THOUGHTS ON MARK 10 VERSE 50

Mark 10:46-52 - "And they came to Jericho: and as He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.  And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.  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.  And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto Him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.  And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way."

Why did Bartimaeus cast away his garment?  There must be a significant reason for Mark to include this, the shortest sentence in the passage.  Matthew Henry's Commentary had this to say:

"The poor man, hereupon, made the best of his way to Christ; He cast away his loose upper garment, and came to Jesus (v. 50); he cast away every thing that might be in danger of throwing him down, or might in any way hinder him in coming to Christ, or retard his motion. Those who would come to Jesus, must cast away the garment of their own sufficiency, must strip themselves of all conceit of that, and must free themselves from every weight, and the sin that, like long garments, doth most easily beset them" (Heb. 12:1).

I believe Matthew Henry was using his human logic, in trying to explain it.  On the other hand, I believe C. H. Spurgeon was seeing the event through spiritual eyes (pardon the pun), when he wrote concerning Mark 10:50:  "Who is that man who has lost his upper garment? See he wears the dress of a beggar. Who is he?" 

Spurgeon is suggesting that there was a garment which identified those begging for alms.  It would certainly be consistent with what followed.  There is a spiritual reason that Bartimaeus discarded the "I.D." before he was healed:  to me, it screams "FAITH!"  Bartimaeus believed that Jesus could heal him, and upon hearing that Jesus was calling for him to come, he KNEW he no longer needed to be identified as a beggar!  He was about to receive his sight!

Are you "wearing something" that identifies you as a beggar, or are you "wearing something" that declares you faith?  The world should see your light, your works, your fruit, and KNOW that you belong to the CREATOR, the MASTER, the LORD Jesus Christ!