And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. (Mark 10:46-52 ESV).
Bartimaeus had been crying out to Jesus to have mercy on him. And Jesus’ question to the man may seem a bit odd at first. Didn’t Jesus realize that Bartimaeus was blind? Jesus certainly knew the man was blind. But Jesus’ question invited Bartimaeus to think about and tell the Lord what he really needed. Bartimaeus had probably been asking for donations at the gate of Jericho for a long time—perhaps even years. He was in the habit of begging from everyone else for a coin or a piece of bread. But in the presence of Jesus, he could ask for his sight—and that basically meant asking for his life back.
What do you want from Jesus? All of us could use a little help or a favor. Maybe Jesus could even fix a thing or two like a broken relationship or financial debt. No doubt, he could! There are all kinds of things we could ask Jesus to help us with, but Jesus invites us to be honest enough with ourselves to be bold enough with him.
What we really need is God’s mercy and grace. What we really need to say is “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
So go ahead, tell Jesus what you really need—because that is the reason why he was on the road, heading toward Jerusalem.