What Do You Want Me to Do for You?

He heard them as they departed from Jericho.  There were several of them, following their leader wherever he went.  He was sitting at the side of the road, just outside of town.  He didn't have much choice; he was unclean and not allowed to mingle with the public.  He was blind.  His name was Bartimaeus.

Somehow, Bartimaeus found out who the leader of this throng of travelers was; it was Jesus of Nazareth, a descendant of King David.  Bartimaeus pondered his choices: he could just sit there and hope Jesus would notice him, or he could make a spectacle of himself and be sure of getting his attention.

"Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!" he yelled.  Some of the travelers told him to hush.

"Jesus, Son of Daivd, show me mercy!" he yelled all the louder.

His plan worked!  Jesus sent for him.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked.

What a question!  It was obvious what was wrong with Bartimaeus; wasn't it just as obvious what he wanted Jesus to do for him?

Maybe so.  But Jesus must have had a reason for asking the obvious question.  One thing a question does is force us to come up with an answer.  Sometimes the answer can be a knee-jerk reaction to the question, given without much thought.  Sometimes, the obvious answer is the real answer, as it was in Bartimaeus' case: "I want to see!"

Sometimes, we are not quite sure of the real answer. 

"Jesus, show me mercy!" 

"What do you want me to do for you?" 

Good question. 

Our plea is general, nebulous.  The question forces clarity.  In order to answer the question, we have to think!  We have to come to grips with what it really is that we want Jesus to do for us.

Mark says: "Jesus, show me mercy!"  Jesus answers, "What do you want me to do for you?"  Gulp!

Asbury says: "Jesus, show us mercy!"  Jesus answers, "What do you want me to do for you?" 

Well...  What DO we want Jesus to do for us?  We need to think.  We need to focus.  We desperately need to be able to articulate a real answer!  If you were answering this question on behalf of Asbury, what would you say?  Make that your prayer for Asbury.

You say: "Jesus, show me mercy!"

Jesus answers: "What do you want me to do for you?"

What is your real answer?

Until next time...
Be blessed.
Pastor Mark