What do you want Me to do for you?

 Now they came to Jericho.  As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

- Mark 10:46-52

Yesterday we read that the disciples were going on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him:  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus sad to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Now they came to Jericho.  As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.  Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, coming from east of the Jordan.  Jericho was considered a place associated with sin (it's where the story of the Good Samaritan takes place, see Luke 10:30).  Tradition gives us a spiritual understanding of this story; in this context Jericho symbolizes a fallen humanity.  Christ passing through gives us an image of the Incarnation.   Bartimaeus is thereby humanity restored to glory.  Having been made whole, human nature can now follow Christ on the road to the Kingdom -- just as Jesus is on the road to His entrance into Jerusalem.

One thing we notice about this story -- Jesus asks Bartimaeus the same question He's just asked John and James Zebedee:  What do you want Me to do for you?  The two disciples wanted to be the greatest in His kingdom, to sit at His right and left hand.  Those things He could not do for His disciples, nor did they understand what it would mean to be great in this Kingdom.  Their request then became an opportunity for teaching.  That was what they needed.  Here, Bartimaeus request is met with the answer, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  In a certain sense, they're both the same answer.  That is, faith is the real answer in both cases.  John and James Zebedee will fill their own "gloried" shoes with martyrdom and persecution.  They will come to drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism that Christ is.  Here, Bartimaeus has the faith that has restored him, and he follows Christ on the road to Jerusalem.  Each one has their own way in which they must follow Christ, and this is something we also come to understand from the stories of the Gospels.  In the end, it's a matter of faith.  Although we may walk the same road, and we all follow Christ, for each of us that road may be quite different.  For each one Christ prepares the way, through faith.  Blind Bartimaeus called Jesus by the title, "Son of David."  This is a Messianic title, and it tells us he understands who Christ is.  The cry, "Have mercy on me!" is one of complete abandonment to Christ.  It lets us know his understanding of his dependency, he's ready to surrender all claim to greatness in the face of the Messiah.  It gives us a contrast with the request of John and James for the two places of greatness on either side of Christ.  Blindness is often a metaphor for spiritual blindness, for sin.  To be "illuminated" is to truly see -- and we see Bartimaeus' choice to follow Christ on the road to Jerusalem after he receives his sight.  There is still further to go -- the restoration of his sight isn't the end, it's a new beginning for him.  As we review these choices and these requests, we might ask where we are today.  Are we Bartimaeus on that road crying out "have mercy on me"?  Or are we John and James, who need their own enlightenment on what greatness will mean for them?  Either way, faith leads us down the road we need.  When Jesus asks, "What do you want Me to do for you?" we must be ready to accept the true answer to our request.