Mark 10:51-52 "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." 52 "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”
These next two verses in Mark 10 are a fascinating glimpse into the way of Christ. Here He is faced with a desperate blind man who has been crying out above the din of the crowd. There is a multitude of observers who know this man and who have been following after him and as the blind man is brought to Him Jesus does not greet him with any form of assumption. Instead Jesus asks the blind man “what do you want me to do for you?” To us this may seem like a strange question in light of the obvious answer but in the midst of that setting perhaps there was much more going on than the asking of a simple question.
We as modern readers of this story, knowing already its outcome, would seemingly project the obvious onto this situation but our Lord is the master orchestrator of every circumstance. In almost every circumstance the questions of Jesus are provocative. They are searching. They are tests of the heart and revealers of the thoughts of men! As Jesus asks this simple and obvious question the heart and attitude of this blind man is revealed. There is no attitude of resentment revealed, no criticism of the treatment he has received only a humble cry for help.
It is not only the heart of Bartemaeus that is spoken to by this question. As Jesus inquires of Bartemaeus every person who has judged him as a sinner, every person who has pushed him aside as an outcast receives a new revelation of the love of God. There is no rejection in the words of Jesus. There is only openness. There is only welcome! The question of Jesus reveals the heart of God to a critical society.
The question of Jesus comes seemingly with no limitation. In much the same way that He has taught His disciples that their prayers have no boundary but the will of God, Jesus extends to Bartemaues an open invitation to ask and ask BIG! “Rabbi, I want to see!” Let that prayer be the cry of all God’s people. Open our eyes to see!
There is no hesitation in the response of Christ to the request of Bartemaeus. Jesus’ response is swift and confident as He declares over the blind man “Go. Your faith has healed you!” Jesus answer is an affirmation of Bartemaeus’ faith. There is no profound statement. There is no outward demonstration, only an affirmation of his faith. And that faith was enough. Faith drove Bartemaeus to cry out. Faith drove him to persevere in the face of opposition. Face compelled him to shout even louder in the face of opposition and it was this faith, an overcoming faith that brought forth the healing that he sought! Jesus simply affirmed the work of faith that had already taken place in his heart. The question of Jesus simply put words to Bartemaeus’ faith. It made that faith specific! Perhaps that was the real motive for Christ’s question towards Bartemaeus. Could it be that Jesus was helping him to get specific before God and teaching us that same principle? It is time to get specific as we stand before God. Ask boldly and ask clearly as you stand in God’s presence with a heart of specific faith!
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