"What do you want me to do for you?" - A meditation on Mark 10:46-52

 “What do you want me to do for you?” - Jesus to Bartimaeus, a
blind man from Jericho circa 33 AD (as cited in Mark 10:51, NIV)

While traveling on his way to his rendezvous with destiny in Jerusalem Jesus passes through the beautiful city of Jericho famous for its fertility and luxury. It's the last stop before he and his companions make the 15-mile trek up to the Holy City. They're more than likely traveling in one of the many pilgrim caravans that are headed there for Passover and its probably a pretty raucous crowd.

Laying beside the road with his cloak out counting on collecting a few coins from these pilgrims is blind Bartimaeus plying his trade. Hoping to get lucky he has no idea how much his luck has turned when Jesus passes him by. When he understands its the Jesus of great renown famous for his many wonders and healings he lets loose a great hue and cry. According to one commentator, he didn't just raise his voice; he went, as they used to say, bananas. 

“The Greek term rendered 'cry out' in 10:47 is krazo, which one lexicon defines as 'to make a vehement outcry,' 'cry out', 'scream,' or 'shriek,' or 'when one utters loud cries, without words capable of being understood,' and is used 'of mentally disturbed persons, epileptics, or the evil spirits living in them.' This was not the routine calling of a longtime beggar like 'alms for the blind.' The man set aside all dignity and restraint to make himself unavoidable by shrieking at the top of his lungs.” (Living Insights on Mark, Chuck Swindoll, p. 289)

In other words, he made a spectacle of himself and when the crowd shushed him he refused to be shushed. This was, he probably was thinking, his last best chance to be made whole. And then it happened: he got Jesus' attention who had stopped in the middle of the road and asked a few of his disciples to bring the man to him. In no time there the blind beggar stood before the itinerant rabbi and then Jesus asked him the fateful question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The moment of truth

Talk about a red letter day! Bartimaeus' ship has just come in. There he stood before the man whose reputation was of someone with the authority to send demons back to the abyss, command the sea to silence and bring mobility and sight to the lame and blind. And he asks,“What do you want me to do for you?”

Something like this

I try and put myself in his shoes. If I came face to face with Jesus
today and he asked me the same question how would I answer? What would I ask for? Peace in Ukraine? The salvation of those I know who at present live without Christ in their life? For my church to be a thriving, growing one and the ministerial envy of the community?  Or, would my requests be even more worldly? You know, “Well, the wife and I have dreamed for a real long time of building a deck with a hot tub off our bedroom. Do you think I could have that?” 

Says Swindoll:

“'What do you want Me to do for you?'” (10:51) could have been answered with, 'A couple of spare shekels for a poor blind man, Sir.' His asking of Jesus what he asked of every other traveler would have revealed the substance of his faith and the priority of his life. Far too many ask far too little of Jesus; they seek an extra margin of comfort in their miserable slavery to sin when they could ask for – and receive – a full measure of God's forgiveness, mercy, and saving grace!” (Living Insights, pp. 289-90)

As I reflected on this passage yesterday morning I was more bothered by the fact that my knee-jerk reaction and answer to that question - “What do you want me to do for you?” - was the hot tub one and not something far more godly. I don't think there's anything particularly sinful about owning a hot tub; it's just that, as Swindoll says, it's like asking the King of the universe for a pocket full of change when you could have so much more.

In this section of the Gospel of  Mark, Bartimaeus isn't the first to be asked this question. Somewhere on the road to Jericho, James and John had asked Jesus for a favor and in response he asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?” (v. 36). I'm a bit chagrined that I thought of asking for a hot tub. These guys, however, ask for the moon: “Arrange it,” they said, “so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory—one of us at your right, the other at your left” (v. 37, Msg). Given what we know of the story it's a ridiculous request: after all, despite his attempts to spell it out to them none of these guys seem to grasp the Waterloo that awaits Jesus in Jerusalem. Adding to the oddness of the request is the reaction of the rest of the gang when they learn what the brothers have asked for and are irate with them that they hadn't gotten to Jesus first. 

Just last week I was visiting with an inmate from the Barron County Jail. “Jim” is a frequent flyer with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections on account of his history with addiction. Since last summer when he was released from Stanley Correctional Institution he has spent several short stints at the jail on account of probation holds which is why he is inside again. Jim is over 50 years old and if he doesn't get a new profession I wonder just how much longer he may have. “I guess,” Jim remarked to me, “I have to decide what I want.” It is, after all, the secret of what kind of life we pursue, isn't it? In Moses' last message to the people he put it in pretty stark terms: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him” (Deut 30:19-20, NIV). At this moment Jim is at something of a crossroads. Everyone who knows him is hoping he will choose well but regrettably his history is against him. Still him asking that question is akin to the moment Bartimaeus stands before Jesus and is asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” 

The way Mark tells the story we shouldn't be surprised of the ending. When they came to escort him to Jesus he practically cannonballs in to the new life he is about to be offered: “Throwing his cloak aside” - this may be similar to Peter and Andrew leaving their boats at seaside to follow Jesus - “he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus” (v. 50). And when asked the question, “What do you me to do for you?” without hesitation he says, “Rabbi, I want to see” (v. 51). Without a touch or a prayer, Jesus simply says, “Done. Your faith has healed you” and he immediately sees. What's more, on the spot he joins Jesus' procession. To “follow Jesus along the road” is code for enlisting as one of his disciples. The fact that of all the people Jesus is noted of healing in Mark's Gospel Bartimaeus is the only one to be named suggests that he may have been well-known to Mark's first audience. Talk about a 180!

Seeing is believing

Upon reflection, the fact that such things as a hot tub and new windows for the laundry room really have my attention suggests that the next time the Lord asks me “What do you want me to do for you?” I need to respond as Bartimaeus once did – that I may see and possess that which is eternal and of lasting value.