"As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what it was. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ And he said, ‘Lord, I want to regain my sight’” (Luke 18:35-41)! When you think about it, it seems a little odd that Jesus would ask a blind man what he wished from Him. It would seem obvious that he would want his sight restored. If I had the power to heal a blind man, and he, knowing I had this power, came to me seeking mercy, I would not ask him what he wanted from me. I would take it for granted he wanted to see again. I would make that assumption based upon outward evidence. Clearly, the man is blind, he is seeking mercy, so, what else could he possibly want if not to regain his sight? Why ask a question that has such an obvious answer? This was not the only time Jesus asked a question that had what we would think would be a very apparent answer.

 

            Once, while in Jerusalem, Jesus was by a pool by the Sheep Gate where the sick and infirm came to be healed. The water was supposed to possess therapeutic qualities when an angel stirred it. The belief was that the first one in the pool after it was stirred would be healed. “A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, ‘Do you wish to get well” (John 5:5-6)? What? Of course he wanted to get well. That was why he was there.

 

The sick man explained that he had no one to help him and when he tried to get to the water first, someone else would beat him in. At that point, “Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.’ Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk” (John 5:8-9). Did Jesus not know the man wanted to be healed? Could He not recognize the sick man’s need and simply heal him? Did He really have to ask him if he wished to get well? Of course not. As with the blind man, Jesus knew the need these men had. He knew the blind man wanted to see again; He knew the sick man wanted to be healed. He did not ask the questions to gain information for Himself. He asked the questions to see if the men knew what their need was.

 

            That may seem a strange thing to say. Would a blind man not know his need was to see? Would a sick man not know his need was to be healed? If the blindness or sickness affected the physical body, the answer would likely be, yes. A person who is blind or deaf or lame or ill knows what his need is. Depending on the handicap or the level of discomfort or pain experienced our needs range from seeking relief from a mild annoyance to immediate intervention to save our lives. Our physical bodies do a wonderful job of focusing our needs. If we stub our toe, if we burn our hand, if we break a bone, little else matters at that point except to relieve the pain. Would we know our need in such circumstances? Of course. That is, we think we know our need. If I am blind I need to see; if I am lame I need to walk; if I have cancer I need to be healed. Is it not obvious? What is obvious is what we think our need is; what is not so obvious is what Jesus thinks our need is. Thus, His question, “What do you want me to do for you” (Luke 18:41)?

 

            “And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Take courage, son, your sins are forgiven’” (Matthew 9:2). Notice, Jesus did not ask the man, “What do you want me to do for you”? If He had what would the paralytic’s response likely to have been? “Lord, please heal my body that I may be made whole.” Would the paralytic have been wrong to ask Jesus to heal his body? No. No more than the blind man asking to receive his sight again or the man at the pool asking to be healed. However, between these two men and the paralytic, who received the greater blessing? Without a doubt it was the paralytic. Jesus did heal him and the man rose from his bed and walked home, but he received the greatest gift Jesus offered anyone: forgiveness of sins. The paralytic received both physical healing and spiritual healing. The first two men received from Jesus what they perceived was their greatest need: physical healing. The paralytic, however, received what Jesus perceived as his greatest need: forgiveness of sins.

 

            Physical duress can, if we allow it, cause us to focus upon our bodies rather than upon our spirits. This is natural for the unsaved. They have no consciousness of a spiritual need because their spirits are dead. However, for those who have been born again, our focus should be upon our spiritual well-being above our bodily well-being. This does not mean we are to neglect the body. Indeed, Paul placed great value on the body. “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). Nevertheless, this truth must be balanced with these words of Jesus: “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). While the body is important, and while God created it, it should never become our primary object of concern. If it does then when Jesus asks us what He can do for us, we will always ask for things worth immeasurably less than what He is willing to give us.

 

            While traveling back to Galilee through Samaria, Jesus became weary and sat next to a well while His disciples went into town to buy food. As He was sitting by the well a Samaritan woman came from town to the well to draw water. Her need for water had compelled her to make the trip to the well. It did not matter how far the well was from town, how heavy the jar was, or how tired she was. Her physical need for water forced her to overcome any arguments she may have had about staying home. Whether she was tired or not did not matter. Her need for water was greater than anything else in her life at that moment; or at least that is what she thought. What she did not know was that she was about to meet Jesus and He would reveal an even greater need in her life.

 

            It is interesting that Jesus began revealing this Samaritan woman’s need by voicing a need of His own. He asked her for a drink of water. She was more than a little surprised by this request since Jews and Samaritans rarely interacted with one another except to express mutual animosity. Her racist attitude toward the Jews made her reluctant (and suspicious) to comply with Jesus’ request. Rather than taking offense at her, however, Jesus put aside His physical need for water, which the woman could have provided, and sought to meet the greater need she had by offering her a gift that only He could provide. Jesus told her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10). Seeing that Jesus had no jar with which to draw water from the well she scoffed at the idea that He was able to fulfill His offer of water, living or otherwise. She thought He was boasting and asked Him if He thought He was greater than their ancestor, Jacob, who had dug the well centuries earlier. Jesus once again responded to her impolite question with grace. He said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). This got her attention; not the part about eternal life, but the part about never thirsting again. “The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw’” (John 4:15). She was still focused upon her physical need while Jesus was offering her something of far greater value.

 

            Jesus could have provided the woman with water to drink, with or without a jar to draw with. Here was a Man that fed five thousand men (likely over ten thousand when the women and children were counted) with five loaves of bread and two fish (Matthew 14:15-21); here was a Man that fed four thousand men (over eight thousand with women and children) with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish (Matthew 15:32-38). The lack of a jar was no obstacle for Him. Nor would it have been wrong for Jesus to quench the woman’s thirst. Meeting the physical needs of people is commendable and right. As Christians we are told that genuine faith will express itself in ways that have a practical, physical impact on others. “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that” (James 2:14-16)? Thus, to ignore the physical needs of others when we can relieve their suffering and they cannot is wrong. Nevertheless, it is more wrong to ignore the spiritual needs of others when it is within our power help them. Jesus told His listeners at the Sermon on the Mount to not be anxious for what they were to eat or drink or clothe themselves with. Instead, He told them, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

 

The Samaritan woman was not doing this. If Jesus could really give her a type of living water that, once drank, would satisfy her physical needs for the rest of her life, she was ready to receive it, even if it came from the hand of a Jew. Yet, Jesus did not do this. Instead, in His mercy He was about to set this woman’s priorities straight and He was going to do it by telling her to do something that seemed to have nothing to do with what they had just been discussing. 

 

            Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband, and come here” (John 4:16). She must have been thinking what this had to do with Jesus giving her living water. Nevertheless, she confessed, “I have no husband” (John 4:17). Jesus responded, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly” (John 4:17-18). And you thought multiple marriages and living together outside of marriage was a modern phenomenon.

 

            Why did Jesus tell the woman to go get her husband when it is obvious he knew she had no husband and was instead living with a man outside of marriage? Because her immoral behavior was preventing her from receiving the gift of living water He wished to give her. He had to expose her sin in such a way that she could not deny it. It was necessary for her to empty herself of the filth within her heart before Jesus could fill her with the living water that was to become a well springing up within her being resulting in eternal life. Yet, like us so much of the time, when the Lord is attempting to expose something in our lives that needs to be forsaken and repented of, we change the subject. This woman was no exception. Instead of repenting of her immoral lifestyle, she told Jesus she recognized that He was a prophet and promptly asked Him if the Jew’s theology or the Samaritan’s theology was correct. His answer caused her to leave her water jar at the well, go back into town, and tell the people there that she had found the Messiah. When she recognized who it was that had been speaking to her, water from the well became of secondary importance. She was now ready to receive what she truly needed – living water.

 

            Sometimes we do not recognize what we need because our religion gets in the way. “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself, “God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.” ‘But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” ‘I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted’” (Luke 18:9-14).

 

God is not impressed with religious activity if it is not the result of a humble spirit. Doing things, even good things, does not win favor before God. Jesus’ most caustic criticisms were directed toward the religious leaders of His day. They thought they needed to observe outward religious rituals; Jesus repudiated such thinking. They were concerned with outward appearances; Jesus directed their attention inwardly. “So you too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:28). The Pharisees and scribes had no need of grace or forgiveness. They had earned them by their religious works. Thus, the blind came to Jesus asking for healing, but the Pharisees said, “We are not blind too, are we” (John 9:40)? Of course they were, and Jesus knew it, but it was a spiritual blindness and they were unwilling to be healed. Their pride kept them from receiving or even requesting from Jesus what they were actually in need of. Their need to receive sight was just as obvious to Jesus as the physically blind are obvious to us. Thus when Jesus asks the physically blind that come to Him what He can do for them He is attempting to teach us to look beyond our physical needs and focus upon what we really need. Physical sight lets us see a sunrise; spiritual sight enables us to see a Son rise. Which is of more value?

 

            Lest we smugly condemn the Pharisees, let us examine ourselves. Do we think we see when in fact we are blind? Do we think we hear the word of the Lord when all we are hearing is the desires of our corrupt hearts? Do we think that because we go to church regularly God smiles at us approvingly?  Do we think because we give of our money and time to those less fortunate that God owes us something? Do we think because we have prospered materially that God favors us? Do we think that if we had never been born God would have gotten a raw deal? Do we think we are spiritually healthy when in fact we are on our deathbed? If Jesus were to come to you and ask, “What would you have me do for you?” what would you say? Would we have the wisdom to say, “Lord, You know all things. What is it that I need?” Would we have the courage to pray the words of David and say, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalms 139:23-24). All too often what we think we need because it is so obvious to us is much less than what the Lord knows we need, and is ready to give.

 

            We must constantly guard against self-deception, thinking we have need of nothing because of self-righteousness and material blessings. Jesus warned the church in Laodicea about this. “Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see” (Revelation 3:17-18). These words were spoken to those who called themselves Christians. They claimed to have a relationship with Jesus. But if you were to tell them their righteousness was not capable of saving them and that they needed a touch from the Master’s hand, they would have ridiculed and mocked you, pointing to all their works and possessions as proof that they belonged to God. What a contrast this is to Paul’s proof that he belongs to the Lord. “I bear on my body the brand marks of the Lord Jesus, [the wounds, scars and other outward evidence of persecutions]. – These testify of His ownership of me” (Galatians 6:17 AMP)!

 

Prior to his conversion and being physically blinded by the light from heaven, Paul had all that the Laodicean took pride in: wealth, status, and prestige. But Paul came to realize the true value of these things. “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:7-9 ESV). Paul had learned what his needs were. It was not more money, finer clothes, a bigger house, or even religious zeal. It was a relationship with the very Lord he was attempting to get others to renounce.

 

            The main problem the Laodiceans faced was where the Lord was in relation to them. Jesus told them, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). Like Paul before his conversion, Jesus was outside. He wished to get in; He wished to have fellowship with them; He wished to meet their needs, but as long as He was on the outside looking in they were living in darkness and could not see that they were blind. If they would open the door and let the “light of the world” (John 8:12) in, healing could begin because their true needs would become evident. Do I hear someone knocking?

 

 

Terry L. Brown

Terry_L_Brown@whispersofthespirit.com

 

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Copyright 2008: Terry L. Brown, 1176 Minuteman Street, Billings, Montana 59105-2248. Used by permission.

 

 

 

Unless otherwise noted: Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, copyright 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.