What Do You Want Me to Do For You?

Let's read together from God's word. Mark chapter 10, verses 32 to 52.

Mark 10:32–52

This is the word of the Lord.

And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them.

And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.

And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying,

See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priest and the scribes,

and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.

And they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him.

And after three days, he will rise.

And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him,

Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.

And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you?

And they said to him, Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.

Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?

And they said to him, We are able.

And Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink you will drink,

and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized.

But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant,

but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.

And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.

And Jesus called them to him and said to them,

You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,

and their great ones exercise authority over them.

But it shall not be so among you.

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,

and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served,

but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

And they came to Jericho,

and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples,

and a great crowd, pardon me, let me back up.

And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd,

Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus,

was sitting by the roadside.

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,

Rabbi, 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.

This is God's holy word.

Well, we begin this evening,

a new series over these summer months,

looking at some of the questions that Jesus asked.

And perhaps we're more likely to think of Jesus as the man with all the answers.

And while I don't think we're wrong to do that,

it is striking to note that more than any other person in the Bible,

Jesus asks questions.

There are, I think, more than 300 questions asked by Jesus in the four Gospels.

So this could be quite a long series.

Jesus asks questions of his disciples,

religious leaders, critics, rich and poor,

men and women, powerful as well as the powerless.

Why so many questions?

Well, frequently Jesus asks questions as a teaching tool,

to help people discover the truth about themselves,

the truth about God,

the truth about God's kingdom.

Sometimes he asks questions to enable others to see things from a very different perspective.

And the questions Jesus asks are often the first step in drawing people into a relationship with himself.

His questions are an invitation to us to come to him and to get to know him.

And in this new series, we'll be taking one of Jesus' questions each week.

And we'll try and understand the story, the context in which those questions occur.

We'll look at what that question tells us about Jesus

and what it means for us to be in a relationship with him.

And tonight we begin with the question,

what do you want me to do for you?

And you'll notice in our reading that that question is asked not once,

but twice in this short section of Mark's gospel,

both in verse 36 and 51.

It's asked of two of Jesus' very closest followers.

And then the very same question is asked of a blind beggar at the roadside.

What do you want me to do for you?

And that's the question before us this evening.

Because the same Jesus who asked it then asks us tonight.

He stands before us in the preaching of the word.

He says, what do you want me to do for you?

It's a soul-searching question that challenges us to stop and think about the desires that are driving and shaping our lives.

Some of those may indeed be honoring to God,

but others, of course, may not be.

And sometimes the desires of our hearts are tainted by depravity and pride.

And so they need to be challenged and indeed changed.

And you'll notice here that the backdrop against which we must understand this particular question

is the backdrop of the cross.

The context here is Jesus making his way towards Jerusalem.

At this point in the gospel, the dark shadow of the cross looms ever larger.

And Jesus is marching, as it were, into the very jaws of death.

They were on the road going up to Jerusalem.

Jesus walking ahead of them.

They were amazed.

Those who followed were afraid.

Taking the twelve, he began to tell them what was to happen to him.

See, we are going up to Jerusalem.

The Son of Man will be delivered over to chief priests, scribes, and they will condemn him to death,

deliver him over to the Gentiles, mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him.

And after three days, he will rise.

Here in Mark's gospel, this is the Jesus' third prediction of his death in just these three chapters.

It's the most graphic of the three, the most violent.

He's going to be delivered up and condemned to death.

He's going to be mocked.

He'll be spat on.

He'll be flogged and killed before rising on the third day.

Jesus is not a comfortable teacher offering us up self-help advice.

He is the suffering servant, pouring out his very soul to death for the sins of many.

And here in this gospel, on the two previous occasions that Jesus has spoken about his death,

his words are met with disbelief and misunderstanding.

After the first, Peter sought to take Jesus aside and to rebuke him.

And after the second, we discovered the disciples squabbling over which of them was to be the greatest.

And now here, once again, we discover the way of the cross reveals the all too shallow and selfish attitudes of his followers.

So what I want to do tonight, just from this passage, is kind of look at it by way of contrast.

These two questions, the same question asked twice of two very different people.

And in the first section, we have James and John.

And we discover that they are looking for glory, for glory.

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said,

Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you, verse 35.

These two disciples, they had been witnesses of the transfiguration of Jesus earlier in the gospel.

They'd already been privileged to see something of Jesus' glory.

And they no doubt saw themselves as amongst Jesus' closest, most favored disciples.

And they come to Jesus with this quite astonishing request.

Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.

It's an amazing prayer.

Jesus, we want you to give us what we want.

They don't even reveal their demands up front.

It's almost as if they want to manipulate Jesus into serving and obeying them.

They're desperate to feed their own egos.

Jesus has been speaking about his suffering and death,

and yet they're more interested in what they can get for themselves.

Oh, yes, Jesus, we hear what you're saying about what is going to happen to you,

and suffering, and death, and flogging, and all of that.

But actually, what's in it for us?

What's in it for me?

Unfortunately, there is much that passes for Christianity today

that exudes a kind of similar attitude.

It's not about Jesus.

It's about me, my wealth, my health, my success.

And yet, perhaps even more remarkable than the question of these disciples is Jesus' response.

He said to them, verse 36,

What do you want me to do for you?

It's fascinating.

Jesus doesn't rebuke them.

He doesn't put them in their place.

He doesn't get on his high horse.

He simply asks them what it is they want.

He draws out their request.

He gets them to say it out aloud.

He gets them to reveal what is really going on in their hearts and minds.

And they said to him, verse 37,

Grant us to sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left, in your glory.

They're looking for glory.

If I can paraphrase that well-known pop group, the Spice Girls.

This is what they want, what they really, really want.

And when Jesus comes into the fullness of his kingdom, when he comes to be glorified,

they want the places of power and honor at his side.

When Jesus takes the throne, they want to be one on his left, one on his right.

They're unashamedly, brazenly asking Jesus for positions of power and status and glory.

To be right and left of the king was to be in the place of his most honored advisors or counselors.

And they were anticipating that possibility of sitting on thrones.

They rather fancied having a throne each, one either side of Jesus.

And perhaps from those seats of authority,

they were intending to exercise power and authority.

And although Jesus has been telling them that God's kingdom will come about by him going to die in Jerusalem,

these disciples, it seems, have only their own agenda in mind.

And the irony here is, of course, as Mark will later reveal to us,

that the one place where Jesus will come into his glory is the cross.

At the moment of Jesus' greatest glory, there will be somebody on his right and left,

but they will be crucified criminals.

And so Jesus tells the brothers that they have no idea what he is talking about,

what they're talking about.

Jesus says to them, you don't know what you're asking.

Are you able to drink the cup I drink,

be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?

Verse 38.

The Old Testament, that cup, common metaphor for God's judgment or wrath.

The baptism language, I think, has a similar meaning,

conveying the idea of being overwhelmed by water,

like Noah's Ark and the flood,

or the Egyptian army being drowned in the Red Sea.

In each of those cases,

the water represented the overwhelming power of God's judgment,

from which only a few were saved.

This is what Jesus was going to the cross to achieve.

He was going to take upon himself the judgment and wrath of a holy God,

that we might be saved from sin.

And yet James and John, they just don't get it.

We are able, they say.

And Jesus said to them,

the cup I drink, you will drink,

with the baptism with which I am baptized,

you will be baptized.

But to sit at my right or my left is not mine to grant.

It's for those for whom it has been prepared.

When the ten heard it,

they began to be indignant at James and John.

James and John,

their hearts are desperate for prestige and glory.

They think nothing of exploiting their relationship with Jesus

for their own ends.

And Jesus tells them that they will indeed come to know something of his cup

and his baptism.

James, we know, would be martyred,

John exiled.

But those places of honor that they've set their hearts upon

have already been allocated.

And unsurprisingly,

the other disciples are left angry and indignant

by the brother's request.

The world loves power and glory.

And if we have an eye for what's going on around us,

I think we can see this lust

for power and status and glory almost everywhere.

In some circles,

everything appears to be reduced

to a power play of one kind or another.

We certainly see it in politics

and in public life.

But we also see it in big business and industry,

science and the media.

All too often,

people are not there to serve others

with their skill,

but are there for power and status.

It's interesting,

this whole idea of public service

is fast disappearing

in our post-Christian society.

Because more often than not,

people seem to be out for themselves

to pursue their own agenda.

And sadly,

sometimes we see it in the church.

We can see it in the pulpit.

The pulpit can be a dangerous place to occupy.

And at times,

it can be easy to turn it into a throne

of authority and power

where you lay down the law,

dominate,

exercise control over others.

Yes,

it may be done with good intentions,

but it's a dangerous road

for any minister to travel.

And one where many become intoxicated

with their power and influence.

And you'll notice here

how Jesus uses this exchange

with James and John

as a kind of teaching opportunity.

He calls the disciples around him,

starts to instruct them.

He desperately wants them to understand

what it means to belong in his kingdom.

It's not about power and glory.

It's about being a servant,

he says.

He called them to him.

He said,

you know that those who are considered rulers

of the Gentiles

lord it over them,

and their great ones

exercise authority

over them.

Verse 42.

The disciples of Jesus

are not to be characterized

by selfish pride,

but by selfish,

selfless humility.

They're not to be rulers,

but servants.

And he draws a kind of contrast.

The Gentile world of his day

in the Roman Empire,

power and influence

were everything in that society

to be a great person

was to be someone with authority

and power and control,

and that is the way of the world still.

And yes, of course,

authority in and of itself

is not wrong.

Jesus himself

was a man of authority.

Matthew 28,

even tells us

that all authority

in heaven and earth

has been given to me.

You see,

the issue is rather

how that authority

is exercised.

And the great danger

is that it's used

selflessly,

selfishly

rather than selflessly.

That's why often people covet

power and authority

means they get their own way.

And to do that,

they have to climb

to the top of the ladder

to be number one.

Money,

connections,

influence,

position

become the sought-after

idols of their lives.

Rapacious egos

must be constantly

fed and fueled.

Delighting

to lord it over

others.

And as I say,

you only need

to look at politics,

business,

any large institution

to see this kind

of pattern

at work

in the lives

of many people.

Some people spend

their whole lives

seeking after

these things,

believing it will

give their lives

meaning and purpose

and direction.

salvation.

But Jesus says

in verse 43,

but it shall not

be so

among you.

Whoever would be

great among you

must be your servant.

Whoever would be

first among you

must be slave of all.

Not

so

with

you.

Because in

Christ's kingdom,

to be great

is to be a servant

and to be number

one,

you must be the

slave of all.

They're quite

astonishing words.

The very

antithesis,

the very

opposite

of what our

world believes.

Intensely

counter-cultural.

They were then,

they are now.

Jesus is not

looking for

rulers

and lords.

He's looking

for servants

and slaves.

because for

disciples of

Jesus,

the way of

influence in

this world

is not by

taking power

and control.

He calls

us in a

different

direction.

He calls

us to serve

others,

not to use

them.

He calls

us to love

others,

not abuse

them.

Our

influence

in the

world is

to come

from the

winsomeness

and beauty

of our

service.

Not

from

attempts

to

coerce,

manipulate,

or control.

This is

the way

of the

kingdom,

friends,

because this

is the

way

of the

king.

Jesus

is our

model

and pattern.

He's the

one who

took the

very nature

of a

servant,

the Lord

of glory,

who stooped

down into

the squalor

and filth

of a

Bethlehem

cattle shed,

the great

I am who

took the

servant's

apron and

a basin

of water

and knelt

down on

the ground

and washed

his disciples'

feet.

The king

of love,

who in

Calvary's

cross gave

his life

blood for

sinners like

you and

me.

From heaven

you came,

helpless babe,

entered our

world your

glory veiled,

not to be

served,

but to serve

and give

your life

that we

might live.

For even

the son

of man

came not

to be

served,

but to

serve and

to give

his life

as a

ransom for

many.

What do

you want

me to

do for

you,

says

Jesus?

What does

your heart

say tonight?

Do you

want him

to make

you a

ruler or

a servant?

What do

you really

want from

Jesus?

Comfort

without

cost,

honor

without

humility,

blessing

without

brokenness?

Are you

willing to

drink his

cup and

share his

baptism?

Here's the

question.

Do you

want to

be like

him?

Do you

want to

be like

Jesus?

So here

are James

and John

and they're

looking for

glory.

And then

we have

this other

encounter

in which

we discover

Jesus asking

the self

same

question.

And here's

blind

Bartimaeus

in verses

46 to

52.

And he's

looking for

what?

He's looking

for mercy.

This healing

of blind

Bartimaeus

closes,

I think,

a section

of the

gospel.

It runs

way back

from chapter

eight.

And one

of the

key themes

that runs

through this

section is

the blindness

really of

the disciples.

Chapter

eight, the

disciples have

had their

eyes opened

to Jesus'

identity,

and yet no

matter how

clearly Jesus

speaks about

the cross,

they are

blind really

to the

purpose of

his mission.

And this

incident

provides a

very clear

contrast to

what has

gone on

beforehand.

James and

John bring

the requests

for the

best places

in the

kingdom.

But here

is another

person bringing

his request

to Jesus.

Bartimaeus is

the only person

healed in the

synoptic gospels

who is named.

And this is the

last healing

miracle of

Mark's gospel.

Here is a

man who,

for all his

lack of

eyesight,

proves to

have great

insight.

Here is a

man who

sees with

the eye of

faith.

Here is a

man who

is beside

the way,

and yet

through the

gracious

ministry of

Jesus,

soon finds

himself following

Jesus on

the way.

Here is a

poor man in

great need

looking for

not glory,

he's looking

for mercy.

They came to

Jericho, and

as he was

leaving with

his disciples

and a great

crowd,

Bartimaeus,

a blind

becker,

son of

Timaeus,

was sitting

by the

roadside.

Here is a

man who

lived his

life in

darkness.

His condition

meant he

was utterly

dependent on

other people.

He was not

an independent,

self-sufficient

man.

He was on

the margins

of society,

he was reduced

to begging

by the

roadside,

he was

someone that

other people

looked down

on with

pity.

In the

eyes of

many,

he was a

nobody.

And yet,

though he

could not

see with

his eyes,

his hearing

was excellent.

When he

heard that

it was

Jesus of

Nazareth,

verse 47,

he began to

cry out and

say,

Jesus,

son of

David,

have mercy

on me.

Many

rebuked him,

telling him

to be silent,

but he cried

out all the

more,

son of

David,

have mercy

on me.

As the

crowd of

pilgrims

made its

way from

Jericho,

it passed

Bartimaeus

and his

begging

bowl.

And here

he hears

of Jesus.

And perhaps

he'd heard

about Jesus

before,

his teaching,

his miraculous

works,

and so on,

and yet,

almost in a

kind of act

of desperation,

he decides

to shout

out and

call upon

Jesus and

seek his

help.

Jesus,

son of

David,

have mercy

upon me.

And it's

interesting,

that title

he gives

to Jesus,

son of

David.

There were

lots of

different ideas

about the

Messiah in

first century

Israel,

but one that

was common

to all of

them was the

understanding

that the

Messiah would

come from

the house

of David.

The promise

of Samuel

7 was that

God would

raise up the

offspring of

David,

establish the

throne of

his kingdom

forever.

And so,

this title

that Bartimaeus

ascribes to

Jesus was

an explicitly

messianic

one.

Bartimaeus

is here

calling upon

Jesus as

the promised

Messiah,

as God's

true king,

great David's

greater son.

He sees

Jesus for

who he really

is, and he

calls out to

him in faith,

Jesus, son of

David, have

mercy.

It must have

been an

embarrassing

sight for

many.

Poor blind

beggar shouting,

crying out,

calling on

Jesus.

And such

is the

commotion that

the folks

around, you

know, they

tell him to

zip it, keep

quiet, stop,

shouting out,

shut up.

But Bartimaeus,

rather like

James and

John, is

utterly

shameless.

He is not

the least bit

embarrassed.

He's not

bothered about

what others

think or

say.

Many rebuked

him, telling

him to be

silent, verse

48, but he

cried out

all the

more, son

of David,

have mercy

on me.

And that

little phrase,

have mercy

on me, one

that we find

repeatedly in

the book of

Psalms, Psalm

4, Psalm

6, 41, 51,

109, 123.

Every instance,

the one

addressed is

Yahweh

himself.

And Bartimaeus

takes that cry

of a sinner for

mercy, and he

directs it

directly to

Jesus Christ.

Lord, have

mercy on

me.

This is what

he was looking

for.

He was looking

for the mercy

of God in

his life.

James and

John looking

for glory.

Bartimaeus,

mercy.

In some way,

it seems

Bartimaeus

understood himself

to be a

guilty man.

His self-pity,

his pride,

his lust,

his greed,

his short

temper, his

contempt,

his jealousy,

all the sins

that he had

that as a

blind man he

was guilty

of.

And yet,

here was the

one who could

show him

mercy.

Mercy he

looked for.

Mercy he

sought.

Mercy he

cried for.

Have you

ever asked

the Lord

Jesus for

mercy?

Because mercy

is the only

basis in

which we can

enjoy a

relationship with

God.

Not the

basis of

our good

works,

our good

name,

our good

standing,

our religious

pedigree.

Only by the

mercy of God

can we come

to know him.

We are not

morally superior

to others.

When all is

said and done,

we're all

blind and

bankrupt

sinners.

I don't

think I've

told this

story here.

I may have

done.

I tell so

many stories

I begin to

lose track

of when

I've told

them and

where I've

told them.

But many

years ago

there was

a minister

in Tarbert

on the

Isle of

Harris.

He was in

the Church

of Scotland.

He was

a man with

Reverend

Donald

Angus

McRae.

He was

an interesting

character.

When he

died there

was an

obituary

written I

think by

John

MacLeod

in the

Herald

newspaper.

In that

obituary it

tells the

story of

how just

a few

days before

he died

a friend

from

Stornoway

called in

to see

Mr.

McRae.

And though

he was

very weak

Donald

Angus was

awake and

alert and

he eyed his

visitor

whimsically and

seized his

hand.

And what

will you

have to

say to

the Lord

he whispered

on the

day of

judgment.

Well the

elder

who'd

visiting him

was quite

disconcerted

by this.

Well he

said you

know you

you're the

minister and

on the

good way

many years

what will

you say

yourself?

Oh said

Mr.

McRae

mercy

mercy

mercy

friends we

must never

forget that

the basis

of our

relationship

with God

the basis

of our

belonging

in the

family of

God

God

is nothing

more nothing

less than

the mercy

of God.

Paul writes

he saved us

not because of

works done

by us in

righteousness

but according

to his own

mercy.

Titus 3

5.

I love the

words of

John Stocker's

hymn

The door of

thy mercy

stands open

all day

to the needy

and poor

who knock

by the way

no sinner

shall ever

be empty

sent back

who comes

seeking mercy

for Jesus

dear sake.

Jesus

stopped and

said call

him.

They called

the blind

man

take heart

get up

he's calling

you

throwing off

his cloak

he sprang

up and

came to

Jesus.

I love

that little

detail

that Mark

records

throwing off

his cloak

he sprang

up and

came to

Jesus

probably

an outer

garment

maybe even

his bedroll.

It's

suggestive

of this

man's

eagerness

to desire

to come

to Jesus.

I wonder

if there's

an eagerness

and a desire

that we

share.

When Jesus

calls us

what is

our response

I wonder

if there's

a spring

in our

step.

Perhaps

we've become

more like

James and

John

looking to

see what's

in it for

us

rather

than

like

Bartimaeus

eager

to run

to

and run

after

Jesus.

And Jesus

said to him

what do you

want me to

do for you?

And the

blind man

said

Rabbi

let me

recover

my sight.

You see

the difference

to James

and John

yes they

wanted glory

and thrones

and cabinet

seats in

God's

kingdom.

This blind

man

asks

simply

to

see.

And that's

the great

irony

because it's

the disciples

really who

are the

blind ones.

Bartimaeus'

cry is not

for power

and status

it's for

mercy.

And even

when the

people tell

him to

be quiet

he keeps

on asking

for mercy.

He's seen

who Jesus

really is.

He's not

for giving

up.

It's the

disciples

who are in

the dark.

Notice what

Jesus says

in verse 52

to him

go your

way

your faith

has made

you well.

Immediately

he recovered

his sight

and followed

him on

the way.

Word there

healed

made you

well.

Same word

in the New

Testament

for salvation.

Literally

your faith

has saved

you.

Praise the

Lord

his mercy

is more

stronger than

darkness

new every

morn.

Our sins

they are

many

his mercy

is more.

What are

you looking

for this

evening?

What are

you living

for?

What do

you want

Jesus to

do for

you?

Some of

us are

like James

and John.

We come

to Jesus

with ambitious

hearts.

We want

success in

our church

recognition

amongst

others.

We want

the crown

without the

cross.

Jesus

says you

do not

know what

you ask.

The way

to glory

is the

way of

the servant.

The path

to honor

is the

path of

the cross.

The crown

is always

preceded

by the

cup.

And the

throne

is only

reached

by way

of

Calvary.

Or are

you more

like

Bartimaeus?

You know

your blindness.

You know

your need.

You know

that you

need the

mercy of

God.

You want

Christ

himself

to see

him more

clearly,

to follow

him more

nearly,

to love

him more

dearly.

Your

cry is not

for position

but for

pardon.

Not for

prestige but

for purity.

Not for

power but

for the

presence of

the Savior.

What are

you looking

for this

evening?

What are

you asking

for?

What do

you want

Jesus to

do for

you?

Looking

for yourself?

Looking for

number one?

Looking for

glory?

Or are

you looking

for mercy

from Jesus

the son

of David,

the servant

king?

Which path

will you

tread?

Will you

tread the

way of

the cross?

Will you

tread the

way of

the king?

Will you

tread the

way of

the great

servant?

What do

you want

Jesus to

do for

you?

What do

you want

to be

like?

Do you

want

to be

like

this

world?

Or do

you want

to be

like

Jesus?

Let's

pray.

Lord,

grant us

the help

of your

Holy Spirit.

Work in

our hearts

what is

pleasing in

your sight.

Give us

desire and

motivation

not to

prioritize

ourselves,

but to

put you

first,

to love

you,

and to

love our

neighbors

as

ourselves.

Lord,

make us

a people

always

thankful

for your

mercies

that are

new every

morning.

Make us

a grateful

people.

Make us

thankful

as blind

Bartimaeus

was,

and help

us to

live our

lives out

of the

soil of

your

grace,

and so

to live

always

for your

glory.

In

Jesus'

name,

Amen.