Casting Away Your Coat

“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.” (Mr 10:49-50 AV)

I noticed with curiosity that blind Bartimaeus cast away his outer garment before he came to Jesus.  I didn’t realize there is much written about this.  At first, I thought perhaps this outer garment was an identifier that he indeed was blind and in need of alms.  One such entry claims this outer garment was issued by authorities as sort of like a permit to publicly beg.  I cannot find any other source to verify such a statement.  Other entries make more sense.  The outer garment served many purposes.  We know from the book of Ruth that the outer garment often served as means of warmth while sleeping in the elements.  In some cases, the outer garment served as bedding.  Another possibility in mentioning this is the purpose this outer garment would serve in the process of begging.  It was more usually than not for the beggar to sit in the way.  He would sit on the ground.  Bartimaeus, being blind, would not be able to receive alms by an outstretched hand.  He could not see to make a connection.  So, for Bart, the garment stretched over his knees and to his ankles would serve as a large net to catch any alms cast to him.  By casting away his garment to meet Jesus, Bartimaeus was casting away the means by which he earned a living.  No matter how one looks at it, to come to Jesus for healing, something must be discarded.  For us, the parallel is simple.  To come to Jesus, we must repent of our sin.  There must be a forsaking of what we are to become what God wants us to be.  This takes faith.

I have had several hospital stays.  Most recently, for a presumed heart attack.  One of the first things they do is put in an IV.  For me, this was in case they needed to administer emergency medications.  I spent the night in observation.  Another stay was about ten years prior for the same thing.  Again, another IV was inserted.  There was surgery on my shoulder that was outpatient.  But they still put in an IV.  I distinctly remember my check-out procedure for the earlier incident.  It didn’t go as smoothly as one would hope.  I went in because my heart was racing and out of rhythm.  When my attending nurse came in for my vitals, all was good.  But when the discharge nurse came to do a final check, my heart rate and pressure were rising.  The idea of being discharged was affecting my health and they were contemplating keeping me for another day or two.  There was also the matter of that IV.  There were things that I needed to leave at the hospital if I expected to be healed from what ailed me.  I could not continue as I was and expect life to improve.  The IV had to come out.  I had to cast off my hospital garment.  Most of all, I had to leave behind what was causing me to feel ill.  There had to be a casting off prior to complete health as my reality.  What I gained at the hospital had to be left at the hospital.  What I was when I came in had to be left in the past in order to be what I must become.  I could not go back.  The only way forward is to leave the past in the past.

When I was reading about this garment, I discovered there was such a thing called a beggar’s coat.  A convert to Christ shared his testimony as to how he came to Christ.  This man was a drug and alcohol addict.  He then explained the modern idea of a beggar’s coat.  There actually is something called that that serves a unique purpose.  This beggar’s coat has many different secret compartments sewn into the inside.   These compartments are used for drugs and alcohol.  At least this is the testimony of the believer mentioned above.  He equates the casting off of the beggar’s garment or coat akin to repentance from a life of sin.  This may not have been true of Bartimaeus, but it was certainly true of this believer.  Any way you look at it, if we desire a change of life from the LORD Jesus Christ, then something needs to be cast off.  For Bart, it was his means of survival.  Casting off that coat meant if Christ did not heal him, he would have no means to catch the alms that came his way.  Bart was also leaving a life behind.  No longer did he want to depend on others.  He wanted to be whole.  For our friend in this generation, it is the casting off of a former life of sin.  Either way, if Jesus is going to change us, there must be a casting off.