” with a resurrection. Jesus sends his twelve disciples (including Bartholomew) out to share what they’ve seen, and so his disciples split up and travel across the world to tell the story of Jesus.
Bartholomew has recently traveled to India, now coming back home, three quarters of his trip behind him. It seemed to him that Jesus traveled with him. Miracles accompanied him along the way.
Bartholomew begins to speak of Jesus, who fascinates the king. Jesus was a very different kind of king, certainly never bored. He talked about Jesus’ miracles, his preaching, his persecution and his death. But then Bartholomew describes what happened at the tomb – the stone rolled away, the women seeing Jesus, the disciples seeing Jesus several times eating and drinking, tending a dawn campfire, rising into heaven. The stories become more and more fantastic, but the king finds himself listening closely, believing.
At last Bartholomew describes his own vision of heaven, which he experienced just as Jesus said he would.
The city gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal. It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed.
Bartholomew introduced Polymius to the beauty of the psalms, testifying from his own experience:
You make known to men your might, O Lord, and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom, a kingdom for all ages, because your dominion endures through all generations.
Polymius is spellbound. Bartholomew invites him to be baptized, and Polymius is ready. What a wonderful day for the king. What a wonderful day for Bartholomew.
Except the king’s brother is afraid the Roman occupiers of Armenia will take this conversion as a threat, so he secretly removes Bartholomew from the palace and takes him to a torture chamber, where his skin is removed and he is decapitated.
I don’t know what happened to Polymius’ brother when the king asked to see Bartholomew again. But I do imagine that both Bartholomew and Polymius saw for themselves the glorious city of Jesus, and worshipped.
 (Revelation 21, Psalm 145, John 1)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
#
