What Do You Want Me to Do for You?

What Do You Want Me to Do for You? – In today’s reading from Mark, Jesus, his disciples, and a large crowd are about to leave Jericho when they encounter Bartimaeus, a blind beggar who calls out to Jesus. The author of this first gospel tends to be brief and to-the-point, and although this story must certainly have been one of the many encounters Jesus had in Jericho, it is the only one reported in this gospel, which underscores how significant the writer considered it. In Jesus’s day, some illness like blindness was often considered to have been the result of some sin of the blind person or of his parents. Thus, for the crowd to try to shush him is not surprising, but for Jesus to respond to him would have been surprising. When Jesus asks Bartimaeus what he wants Jesus to do for him, that Bartimaeus has the faith and confidence that Jesus can heal his blindness is key. Likewise, our response to the query of Jesus, “What do you want me to do for you?” is a matter of deep faith that Jesus can heal us, and it is also a model for our response to the same question posed to us.