What Do You Want?

Published: Sept. 17, 2022, midnight

b'One of the most enduring tales of all time is the story of a wish granted.\\nWhether it\\u2019s the three wishes of a genie\\u2019s lamp in \\u201cAladdin,\\u201d the ironic\\ntwists of \\u201cThe Monkey\\u2019s Paw,\\u201d or just a discussion among friends, we love\\nthe possibility of getting something we want, a chance to make life better.\\nMoney? Fame? A particular skill? Healing? There are too many options to\\nlist, which is probably why people throughout history have pondered, \\u201cWhat\\ndo you want?\\u201d\\nIn the Bible, Jesus sometimes asks people the same question. And when the\\nSon of God asks this question, it\\u2019s a story worth considering. We\\u2019re going\\nto take a closer look at one of these times, which is recorded in Luke 18.\\nJesus is approaching Jericho with a throng of followers. A man who is blind\\nsits by the road, begging.\\nThis man is an outcast with many needs. He can\\u2019t see; he has no money and\\nno job. He\\u2019s basically a loner in society with nothing going for him. The\\nroad to Jericho is dangerous, and this is where he sits and begs.\\nWhen he hears that Jesus is passing by, he begins to shout, \\u201cJesus, Son of\\nDavid, have mercy on me!\\u201d (verse 38). The crowds tell him to hush, but he\\nshouts louder. Then Jesus stops and asks the man, \\u201cWhat do you want me to\\ndo for you?\\u201d (verse 41). It may seem obvious. The man responds, \\u201cLord, I\\nwant to see.\\u201d Then Jesus heals him, and immediately, he can see.\\nWhat\\u2019s interesting to me is the man\\u2019s response after his eyes are healed.\\nHe could have gone home. He could have traveled around to see the sights\\nand people he had never seen. He could have run from this dangerous place.\\nBut no. Verse 43 tells us that he \\u201cfollowed Jesus, praising God.\\u201d Not only\\nthat, but \\u201cwhen all the people saw it, they also praised God.\\u201d\\nOn His way to the cross, Jesus gave sight, both physically and spiritually,\\nto a man who was blind. Because of what Jesus did, the man and the crowd\\nbegan to see Jesus differently. Jesus was more than a cosmic genie granting\\nthe whims of random people. Jesus was, and is, God in the flesh, come to\\nrestore His creation. He is the Messiah and the Son of God. When the healed\\nman and the crowd saw what Jesus had done, they praised God. \\u2022 Mike Hurley\\n\\u2022 Why do you think this man wanted to follow Jesus after He healed him?\\n\\u2022 If you want to dig deeper, you can read two other gospel accounts of\\nJesus healing blindness outside Jericho in Matthew 20:29-34 and Mark\\n10:46-52. You can also read about two other times Jesus says, \\u201cWhat do you\\nwant?\\u201d in Mark 10:35-45 and John 1:35-42.\\nJesus asked him, \\u201cWhat do you want me to do for you?\\u201d Luke 18:40-41 (NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nLuke.18.35-Luke.18.43'