Skip to main content

"What is it that you want me to do for you?" - Jesus


As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road.  When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening.  They told him that Jesus the Nazarene  was going by.  So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him,  “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said,  “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.”    Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too. (Luke 18:35-43 NLT)

My personal journey:  I was not satisfied because of the irregularity/lack of rhythm in my connecting with God.  My speed was to blitz through huge portions of the bible for several days in a row.  And then: nothing.  Rich times of prayer for a while.  And then: nothing.

I'm happy to say that since reading Peter Scazzero's Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and instituting the daily offices, things have been much better.  For those of you who don't know the book or the reference.  It's a great read and the concept of "daily office" is pretty simple.  It's connecting with God during regular times of the day with prescribed prayers and Bible readings.

But I'm still unsatisfied and I'm reading the above passage as a metaphor for my life.
I think many of us are like the blind beggars.  Identified as Bartimaeus by Mark, this blind beggar would've had a fairly predictable routine life: wake up, go to the Jericho city gate, ask passersby for money, go home. Next day, hit repeat.

- what changes Bartimaeus's life forever and starts a chain of events for God's glory and the furtherance of his kingdom is that he won't settle for anything less than all of what Jesus has to offer.

It all starts with Jesus walking by. Bartimaeus changes his routine which was to ask people for $; instead, he he asks: what's going on?  How often do we change our routine when Jesus is walking by?  When there's a buzz at church or someone is talking about a great devotional book they just read, do we ask What's going on?  Or do we just carry on with our routine?

It's important to note that at any point in the narrative, he could've stopped and gone back to his routine... How often in God's narrative in our lives have we stopped and gone back to our routines instead of asking What's going on?

After receiving an answer to his question -- Jesus of Nazereth is going by -- Bartimaeus could've said, "That's interesting... Hey, can you spare a few shekels for a blind beggar who's down on his luck?"  instead he begins shouting -- properly translated, yelling at the top of his lungs -- "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

At this point, Bartimaeus doesn't get Jesus's attention and people tell him to shut up.
A lot of people at this point would give up and go  back to begging. Instead, he perseveres; he yells again: - "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Incidentally, this is the second time in Luke where Jesus is called son of David; the first time is in the genealogy.  This is akin to being publicly called out as the long awaited, biblically prophesied Messiah.

This time Jesus stops -- the analogy is flawed, but there's a point to be made here: how often in my life have I cried out to God to the point that He has stopped and taken notice? How often have I let Him walk by?

Jesus asks, "What do you want me to do for you?" Seems like a dumb question. Sight obviously.  But if Jesus appeared in front of me, would I ask for something big picture, something defining?  Would I ask to be a part of HIs kingdom furthering work? Or would I ask for ask for something seemingly noble -- happiness for my children, health, financial stability -- but actually mundane (which means, of this world)?

The story ends with the following chain of events:

Bartamaeus receives his sight ---> he follows Jesus ---> he praises God ----> all who witnessed this praise God too

So my prayer is that our lives would look something like this:

Ask people what's going on
Ask Jesus to show His mercy on us.  Ask loudly
Don't listen to the voices that say shut up
Ask Jesus to show his mercy to us again: this time more loudly
When we're standing in front of Him and He asks, "What do you want me to do for you?" Ask for that which will allow the greatest kingdom impact
Follow Jesus
Praise God
Let our lives infect others so that they'll praise God too

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

King Rehoboam

I Kings 12:6-8 Then King Rehoboam discussed the matter with the older men who had counseled his father, Solomon. “What is your advice?” he asked. “How should I answer these people?” The older counselors replied, “If you are willing to be a servant to these people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects.” But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older men and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him and were now his advisers. The old men who advised... Solomon. Solomon? The dude who had a worldwide rep of being the wisest man in the known world. That Solomon? And junior goes to his advisers for advice and then? He rejects their advice and asks his buddies whom he grew up with (read between the lines; somehow, I don't think these were buddies he studied the law with) and asks them for advice. Hmm, you gotta wonder if this was the son who Solomon wrote the proverbs for. What's the lesson here? If you have a choic...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Bull Exchange

They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull, which eats grass. Psalm 106:20 Well when you put it that way. I mean, it would've been one thing if David had written that "They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull..." and left it at that, but when you tag it with "which eats grass" it makes them look so much more stupid. Um, nah, I'm trying too hard. No matter how you cut it, it sounds pretty pretty dumb to a modern reader. Mabye it would have been different if they'd exchanged their glorious God for power, fortune or fame and not the image of a cud-chewing bovine. Still not right, but much more tragic. That would've been the stuff of a great movie or novel. But wait. Let's not be too hasty in our judgement. I teach high school English and whenever I teach a historical text, I like to introduce my students to the concept of cultural determinism. Ie. "...the belief that the culture in which we are raised det...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cutting Down Asherah Poles

2 Kings 17:28-29 " So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD. But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived." When I read Kings and Chronicles, I'm struck by the repeated stories of kings that were bad and had other gods, people that were bad had had other gods (who even sacrificed their children as burnt offerings) and then kings that were good and followed God like David did, oh, but some of those "good" kings still had other gods. And let's not forget the Asherah poles . Lots of Asherah poles that were being erected (bad) or being cut down (good). The above makes me wonder, How much of what I've been taught about "how [I] should fear the Lord" defines who I am and how much is defined by the gods of my history, culture, and ethnic...
Post a Comment
Read more