Bartimaeus had been crying out to Jesus to have mercy on him. And Jesus’ question to the man may seem a bit odd at first. Didn’t Jesus realize that Bartimaeus was blind?

Jesus certainly knew the man was blind. But Jesus’ question invited Bartimaeus to think about and tell the Lord what he really needed.

Bartimaeus had probably been asking for donations at the gate of Jericho for a long time—perhaps even years. He was in the habit of begging from everyone else for a coin or a piece of bread. But in the presence of Jesus, he could ask for his sight—and that basically meant asking for his life back.

What do you want from Jesus? All of us could use a little help or a favor. Maybe Jesus could even fix a thing or two like a broken relationship or financial debt. No doubt, he could! There are all kinds of things we could ask Jesus to help us with, but Jesus invites us to be ­honest enough with ourselves so as to be bold enough with him.

What we really need is God’s mercy and grace. What we real­ly need to say is “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

So go ahead, tell Jesus what you really need—because that is the reason why he was on the road, heading toward Jerusalem.