Rabbi, I want to see

“‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him. The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’” Mark 10:51
Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus healing people in all sorts of different ways. He healed several blind men: sometimes placing His hands on them, sometimes putting mud on their eyes, sometimes, as here, simply speaking to them.
At first, reading this account of how Jesus healed Bartimaeus, it seems strange to us that Jesus would ask him, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ We think, isn’t it obvious? Surely the one thing this blind man wanted more than anything else was to be able to see, so that he could function and participate fully in society, instead of being consigned to a life of begging? We might think this, but sadly it’s not always the case. Some people have turned down the offer of healing because they enjoy receiving pity from other people (and/or government benefits!).
Another aspect to think about is this: Jesus knew the man’s need, but He asked him to verbalise it. This gave the man opportunity to demonstrate his faith – and it was his faith that healed him (Mark 10:52). We might wish for something in our heart, but a lack of faith prevents us from verbalising it. Not so for this man. By saying, ‘Rabbi, I want to see,’ he was acknowledging that Jesus had the power to do this for him.