Following Him 'On The Way'
“What do you want me to do for you?” He said.
In my last Reach (June 5, 2025), I wrote about exposure and exposing fear, and as I have pondered this particular Reach and its focus, I feel moved to build upon that previous writing and discuss going directly to Jesus Himself, “the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2 ESV).
Mark 10:46-52 is the excerpt we’re looking at, and it takes place just as Jesus and His disciples have exited Jericho and have begun making their way to Jerusalem for His triumphal entry:
“And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a great crowd, Bartimeaus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside, begging*. 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, “Rabboni*, 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
As I was studying this passage, the Holy Spirit revealed the character of Jesus Christ to me even more. For example, Jericho is a coastal city, and during that period of time the Jewish people would stop in Jericho to rest before they made the ascent towards Jerusalem. Verse 46 says “they came to Jericho” and then immediately in verse 47 it says, “going out from Jericho.” Which makes it clear that Jesus spent no time in Jericho; He had His command from His Father, and He was going to fulfill it. He did not stop to rest in Jericho, like all other travelers did at that time, but continued on to Jerusalem.
I can imagine the looks exchanged between the disciples as they were trekking along behind Jesus—who was displaying zero signs of slowing down—as the road before them increased in elevation from sea level to the three thousand feet where Jerusalem sat. (I imagine it felt like the time I set eyes on the fifty thousand stairs at Amicalola Falls for the very first time, with a baby strapped to me).
So, in this passage, Jesus does three things (that I’m focusing on):
He gives value to.
He gives voice to.
He invites.
The emphasis is upon a blind man by the name of Bartimaeus, a son of a man named Timaeus. ‘Timaeus’ is a Greek word that means “wealthy one,” and the name ‘Bartimeaus’ simply means “a son of a wealthy man.” Verse 46 says that Bartimaeus was sitting on the side of the highway/roadside ‘begging’ (the original text uses the Greek root word for ‘asking’) for Jesus to have mercy on him. He was crying out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (v. 47). And the text goes on to say in verse 48, “And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.” Even though he was the son of a wealthy man, because of his physical condition he was unable to utilize that wealth to make a living, therefore, he was not considered to be anybody to the people rebuking him to be silent; they believed he had no value.
Verse 48 continues, “But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Bartimaeus, though he was physically blind, was not spiritually blind; he knew who Jesus was… look at how he addresses Him in verses 47 and 48: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Based on the original Jewish context of the Greek text, the term “Son of David” is synonymous with “Messiah.” He is addressing Jesus as the Messiah, demonstrating his faith, because while his physical condition does not permit him to see, “...faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17 ESV). Bartimaeus is not blind spiritually—in fact, through his faith, “when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazarath, he began to cry out…” (v. 47), he demonstrates that he knows WHO Jesus is more than His disciples do, because at this point in Jesus’s Ministry the disciples are still “spiritually blind” in many ways. Another endearing way Bartimaeus addresses Jesus is in verse 51 as Rabboni.
In our modern English translations, that word has been changed to Rabbi which means ‘Teacher,’ but the original Greek text says Bartimaeus actually used the term Rabboni which means, “my Great One.” He knew who Jesus truly was. *underlines added by me
And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” While the world was telling him that he had no value and to therefore be silent, Jesus demonstrated otherwise. He gave him value—as we ALL have inherent value simply because we are His; made in the image of Almighty God—and then He gave him voice.
“What do you want me to do for you?” (Which, if we translate directly from the Greek, the question Jesus asks actually comes out to be, “What do you want that I should do?”)
What a question from the One who is completely omniscient, all knowing. It’s even documented in the previous gospel account that He said, “...for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8 ESV). And further still, the gospels provide account for Jesus already knowing and perceiving the thoughts of man, and then verbally answering those thoughts.
(For reference: Luke 6:8, Luke 11:17, Matthew 12:25, Luke 5:22, Luke 7:39-40, Luke 9:47, Matthew 9:4). These scriptures then fulfill the Old Covenant (Testament), specifically Psalm 139:2,
“You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.”
Jesus already knew what Bartimaeus was going to ask Him. He knew before the beginning of time, and yet, He paused amidst the beckoning crowd to call him over to Him and ask, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Some may wonder, “If He already knew then why did He ask?” And one of the answers to that is because it’s an illustration of the Lord’s invitation to relationship with Him, and also the responsibility that we have as followers to draw near to Him in response. An invitation to come to our Father and then verbally, honestly tell Him what we want. We are responsible for our personal relationship with the Lord; we are responsible for our prayer life; we are responsible for our obedience to Him; we are responsible for opening our mouths and being real and honest with Him with that which He already knows.
When I taught several years back, the first thing I told my students on syllabus day was exactly what I had learned from my own English teacher in high school: that I wanted to hear from them. I didn’t want to hear from their parents—I wanted them to tell me what they needed. If they didn’t understand something, I wanted them to tell me. If they wanted extra help, I wanted them to contact me and set up an appointment. If they weren’t pleased with their overall grade, I wanted them to come to me and make a plan-of-action together. I wanted them to be responsible for their education. We have a personal responsibility for our own walk with the Lord; no other individual can do that for us. Because Jesus wants to hear all of our needs and wants and desires and fears and troubles and praises from us.
Like Bartimaeus, it is crucial that we go directly to Jesus and trust that He is who He is.
“And the blind man said to Him, ‘Rabboni, let me recover my sight.’ And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has [saved you].’ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Him on the way” (v. 51-52). This part struck me in a way in which it hadn’t before, because I learned that Bartimeaus’s motive was not just so he could see and have an easier life… but it was to follow and serve Jesus, his Messiah. He was healed, and Jesus told him to go on his way, but he chose to literally follow Jesus “on the way” to Jerusalem. My Bible teacher put it beautifully, “He wanted to be in the light so that he could follow after Messiah; he wanted healing for the purpose of serving Messiah; that’s how we know we have been healed” (Dr. Baruch Korman).
We are healed when our desire is to follow after and serve our Messiah. And that’s the first thing that Bartimaeus did upon receiving his sight… he looked upon the face of Jesus, and then he looked upon the 9-hour incline from Jericho to Jerusalem (I Google-mapped it) and jumped right on board for the hike of his life, that just so happened to be the Triumphal Entry of the King of Kings and Lord of lords into the Holy City. Jesus had mercy on him, just as he asked. What an experience to behold that followed.
This is where this Reach finally piggybacks off of my previous one, “What Are You Afraid Of?”, which concluded with:
“So, What are you afraid of? Expose it. Name it. Call it out. Because in Jesus’s Name, ‘fear’ has no place in the lives of believers, and there is nothing we can expose that will cause God to recoil; that’s an enemy-curated lie. He already knows, and He loves us fiercely still. Draw near to Him, and expose.”
With the exposure of all that is in us and making ourselves humble and vulnerable before Christ, He shows us mercy.
I have found so much freedom by exposing to the Lord all that is in me and, as He promised, the Holy Spirit has guided and counseled me through some very ugly things. And even in those sobbing-on-the-closet-floor moments because I’m facing one of the ugliest exposures of things that I’m horrified were even in me—He is there… not accusing, not condemning, but making room for more of Him. As I am actively being wrung out, He is actively healing and restoring. As I am facing generational crap and trauma from my childhood that I didn’t get to choose, and dealing with it so that my children do not have to endure like I did, He is actively redeeming and pruning and helping me every time I ask Him to.
Jesus knows everything about us “blind beggars” and He still gives us value, He gives us voice, and He invites us into relationship with Him. What the world says is merely insignificant—He made that very clear when He pointedly ignored the crowd and called a true follower over to him—the world, despite how hard it tries, does not give us value. Only Jesus Christ does. So, rather than ruminating on all the ugly things that have been and will be exposed in us during our time here on earth, let us rejoice in that He has and is actively emptying us out. And, in the richness of His mercy, heals us and invites us to follow Him “on the way.”
