WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?
(7-minute read)
It’s not unusual for us to play down our needs when someone asks the question, What do you want me to do for you? Maybe we want to avoid embarrassment. Or the relationship lacks the vulnerability that makes disclosure safe. Or perhaps we haven’t really figured out what we need because we have settled into whatever circumstances life has thrown at us. Our internal dialogue says Suck it up, roll with the punches, don't have expectations and you'll not be disappointed. In reality, such thinking not only does not facilitate our faith growth, it also demonstrates a lack of maturity.
Mark 10:46-52 describes a life-transforming conversation that Jesus had with a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. Whether Bartimaeus was born blind or lost his sight due to injury or illness is unclear and inconsequential to what we can learn from him. The Bible tells us that he was carrying on his usual begging activities by a certain roadside in Jericho where beggars begged when he heard that Jesus was going that way.
Interestingly, there were likely many other beggars around him that day but he was the only one who regained permanent sight. While other beggars likely shouted louder and tried harder to hustle for loose change from Jesus and His entourage, he begged the Lord only for mercy. Bartimaeus stood out from other beggars that way because he was one who refused to let his handicap become his destiny.
Three things stood out about Bartimaeus that counter the erroneous thinking that if only we try harder and longer, we will find fulfillment in life:
1. Expectation
“When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (v47)
How is that relatable to us today? For one, like beggars, we can settle into a habit of not expecting much out of life. We think our lives will improve if we try harder and do more of what we are doing to keep the status quo. We feel guilty of having ambitions or aspirations beyond what tradition and culture tell us we should be. Even with Jesus in our lives, we are happy to be the best version of what we are doing and nothing more. It’s not all that bad to be stuck in a rut if we’ve grown comfortable with the mechanics of routine, rituals and our role in it.
Those who are settled don’t need much and don’t ask for much – even from God. They live by the motto of staying safe and well. Nothing earth-shaking happens in their lives and they will not venture to change anything either. They ask the Lord for daily bread and hope He provides the same bread each day. They have settled – spiritually and in every way. No revisions please.
Conversely, when Bartimaeus asked Jesus for sight, he wasn’t planning on returning to begging. He wasn’t looking at upgrading his life as a beggar either. Once he could see, he would be freed from living within the limitations of his visual handicap because a different future would now be possible for him.
Pause and consider: Do you believe that God still has something new and different for you in this season of your life?
2. Desperation
“Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (v48)
As a beggar, Bartimaeus knew how to beg with undaunted persistence, without a shred of embarrassment or self-consciousness until he received attention. He was also used to being ignored, so when the disciples told him to be quiet, he doubled down and shouted the Lord’s Name with all his might. Beggars do not usually call out people’s names but when he saw an opportunity to tear himself out of the snare of blindness and its existential limitations, he wasted no time getting Jesus’ attention.
His desperation was not an act of emotional outburst but an unflinching determination to not be held back by what others thought were untenable, unreachable, and unseemly because of his handicap. He kept calling the Lord because he refused to let societal stereotypes suppress his hope in Jesus.
‘When Jesus heard him, He stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”’ (v49, NLT). Contrastingly, while the disciples ‘told him to be quiet’, Jesus told him to ‘come here’.
He was rewarded. Jesus then told him, ‘“Go, your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.’ (v52). His voice mattered to God.
Today, your life opportunities could be limited by society’s perception of your ability based on your experience, ethnicity, education, age, gender, or handicap. So you find it safe to exist as a nobody because nobody has told you that you could have a different existence. Know that God does not want you to settle into oblivion and a false sense of fulfillment.
Pause and consider: Embrace your God-given dreams and aspirations because God wants to reignite His purpose in your life – even now.
3. Total abandonment
After Jesus spoke, Bartimaeus responded in a most uncharacteristic manner for a blind man. ‘Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.’ (v50). Picture a blind man moving unaided, jumping to his feet in total abandonment!
His action conveyed three symbolic meanings about total abandonment:
Personal possession
When Bartimaeus put on his cloak each day, he accepted it as his work clothes as a beggar. The cloak was the mark of a beggar, whatever is your background or biography. If you are working on the street corner, you have to look the part to be deserving of lose change thrown at you.
Thus, when he approached Jesus, he instinctively discarded the visible trappings of a beggar so that Jesus would see the full measure of his humanity in need of His mercy.
Preferred posture
Bartimaeus was likely to have been lying down, sitting or squatting in a street corner before he jumped to his feet. Beggars had to assume postures of weakness, helplessness and destitution to evoke public sympathy.
But it was not sympathy that he needed from Jesus: it was mercy from One he called ‘Son of David’ and ‘Rabbi’. He could not approach Jesus with the posture of a beggar if he wanted to relate with the Lord in a new way.
Popular position
Beggars are territorial. It’s easy to spot familiar ones in different street corners or different sides of the street. Bartimaeus vacated his favoured spot when Jesus approached, not temporarily but for good. He wasn’t planning on returning to the same spot, performing the same ritual, or sticking to the same routine. His encounter with Jesus was so swift and short that he had no time even to turn back and say goodbye before he instantaneously decided to follow Jesus on another path.
Pause and consider: If Jesus healed you today, how would the new freedom change the way you currently live and relate with others? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you right now about total abandonment for a much-needed change in your life?
On the surface, a blind beggar has many immediate needs: financial, family support, encouraging friends, clean clothes, dental care, protection from robbers, rough weather and rodents attacking his food on the streets, and…how about a beautiful wife? Or maybe he just wants a better spot with better footfall to improve his daily takings. When Jesus asked Bartimaeus, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ (v51), He wasn’t going to give him what He thought a blind man needed to alleviate hardships but He wanted Bartimaeus to confess what he thought Jesus was capable to do for him.
Without missing a beat, Bartimaeus said unequivocally, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’ (v51). Instantly, he received his sight and followed Jesus - ready to embrace all the changes that a 20/20 vision would introduce into his life!
What about you?
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 20 August 2022.
