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 they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before the disciples; 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.   Of today's passage, my study Bible comments that the restoration of sight to the blind was a sign that was expected to be performed by the Messiah (Isaiah 29:18; 35:4-5), a power which God had reserved for God alone (compare John 9:32).  Son of David was a messianic title, which shows that Bartimaeus had faith that Jesus was the Christ.   In patristic commentary there is also a spiritual interpretation to this miracle.  My study Bible explains that Jericho was a low-lying city associated with sin (Luke 10:30; 19:1).  In this case, it symbolizes fallen humanity.  Christ passing through Jericho then becomes an image of His Incarnation.  That He restores sight to Bartimaeus is a parallel to His restoring humanity to glory.  Having been made whole by Christ, human nature is now capable of following Christ on the road to the Kingdom, which is symbolized by our Lord's subsequent entrance into Jerusalem (the following reading as we begin chapter 11).

If we follow the spiritual interpretation of today's reading that is reported by my study Bible, we might want to ponder a little more deeply this understanding that Christ's healing power makes us capable of following Him on the road to the Kingdom.  Bartimaeus' blindness, in the language of the Gospels, makes his sight darkened.  His eyes are incapable of taking in light.  In this symbolic sense, the light of the world illuminates all things, presents to us the reality of the things of the world, for everything is made clear by light and the quality of light we're capable of seeing.  The fullest spectrum of light is a bright white, which gives us true hues and the quality of a sharp and brilliant image.  All of these metaphors of light and darkness, of illumination and blindness, are meant to help us to understanding the powerful effect of Christ and what He does to restore us to our capabilities.  In this case, that would particularly apply to our capabilities for discernment (another analogy to "seeing").  If we take this metaphor to a fuller sense, we might consider how all the world is utterly dependent upon sunlight for everything; without it, the world and all lives within the world would die or become extinct.  What Christ does by restoring Bartimaeus' capacity for taking in the light is make it possible for him to see and discern the way toward greater illumination.  As my study Bible puts it, He makes it possible for Bartimaeus to follow Him on the road to Jerusalem, toward the fullness of the Kingdom.  He gives us the capacity to discern the light, so that we also may grow and have the capability for a kind of fullness only He can lead us toward.  So we must consider healing to be, if not a simple restoration to the fullness of glory, a kind of restoration to the capability of pursuing and finding that glory, which is the true spiritual journey of the soul.  Only He can lead us there but we first need the capacity to follow Him, to grasp that He holds the spiritual truth we need and the light that feeds us and that is necessary to support all life.  Let us note Jesus' question to Bartimaeus, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  In yesterday's reading (above), Jesus asked the same question of John and James Zebedee.  But He could not fulfill their request, only that they could follow Him on the road in their own journeys as disciples into the fullness of whatever future and image that was held for them.  In today's reading, Jesus answers Bartimaeus' request in the positive, fulfilling what he asks.  But this healing makes Bartimaeus also capable, as John and James Zebedee, of following Him on the road to Jerusalem and to whatever future awaits in that life of the Kingdom for him.  And this is healing for each of us:  that we may perceive that light and follow where it leads us, for growth, flourishing, and the glory that awaits in the image He has for us.