What Do You Want from Jesus?

Have you ever had those seasons in life where the same theme seems to come into your consciousness again and again? A time when there is some inkling that keeps presenting itself in your mind, to the point where you have no choice but to look to the heavens and acknowledge, “Ok, Lord, I’m listening”?

That’s been happening to me lately. And it’s been so overt that I’ve even LOL’d at the extreme amount of divine echos coming my way. All these messages seem to center around the theme of the question, “What do you want?”

I asked myself this question a few months ago during a ”soul-care day.” It was a day that I set aside to reflect on God’s goodness, lament about some pain I’d experienced this year, and did a general soul check. And that question kept resurfacing, so I decided to go to scripture. In Luke 18:35-43, a blind beggar encounters Jesus as He approaches Jericho. It’s a classic moment that displays one of Jesus’ miraculous healings, but not before Jesus asks this man an important question.

Perhaps you’ll recall this passage: this blind man is begging on the side of the road, calling out to Jesus to get his attention, and being rebuked by the crowds not to bother Jesus. Even though people try to shout him down, yet still he cries over all that noise, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus, in verse 41, asks the blind man: “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord, I want to see,” the beggar replies.

As I reviewed this passage, my initial reaction was that I felt some internal frustration. “Well, isn’t that obvious, Jesus?” I thought, “Don’t you know what this man needs before he even opens his mouth?” I continued in my internal frustration, “I mean, the poor guy is shouting over strangers, likely not well-kept, hanging out with the poor and beggar crew, getting dismissed and ignored, likely struggling with his self-confidence, and you ask him that question in front of all these people? What’s that all about, Lord?”

And then I remembered that He had been asking me that same question. I remembered those divine echoes coming back to me again and again and asking, “What do you want me to do for you?” Sigh.

So, I looked back in scripture to Jesus’ response in Luke 18:42-43: “Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God.”

Of course, Jesus knew that what the beggar wanted was for his physical situation to change. But what it really came down to was the heart of the matter: this man’s faith. Jesus knew what He was doing when He asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” He wanted the crowd to see this man believe that Jesus was the Son of God so they could understand the connection between faith and healing. This poor blind man believed that Jesus could meet all his needs and insisted that Jesus listen to his request, no matter how embarrassing or shameful it may have been for him to shout over this crowd to get Jesus’ attention.

Now I must ask myself, would I have done that? Is my faith strong enough that I would vocally put myself out there in a crowd and ask Jesus, who I know is the Messiah, to change my situation completely? Or do I only want his holy intervention in my life in increments when it’s convenient for me or fits into my plan?

Again, the question comes up: What do I want Jesus to do for me?

The blind beggar had no vocation, nor most likely had he had the chance to learn a trade. All he knew was begging. After he was healed, it says in verse 43 that he “followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.” This man had the faith to believe and the courage to shout out to Jesus for healing and sight. When Jesus gauged the depth of his faith and granted his request, his whole life’s focus changed. He immediately began to follow Jesus and influence others around him. Now here we are, 2000-some-odd years, later celebrating the courage and faith that, through Jesus’ divine healing, led to the total transformation of this man’s life.

So, what do YOU want Jesus to do for you?

Do you want the Lord to truly work in your life? Do you want a level of faith that believes that only His plan is best for you? Do you want a level of courage to shout out above the crowds of our day to say, “Look over here, Lord, and help me! I want to see!”

What do you want?

By Tracy Thomas, Former Senior Vice President of Advancement, Biblica

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