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 Jesus and the disciples were 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 said 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.  My study bible comments that the restoration of sight to the blind was a sign which was expected to be performed by the Messiah, and a power that God had reserved for only God's use alone (compare John 9:32).  That Bartimaeus calls Jesus Son of David shows his faith that Jesus is the Messiah, for was a messianic title.  There is in tradition also a spiritual interpretation of this miracle.  Jericho was a low-lying city associated with sin, and notorious for crime (see the parable of the Good Samaritan, which takes place on this dangerous road to Jericho).   Here, the city symbolizes fallen humanity with all of its imperfections, limitations, problems.  Bartimaeus' blindness becomes an image of our struggles in this darkness.  In this perspective, Christ passing through Jericho is an image of the Incarnation.  Jesus' restoration of sight to Bartimaeus, my study bible says, parallels His restoring humanity to glory.  It is a picture of "enlightenment."  Bartimaeus is made whole by Christ, and thus human nature, transfigured by the light of grace, is capable of following Christ on the road to the Kingdom -- symbolized in Christ's later entrance into Jerusalem.  

In all of this week's readings, Jesus emphasizes to the disciples the importance of humility in their understanding of power and its use in His kingdom, His way.  He repeatedly has told them that He will suffer and die in Jerusalem, and rise on the third day.  He has emphasized to these men who will become the first bishops of His church, how power and authority must be wielded in His name, that in even the littlest ones whom they receive in His name they must see Him, Christ -- and also the Father who sent Him.   This is the way He defines the order of true greatness, through service and humility, expressions of active love in the way of the Cross.  In a particular sense, the healing of Bartimaeus is an image of this teaching.  If we consider the place of Bartimaeus, it is as one of the "littlest ones" in the sense of power or authority.  He can do nothing but sit by this dangerous road, in a place notorious for sin, begging.  He is an image of helplessness, powerlessness, and infirmity.  But he has one thing at hand, he has faith that Jesus is the Christ.  He is such a lowly person that when he shouts out to Jesus in this no doubt tumultuous and noisy crowd, he is told by many to be quiet.  But Jesus hears him, and stands still in order to call out to him.  To be called by Christ speaks clearly to vocation, to spiritual hearing.  Bartimaeus may not be able to see, but he can hear, and with the important spiritual sense of hearing, which Bartimaeus uses to the fullest of his capacity, he may respond to Jesus' call answering his own pleas.  There is a message there that even in our weakness and imperfection, even with wounds and with severe loss, handicap, or lack, what we have -- with faith -- is enough.  In Thursday's reading, Jesus taught, "With God all things are possible."  Our limitations and imperfections do not really limit us, for we as human beings possess a nature capable of development and compensation for the things we lack, for what is missing from our lives, what we wish we had and think we need.  We are capable of developing whatever it is we do have, even with faith as tiny as a mustard seed.  This is  the true image of human nature which Christ teaches us, our capacity as spiritual creatures made in the image and likeness of God.  Throughout the Gospels, the stories teach us about persistence, awareness, and resourcefulness, making the best of what we have with our intelligence and capacity for the love of Christ and responding to the good He offers.   The people who approach Christ all lack something; the ones who find redemption are those who, despite circumstances, find a way to Christ:  whether we are speaking of a Gentile woman outside of Israel, a paralyzed man taken to Christ by his friends by lowering him through a roof, a woman who had bankrupted herself on failed medical treatments, or a forsaken demoniac living among the tombs.  The one man, whom Christ loves, who fails to find that extra effort to follow Christ is the rich young man who has so much, and who cannot see a way to part with his possessions.  Bartimaeus means "son of Timaeus", and Timaeus comes from a Greek word meaning "to honor" or "esteem."  He may be the lowliest person on that road through Jericho, but he gives us the truth of our nature -- though disfigured, capable of the greatest virtue through the faith that recognizes and fervently desires what is truly good.  He follows Christ on the road to Jerusalem, becoming one of those who travel with the disciples to Jerusalem.  He will see the Triumphal Entry, symbolizing Christ's entrance into His kingdom.  It is he who will live the words of Simeon's song.  We recall Jesus' teaching regarding John the Baptist:  "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he" (Luke 7:28).  Where will grace take you with whatever it is you have, in the ways you might not yet know you are capable of following Him?  This is the real story of who we are in the light of Christ, and it is the meaning of salvation and redemption.  He doesn't call us in our perfection; He calls us as we are right now.  Christ's strength is made perfect in our weakness and infirmities  (2 Corinthians 12:9).  This is the great beauty revealed in His ministry and mission.  All we need is our own love and trust in Him, and a deep desire for what He offers.