Bartimaeus sat in the same spot beside the road to Jericho every day, begging. Anyone passing by knew exactly what was wrong with him: he was blind, he was poor, he depended on whatever others chose to give him. No one needed to ask him anything to understand his situation. When he cries out for Jesus to have mercy on him, the crowd even tries to silence him, as if his need were already obvious enough that he shouldn’t have to insist so loudly.

Jesus stops. And the first thing he does isn’t heal him, or even offer a word of comfort about his condition. He asks a question that, given how obvious the problem was, sounds almost unnecessary: “What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?” (Mark 10:51). Jesus, who knew perfectly well what was wrong with this man, still asks him to say it in his own words.

The difference between being helped and being asked

There’s a way of treating someone in need that consists of deciding for them what they need and acting on it, without asking anything else. Sometimes that comes from genuine compassion, but it can also come from assuming we already know enough about someone that we don’t need to listen to them. Bartimaeus had probably spent years receiving charity from people who never asked what he actually needed, who simply assumed a bit of money was enough.

Jesus does something different. He gives Bartimaeus the dignity of naming his own desire, instead of simply acting on him as though he were a case to be resolved. And Bartimaeus’s answer is direct: “Lord, that I might receive my sight.” He doesn’t ask for money, or generic pity. He asks for exactly what he wants, because someone finally asked him.

A question still being asked

That same question still makes sense today, even when what’s wrong with you seems obvious to anyone who knows you. Jesus doesn’t approach people assuming he already knows everything they need to hear from him, even though, being God, he does. He approaches by asking, giving you room to say out loud what you actually want to ask him for, not just what others have already decided you need. The question he asked a blind man beside the road is still open to anyone willing to answer it honestly.