What do you want me to do for you?

Let me take you on a journey back in time, to the city of Jericho, where Jesus and his disciples have been staying.

Today is the day they are leaving town, and you join the crowd of people, all jostling each other, pushing, shoving, each person desperate to catch a glimpse of this man, Jesus, as he walks out of town.

It’s hot, the crowd is noisy, smelly, sweaty! Not to mention the donkeys and camels adding their noise and smell to the pandemonium!

But then, through the chaotic chatter and shouts, you hear a voice calling out, a little louder than the calls and cries of the others in the crowd. Someone who is really desperate for Jesus to hear them – a blind man called Bartimeus.

“Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.”

The crowd around him is beginning to look uncomfortable and people start to murmur and grumble – who does he think he is shouting out like this? Why should Jesus will be interested in a blind man?

Someone calls out – them another – “Shh – stop making an idiot of yourself! Be quiet!”

But Bartimeus takes no notice of the murmuring crowd or the distractions around him – actually their discomfort seems to encourage him to shout all the more loudly, “Jesus – have mercy on me.”

You stop your own pushing and fussing to watch and see what Jesus will do as he walks past. Will he even notice this man, who can’t see him – or will Bartimeus’ cries be crowded out by the noise of the crowd around him.

Suddenly you see that Jesus has stopped – and is asking who is calling out to him.

“Bring the man here to me.”

The crowd is now still and very quiet – no more murmurs or jostling! Even the camels are quiet! And their mood has shifted to actually encouraging the blind man!

“Hey, cheer up” the people say to the blind man, “Jesus is asking for you!”

So Bartimeus steps forward – trembling with nerves, groping with his hand to feel where Jesus is standing.

And then, Jesus asks a question – a question that resonates in your own heart, “What do you want me to do for you?”

What a strange question! Surely Jesus can see that Bartimeus is blind, so of course he wants to see!

But it seems like Jesus is waiting to hear from Bartimeus himself what he wants. What is behind the desperation that caused him to persist in calling out, through all the noise and distractions and discouragement.

Jesus wanted to hear Bartimeus acknowledge and name his need, his grief, his loss, his hopes. All of which were summed up in his answer, “Let me see.”

Let me see.

And the God who is all seeing, reached out with compassion and understanding and said, “go – your faith has healed you.”

The God who sees – EL ROI – who saw and heard Bartimeus in the midst of the crowd, is the same God who sees you and hears your heart’s cries.

Those cries that you feel have gone unanswered. that have got lost in the noise and distractions around you. Dreams and hopes that have been buried in the reality of life.

Maybe you have become discouraged from persisting in calling out, battered down by the voices of doubt that whisper in your heart, “you’re too insignificant, too sinful, not worthy, too small – there’s nothing remarkable about you – why would Jesus listen to you?

But he does. This same Jesus who heard and noticed Bartimeus through all the noise and chaos – He sees you, he looks at you with his eyes of love, compassion and grace, and he calls for you to come to him.

And as you do, very gently, but in a voice that stills the noise of the crowd and causes the voices of discouragement and distraction to be quiet – He asks that same question:

“What do you want me to do for you?”

As you take time to sit quietly with a cup of your favourite brew, listen to that question in your heart. And as you do, lift your eyes to look in His eyes of love and know that actually – he already knows the answer!

He’s simply waiting for you to tell him, and in so doing, to let go and trust him. Trust the One who can breathe hope and life, sight and vision back into your dreams and hopes – your heart – as He says, “go, your faith has healed you.”