“Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.”Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
Mark 10:50-52 (NIV)
A blind man named Bartimaus, used to sit on the side of the road, until the day he heard Jesus was coming. He kept calling out to Jesus for mercy, ignoring people who tried to silence him for his annoying interruptions. Suddenly, Jesus stopped walking and called him over. Bartimaus threw his cloak aside and jumped to his feet.
Sometimes it feels like God doesn’t hear us calling, but the story of Bartimaus tells us that He is listening to our cries. Jesus was divine, so He definitely heard Bartimaus the first time he cried out. He waited for the right moment, because God has perfect timing for everything and sometimes His answer is “not yet.”
Jesus called and Bartimaus left his cloak behind and jumped to his feet. He ran with single minded certainty to Jesus. He only needed to know that Jesus heard him, and in receiving His attention, he believed and threw his cloak aside, before he was actually healed. There is real comfort in knowing that Jesus hears us.
If we can have faith that God hears us, before we receive the answer, we can trust in His perfect timing, finding peace while we wait. Jesus told Bartimaus that his faith has healed him, and then he miraculously received his sight. Imagine being blind from birth, and the first face Bartimaus ever saw was the face of Jesus. Mark says in the gospel that he followed Him from that day onward. It all began with asking for mercy, knowing He heard him, leaving his cloak behind, and then running to Jesus.
The cloak is a significant garment, in scriptural tradition. For beggars, it served as an outer garment, as well as a blanket at night. The person’s cloak was also given as a pledge of security for a loan, according to the law of Moses.
Cloaks also represent an identifying aspect of a person’s life, as it did for Elisha and his mentor, Elijah. Before Elijah was taken up to heaven, Elisha took hold of his cloak and it says that the spirit and anointing of Elijah was passed on to Elisha from that day forward- all through his cloak.
For the handicapped, crippled and outcasts of society, a cloak was more than something to sit on or to keep them warm at night. There was an identifying feature on a blind man’s cloak, which informed the public that he was blind. Some scholars and historians say it was the color of the cloak or a symbol or a letter on the cloak, that revealed his condition of blindness. The cloak was Bartimaus’ identity, and was essential for him to collect alms and survive.
When Jesus abruptly stopped and called for Bartimaus, he was about to impart a new dignity to him, and his life would significantly change. Throwing aside his cloak, was a gesture of his faith and commitment to leave behind his old identity, and trust Jesus for a new and better future. His identity was now in Jesus, and his faith, instead of his cloak, became his most valuable asset. Bartimaus never went back to begging. He put on a new cloak, which was the Spirit of Jesus, who gave him a new life.
When Jesus calls our name, we don’t need to hear it audibly, but we can hear it within our spirit, and just as He asked Bartimaus, “What do you want me to do for you?,” we can trust and believe that He is asking us the same question today. Knowing He hears us, we can have peace while we wait and trust in His perfect timing to answer our prayers. We have all received His Spirit, as believers, which is our new cloak of identity. We are God’s children who walk in the dignity of resurrected life in Jesus.
Lord, as your children, we toss off the cloak of old identity and run to you, allowing your Spirit to cover us with a cloak of dignity, as we trust you for new mercy, healing and restoration. Amen
