From the Gospel of Mark ...
"Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and His disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!' Jesus stopped and said, 'Call him.' So they called to the blind man, 'Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.' Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 'What do you want me to do for you?' Jesus asked him. The blind man said, 'Rabbi, I want to see.' 'Go,' said Jesus, 'your faith has healed you.' Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road" (Mark 10:46-52).
In this scripture, Bartimaeus recognizes Jesus. He may be blind but He has the spiritual insight to know that Jesus is The One he should turn to. He begs The Lord, "have mercy on me." He places his hope in Jesus. He trusts Him. He doesn't care what the other people think, He just wants The Lord. He calls out to Him, with humility and great faith. Even amidst a noisy crowd, Jesus hears him and responds to his faith.
Jesus asks a simple yet profound question of Bartimaeus, a question He still asks us today. "What do you want me to do for you?"
In prayer today, let's reflect deeply on the answer to this question in our own lives. Yes, I'm sure there are many things we could say. I myself have a laundry list of things I would love Jesus to do for me, but maybe deep in our hearts we may simply want to "see" Him also. To get to know Him, to believe He is real, and present with us throughout life. We may simply want to know that, like in the case of Bartimaeus, Jesus hears our prayers and will answer them. Or maybe we will have our eyes opened too, and recognize all that Jesus has already done for us. There is no wrong answer here. God knows your heart, and He already loves you, no matter what you say.
Imagine Jesus in front of you, looking at you with love, calling you gently by your name, and saying "What do you want me to do for you?" When we really give this meditation a chance and open our hearts to God, we may be surprised to learn what it is that we really want. Perhaps even our answer will be the same, "Lord, I want to see."
In our own spiritual blindness we have all asked Jesus the question at some point in our lives, "Where are you Lord?" Or perhaps, "Where were you Lord, when I needed you?" There are plenty of moments in our lives when we don't "see" Jesus the way we want to, when we want to. But through the eyes of faith, we can still believe He is there, that He is here now, working in us, and on us. He is shaping us and preparing us. Just as the crowd told Bartimaeus ... "He's calling you." Jesus will also open our eyes to recognize Him and the new life He offers us.
With confidence in God's goodness, let's call out to The Lord in our heart of hearts. With a new spiritual vision let's recognize Jesus as The Light of the world within us. God has a wonderful plan for our lives, and we don't need to see what it is as much as we need to "see" Jesus who will guide us to it. Like Bartimaeus, who after receiving his sight, "followed Jesus along the road", may we also follow Jesus in our own daily walk and allow The Light of Christ to guide our steps, in a new way today.
"Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and His disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!' Jesus stopped and said, 'Call him.' So they called to the blind man, 'Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.' Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 'What do you want me to do for you?' Jesus asked him. The blind man said, 'Rabbi, I want to see.' 'Go,' said Jesus, 'your faith has healed you.' Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road" (Mark 10:46-52).
In this scripture, Bartimaeus recognizes Jesus. He may be blind but He has the spiritual insight to know that Jesus is The One he should turn to. He begs The Lord, "have mercy on me." He places his hope in Jesus. He trusts Him. He doesn't care what the other people think, He just wants The Lord. He calls out to Him, with humility and great faith. Even amidst a noisy crowd, Jesus hears him and responds to his faith.
Jesus asks a simple yet profound question of Bartimaeus, a question He still asks us today. "What do you want me to do for you?"
In prayer today, let's reflect deeply on the answer to this question in our own lives. Yes, I'm sure there are many things we could say. I myself have a laundry list of things I would love Jesus to do for me, but maybe deep in our hearts we may simply want to "see" Him also. To get to know Him, to believe He is real, and present with us throughout life. We may simply want to know that, like in the case of Bartimaeus, Jesus hears our prayers and will answer them. Or maybe we will have our eyes opened too, and recognize all that Jesus has already done for us. There is no wrong answer here. God knows your heart, and He already loves you, no matter what you say.
Imagine Jesus in front of you, looking at you with love, calling you gently by your name, and saying "What do you want me to do for you?" When we really give this meditation a chance and open our hearts to God, we may be surprised to learn what it is that we really want. Perhaps even our answer will be the same, "Lord, I want to see."
In our own spiritual blindness we have all asked Jesus the question at some point in our lives, "Where are you Lord?" Or perhaps, "Where were you Lord, when I needed you?" There are plenty of moments in our lives when we don't "see" Jesus the way we want to, when we want to. But through the eyes of faith, we can still believe He is there, that He is here now, working in us, and on us. He is shaping us and preparing us. Just as the crowd told Bartimaeus ... "He's calling you." Jesus will also open our eyes to recognize Him and the new life He offers us.
With confidence in God's goodness, let's call out to The Lord in our heart of hearts. With a new spiritual vision let's recognize Jesus as The Light of the world within us. God has a wonderful plan for our lives, and we don't need to see what it is as much as we need to "see" Jesus who will guide us to it. Like Bartimaeus, who after receiving his sight, "followed Jesus along the road", may we also follow Jesus in our own daily walk and allow The Light of Christ to guide our steps, in a new way today.
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