Why did He ask?

Mark 10:46-52

46 And they came to Jericho. 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. 47 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!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 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.” 52 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 happens to be something many people have asked in the past. I have been asked, and I myself asked in the past. "Why did Jesus ask the blind man what he wanted for Jesus to do for him? Did Jesus really have to ask since He is God? Was Jesus trying to be funny?

Believe it or not, I have actually heard it from the pulpit that Jesus had a sense of humor, and that was the reason he asked. That is horrible! Of course Jesus knew what the blind man wanted. Not only by the mere fact that the blind man was, well....uh....BLIND! If the blind man had an ailment that was not obvious that he wanted healing from, Jesus would have known that also.

The reason Jesus asked the blind man what he wanted was to give him a chance to publicly display his trust in Jesus. When he showed his faith in Jesus by telling Him his request, Jesus responded by telling him his faith has made him well, and told him to go on his way. Not only do we see a sense of physical healing, we also see a sense of Spiritual healing. The second part of v. 52 we read that the blind man did recover his sight, but did not go his own way. He chose to follow Jesus instead. At that point he forsake all to follow Christ as we should all do when we are spiritually healed of our sin. Not only do we see Him as Saviour, but we also view Him as Lord and follow Him.