Jesus
asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabboni, that I may see again.”
Mark 10:51
Mark 10 [50.] He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Mark 10 [51.] Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man said to him, “Rabboni, that I may see again.”
Mark 10 [52.] Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus on the way.
Meaning:
Bartimaeus had thrown off his cloak, sprung up and come to Jesus (Mark 10:50). Now the blind beggar stands before the son of David, and Jesus asks him a simple question. His answer is just as simple. In this short exchange Mark shows what true faith looks like, and he invites readers to compare Bartimaeus with the disciples who had walked with Jesus for so long.
- “What do you want me to do for you?”
These are exactly the words Jesus had spoken a little earlier to James and John (Mark 10:36). The brothers had answered by asking for the seats of honour at his right and left hand in his glory (Mark 10:37-40). Their request was refused. Bartimaeus will ask for something very different, and his request will be granted at once. Mark places the two scenes close together so that readers can see the difference between asking for status and asking for mercy.
- Why ask a blind man what he wants?
It might seem obvious what a blind beggar needed. Yet Jesus asks, and the question shows respect. He treats Bartimaeus not as a problem to be fixed but as a person who can speak for himself. The question also draws out faith. Bartimaeus might have asked for money, as he had asked everyone else on that road. Instead he asks for what only God can give. Jesus taught his followers, “Ask, and it will be given you” (Matthew 7:7), and he loves to hear us name our need.
- “Rabboni”
Bartimaeus addresses Jesus as “Rabboni”. The PIB footnote explains that this is a transliteration of the Hebrew word for “great teacher”. It is a warmer, more personal form than “Rabbi”, meaning something like “my master” or “my teacher”. Bartimaeus had cried out to Jesus as “son of David”, the Messiah (Mark 10:46-48); now he speaks to him with personal devotion. His words combine faith in who Jesus is with trust in what he can do.
- “That I may see again”
The word “again” suggests that Bartimaeus had not been born blind but had lost his sight. He longed to have back what had been taken from him. His request is direct, humble and full of faith. In the Old Testament, opening the eyes of the blind was the work of God and of his servant: God would make his servant “a light for the nations; to open the blind eyes” (Isaiah 42:6-7). By asking Jesus to restore his sight, Bartimaeus showed that he believed Jesus could do what God alone does. Jesus came “that those who don’t see may see” (John 9:39), both physically and spiritually.
The Significance of Mark 10:51
- Ask for what you truly need
Jesus still asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” The disciples asked for glory; the beggar asked for sight. Believers are invited to bring their real needs to Jesus with honesty and humility.
- Pray for the eyes of the heart to be opened
Spiritual blindness is as real as physical blindness. Paul prayed that believers might have “the eyes of your hearts enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18). Every disciple needs Jesus to open his or her eyes to see him clearly.
Cross-References:
Mark 10:36: "He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”" The same question asked of James and John.
Isaiah 42:6-7: "I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and make you a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations; to open the blind eyes" The servant who opens blind eyes.
John 9:39: "I came into this world for judgment, that those who don’t see may see; and that those who see may become blind." Jesus brings sight to those who know they are blind.
Ephesians 1:18: "having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling" The prayer for spiritual sight.
Conclusion: Jesus asked blind Bartimaeus the same question he had asked James and John: “What do you want me to do for you?” Where the brothers had asked for glory, Bartimaeus called Jesus “Rabboni” and asked simply to see again. His humble, direct request showed faith that Jesus could do what only God can do. The exchange invites every reader to come to Jesus with the same honest need and the same trust.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible