What Do You Want?
Mark 10:32-52
If you had the chance to see Jesus in the flesh, and He asked you “What do you want me to do for you?”, what would you ask for?
Would you ask for something insignificant? Would you ask for something you could use or spend in this life?
Or would you be honest and tell the Lord what is really going on in your life and what you really need? Are you even aware of what you really need?
Jesus said in Matthew 6:19, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
Matthew 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. NKJV
We need to constantly focus on the fact that the Lord is Holy and Almighty, yet He still wants a relationship with us.
The Lord wants to be a part, of every part of our lives.
Please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark 10 as we continue in a verse-by-verse study of that Gospel.
Last week in Mark, we studied how some trust in wealth.
When we put our trust in money, we do not trust the Lord.
The question is, “How hard is it to enter the kingdom of God?”
But what was impossible for man to do, God did by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, as a payment for our sin.
Wiersbe said, “It is good to have the things money can buy, provided you do not lose the things that money cannot buy.”
We ended by saying, we all have Original Sin because of the sin that Adam and Eve did in the beginning of creation.
By Grace alone, (an undeserved Gift) through Faith alone (Trust) in Christ alone, you can be saved. Salvation is NOT found in a religion or by good works, it is only found in Jesus.
Today, we will hear Jesus predict His death and resurrection for the third time. Then Jesus will ask the same question to different men and the answers from these different men, are very telling.
I. The nature of His death.
Read Mark 10:32-34
Notice, vs. 32, “Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem”.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Jerusalem stands on hills at an elevation of 2,575 feet.
So, no matter where you were traveling from, you are always going up to Jerusalem.
Notice, “Jesus was going before them.”
Jesus is fully man as well as fully God. Our sinless Savior was determined to go to the cross, even though He fully knew He was about to face humiliation, beatings, and crucifixion.
At this point of His earthly ministry, Jesus is literally in front of the Disciples as He is leading them towards His death sentence.
Then notice, “They were amazed... they were afraid.”
amazed means to be astonished, startled, or alarmed.
afraid is the Greek word from which we get our English word phobia; it means to be anxious or apprehensive.
Anxiety is a sin, because it reveals we are not trusting the Lord for whatever situation we are facing that is causing the anxiety.
As they were heading to Jerusalem, the Disciples begin to realize the gravity of the situation; after all this is the third time Jesus has told them of His upcoming death.
The religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus for a while by this point and even though the religious leaders didn’t want to kill Jesus during the Passover holiday, it will end up happening.
The Disciples were amazed at the courage of Jesus, but they were afraid of what was awaiting them in Jerusalem.
Jesus showed a tremendous amount of bravery as He headed to Calvary’s cross, to be condemned to death and to be delivered to the Gentiles. Remember, Jesus is fully man as well as fully God.
Jesus said, “see” in vs. 33; “see” means behold or consider this.
But also notice, Jesus did not use the first-person pronoun “I”, i.e., He didn’t say “I” will be handed over, rather Jesus identifies Himself as “The Son of Man”.
Jesus wants His Disciples to know He is the One, Daniel saw.
Daniel 7:13 “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven!
Samuel Whitefield said, “The title Son of Man is a way Jesus was asserting his own divine nature revealing He is the One, who will be given authority, glory and sovereign power".
Even though this is the third time Jesus said He would be crucified and rise again on the third day, this is the first time in Mark where Jesus said they would deliver Him to the Gentiles.
What an insult and betrayal towards the sinless Messiah of God.
William lane said, “Delivery to the Gentiles reveals that Jesus will be held in contempt by his own countrymen, for the Gentiles are the last people to whom the Messiah of the people of God should be handed over.”
II. What we want Jesus to do for us.
Read Mark 10:35-40
Notice what these two Disciples ask, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.”
Imagine for a moment, after everything they have seen and heard, the audacity of these two men asking Jesus to grant them whatever they ask for: what a disrespectful request.
R. Alan Cole said, “If it had not been recorded, we could have hardly believed that, after all this, James and John could have come with their ambitious and selfish request.”
Jesus had just told them about His upcoming betrayal, beating, and death; yet these two Disciples were motivated to ask Jesus for positions of power and prestige within His Kingdom.
The seat to the right of a king was the place of highest honor and the second place of honor was the seat on the left of the King.
In Matthew we’re told their mother came with this request.
Imagine telling your friends that you only have days left to live and in turn, they say to you, “That’s terrible, I am sorry to hear that. What are you going to do with the hot rod in your garage?”
After such an insulting request, notice what Jesus asks them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
“What do you want me to do for you?”, is the question Jesus asks everyone. Some will answer and ask Jesus to rescue them, while other people will say, “We want nothing to do with You”.
What a difference in priorities between Jesus and these two men.
Once Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, He said in John 12:23, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. NKJV
How ironic that Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”. Will Jesus be glorified by dying?
D.A. Carson said, “It is not just that the shame of the cross is inevitably followed by the glory of the exaltation, but that the glory is already fully displayed in the shame.”
Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. NKJV
Jesus tells them they do not realize what they are asking for with these positions, because with the positions, also come trials. To take part in the glory, you must also take part in the suffering.
The question, “Are you able to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
The cup in this passage refers to the cup of God’s wrath.
The Disciples would have certainly understood the Old Testament metaphor of the cup, as the wrath of God’s judgment on sin and rebellion found in the Book of Isaiah and Jeremiah.
The same metaphor is used in the Book of Revelation, as well.
On the cross Jesus drank the cup we deserved, because the cup the Father presented to His Son was filled with God's holy wrath against our sins.
Matthew 26:39 "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." NKJV
The Bible says the cross was not simply an act of injustice on the part of those who killed Jesus, but it was Jesus’ substitutionary suffering, to pay for the sin if mankind.
The word Baptism means to be completely immersed and this passage communicates Jesus was completely immersed with the judgment of God on the cross, for our sin.
James and John answer and say they can endure the baptism.
The cup and baptism picture Jesus’ sacrificial death for our sins, which James and John could never do; later, after the ascension of Christ, they will endure trials and persecution for Jesus.
Our culture is opposed to any kind of discomfort, not to mention genuine hardships and unfortunately, this kind of attitude has infiltrated the church.
Some Christians think suffering is having to get up Sunday morning for church or they think suffering happens if the church service runs ten minutes longer than normal.
III. The other Disciples get irritated.
Read Mark 10:41-45
As expected, the other ten Disciples get irritated with James and John’s request for the top two positions in the Kingdom.
Jesus clearly taught His Disciples their behavior of striving for power and position within the Kingdom is the behavior of worldly people.
The Church is not to operate the way the world does; the nature of the Christ’s Kingdom is all about the King, so Kingdom people are not to love the world.
Jesus said, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them.”
The desire for power or the desire to seek position comes with a desire to lord it over people. Webster’s dictionary says…
The definition of “lord it over” means to act in a way that shows one thinks they are better or more important than someone else.
In the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the most important people are those who serve others. In vs. 43, the word “servant” is the Greek word diakonos which is where we get our word Deacon.
The Christian life is counter cultural to all that the world teaches including how to be important or obtain a position.
Barclay said, “The world may assess a man's greatness by the number of people whom he controls or by the size of his material possessions which he has amassed.
But in the assessment of Jesus Christ these things are irrelevant. His assessment is quite simply--how many people has he helped?”
The goal in Jesus’ Kingdom is not to rule, but to serve. Greatness is characterized by intense humility.
Jesus came, not to occupy a throne, but to hang on a cross and these Disciples are just not getting it.
Paul speaking of Christian behavior said in…
Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
Romans 12:11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
Romans 12:12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
Romans 12:13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. NKJV
The word “fervent” means “to boil”. Paul was describing a holy zeal or passion for God and His kingdom purposes.
J. C. Ryle describes this as godly zeal. The Lord wants this godly zeal to come from an overflow of His Spirit within us, not to be conjured up by striving from the flesh.
Jesus said He came to give His life as a ransom for many. Ransom means the buying-back of a person from slavery, prison, or death; by paying a price.
With Jesus’ substitutionary death, the perfect servant King offered His life as a ransom for those who were dead, while serving sin.
C. H. Spurgeon said, “He received nothing from others; His was a life of giving, and the giving of a life…
“No service is greater than to redeem sinners by his own death, no ministry is lowlier than to die in the stead of sinners.”
In Bible times the word ransom was used when freeing slaves.
Romans 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. NKJV
Jesus came from Glory, was going back to Glory, and will return to earth, in all His Glory.
Jesus said in His High Priestly Prayer…
John 17:4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. NKJV
Jesus did not leave His Glory in order to seek glory here on earth, but His Glory was the Cross at Calvary as He unselfishly paid our ransom.
Jesus was in all His Glory before the world existed; but chose as part of the predetermined will of God, to come and save lost sinners.
IV. Blind Bartimaeus.
Read Mark 10:46-52
What a contrast to what James and John asked from Jesus.
Jesus was passing by this blind beggar, who then calls Jesus the Promised Messiah of Israel.
The powerful religious leaders of Israel, who have watched Jesus perform miracles throughout His ministry, failed to recognize Him as Messiah.
But notice, Bartimaeus calls Jesus, "Son of David”, which is a Messianic title and then he asks Jesus, to have mercy on me!"
Bartimaeus was basically saying, “I can’t see You with my physical eyes, but I recognize who You are!”
Bartimaeus didn’t ask for money, even though he probably had no means of making money to provide for himself.
Think about this narrative; there were many people present. How many voices do you think could be heard at that time?
The Disciples are trying to quiet the man, but Jesus heard him above the crowd.
Jesus will always hear the cries of a believing heart.
Psalm 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears. NKJV
There are times we may be going through something that no one else knows about and we wonder if Jesus even cares; yet, by this passage we see, Jesus hears us when we cry out to Him.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. NKJV
Jesus heard the one voice who was saying, “Son of David have mercy and compassion on me.”
Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit. NKJV
vs. 49, “Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.”
“Jesus stood still”. Jesus was on a mission, and nothing could stop Him from heading to Jerusalem to fulfill the Father’s will; yet He heard the desperate cry of this man and stops to call him.
Jesus told His followers to deliver the invitation to this man. We also, should deliver Jesus’ invitation to spiritually blind people.
They said, “Have courage! Get up; He’s calling for you.”
As a Follower of Christ, it is great comfort to know we don't have to go through the storms of life alone, He is always there.
It has been said people who are blind have a heightened sense of hearing. This man could not see, but he could certainly hear!
Re-read Mark 10:51
Imagine how Jesus’ words sounded to this man at that moment. He wants me, of all people, blind or not, He is calling me.
Faith, no matter how small it is, if placed in Jesus Christ, causes Him to hear us.
There is more than meets the eye here with the response of Bartimaeus as he springs up and throws off his cloak in vs. 50.
In that day, beggars used their cloaks to collect the alms people would give as they begged in the streets.
This is similar to street performers today as they put out a box or something else to collect money as they perform.
Throwing aside his cloak, Bartimaeus showed no concern for the things of this world any longer, and he ran to the only One who can truly heal him.
Bartimaeus believed he no longer needed to beg; he was still blind as he heard Jesus, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
The creator of everything didn’t come and demand anything from this man, but instead, He offered something to him. This is pure Grace and Bartimaeus could not add to this favor at all.
Bartimaeus ’request was simple, but impossible, “that I may receive my sight.”
Then notice, the first thing Bartimaeus saw was JESUS.
If you are a Christian, before salvation you were blind, but after you trusted Jesus for salvation, your eyes were opened.
The first thing you saw was the One who had compassion on you looking into your face!
V. Practical Application.
I want you to notice the question to blind Bartimaeus was the same question that was given to James and John, when they asked Jesus to grant them their request.
“What do you want Me to do for you?”
James and John were blinded by ambition and power while Bartimaeus was physically blind.
Has the Lord opened your spiritual eyes so you could see Him?
There is a huge difference between knowing about Jesus and actually spiritually seeing Jesus for who He really is.
When Jesus opens someone’s eyes, and they truly see Him for the first time, it will radically change their life.
Notice Bartimaeus’ response in vs. 52, “immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.”
He did not go back to begging, he didn’t go and ask anyone’s opinion including, the crowd; Bartimaeus followed Jesus.
When anyone has a real encounter with Jesus, there will be no question about it; there will be life change as they follow Him.
There is a constant theme that runs through scripture: every person who has seen the Lord and recognized Him for who He truly is, was forever changed because of their encounter.
When we read about the saints of old who had an encounter with the Lord, we see their lives were forever changed; think about Moses, Jacob, Isaiah, and even the Apostles.
Jesus Christ is the express image of who God and when our Lord became flesh, He was finally shown as the full revelation of God’s mercy, grace, goodness and He is ready to forgive.
Any revelation of God’s glory given to us now is meant to change us into an expression of Christ!
Bartimaeus agreed to follow Jesus as He was heading to the cross! So, the question for these men is the same question Jesus has for all of us, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
If we tell Jesus we want Him to leave us alone; unfortunately, after several requests, He will give us what we want, along with the consequences of our decision.
A life without Christ is terrible now, and is horrific for eternity.
But if Jesus asks you, “What do you want Me to do for you?” and you say, give me vision so I can see you, He will by no means turn you away, give you vision, and offer you salvation.
When Jesus asks you the question and you receive His free gift; your eyes will be opened, and He will give your eternal life.
