I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it, but it seems obvious to me, given the ruckus Bartimaeus made that day, he’d already heard plenty about the ministry of Jesus. People had been telling him not only that Jesus had been working miracles, but that He’d been preaching: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18).
Can you imagine how that message must have hit Bartimaeus?
As a Jew, he’d been told all his life about the coming of the Anointed One—the One referred to in the Hebrew Scriptures as the Son of David, who would have upon Him the very power of God. Now he’d gotten word that the Anointed One had finally arrived, preaching recovery of sight to the blind. For Bartimaeus, it was the ultimate Good News!
Most likely, ever since he’d started hearing it, he’d been thinking and talking about little else. As a result, when the strategic moment arrived, his weapon of faith was fully loaded and he knew exactly what to do. He hollered at Jesus and refused to be quiet.
“And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus” (Mark 10:49-50).
The fact that Bartimaeus threw off his beggar’s coat when Jesus called him was extremely significant. That coat was a government-issued garment identifying him as a person who was permanently disabled. It assured the people who saw him asking for handouts by the side of the road that he was an honest man. That he had no other way to make a living—and never would.
Bartimaeus’ coat was his beggar’s license. Without it he couldn’t work.
Yet, even before he received his sight—while he was still blind—he cast that garment away as if to say, “I don’t need that thing anymore. My days of blindness are over. The Anointed One with the Anointing of God is here and I’ve heard what He preached. He said the blind would see and that’s it for me. I’m healed and I’m never going to have to beg on this street corner again!”
With that, Bartimaeus zeroed his faith in on the words of Jesus and pulled the trigger. What was the result?
“Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way” (verse 52).
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Services with Kenneth & Gloria Copeland
Washington, D.C. Victory Campaign
November 12-14
Free Admission
kcm.org/dc
Hylton Memorial Chapel
Woodbridge, Va.
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