September 06, 2026

THROW THE CLOAK!

September 06, 2026

Pastor Steven Thomas

This morning, Steven Thomas brings us the sermon from ‘Blind Bartimaeus,’ who recognized the voice of the Messiah, despite being blind. Steven also explained the significance of the cloak that Bartimaeus cast off as Jesus called for him. In Biblical times, the cloak might be the only thing a person owned. It was for sleeping, for protection from weather, for sitting on during the day, while collecting any coins one might receive, or whatever else one might require—the only possession.  After a while, one’s cloak was an extension of the body. Many believers still carry their ‘cloak’ around them—something they don’t want to lose or be without, even if it means a lesser relationship with Jesus. Do you have a cloak? Something you don’t want to give up to know Jesus better? You may be missing out on God’s best for you. Throw it off, and run to the Savior.

Focal Passages: Mark 10:46-52.                                  

Jesus comes to blind Bartimaeus:

  • Does anyone remember what had happened in chapters 8-10 of Mark? Jesus had fed four thousand people, had healed the blindness of a man (before Bartimaeus, but remember this), had the Transfiguration, and many more situations. Where were Jesus and the disciples going in Chapter 10? After Jericho, where would they go?
  • Read Mark 10:46. What were most of Bartimaeus’ days like? Why would he sit by the roadside? What did he hear as the people passed him? Why are blind people known for their acute hearing?
  • Put yourself in the place of Bartimaeus: he had nothing except his hearing to learn what was going on in the world. What would he have heard about Jesus? He probably had sat in the same spot for decades. Do you think he even thought about a miracle to restore his hearing as he waited? What was he probably content with, on any day?
  • Read verse 47a. On this particular day, what does he begin to hear? Think consciously about the chatter he has heard about Jesus. What does he do?

Hoping for something hurts when it keeps going unanswered:

  • Do you think there had ever been a time in the life of Bartimaeus that he had prayed to be healed? Why or why not? Why did Bartimaeus think that Jesus could heal him? How could he have had the knowledge that Jesus might be the expected Messiah?
  • Read Matthew 11:2-5 and Isaiah 35:4-6. Would Bartimaeus have heard people discussing Jesus’ miracles? Why was he calling Jesus the “Son of David”?

Cry out all the more:

  • Read verse 48. What did the crowd do? How did Bartimaeus respond? When you are praying for God to do something, do you continue to cry out to Him or do you bow to your crowd who is telling you to be quiet (or stop praying, or stop bothering God)? On the flip side of the coin, are there people in your life who are crying out to God, but you want them to be quiet?
  • Read verse 49. What did Jesus tell the people? Is there any possibility He is telling you to bring them to Him? Why did Jesus stop for the one who cried out to Him?
  • Did Jesus realize the crowd had already decided this blind man did not matter? Read John 10:27. Could this be the reason Jesus stopped for the man?

Throw the Cloak:

  • Read verse 50. What are the verbs used when Bartimaeus was told by the people that Jesus was calling for him to come to Him? (He threw off his cloak, sprang up, and hurried to Jesus!) Had he been healed from his blindness when Jesus called him? What can we take away from that one statement? Remember the blind man in Mk. 8:22-24: Why did Jesus not heal him quickly? Why does He choose different ways for healing different people?
  • What were the things we learned about a man’s cloak in Bible times? Read Ex. 22:26-27 and Deut. 24:12-13. Yet Bartimaeus cast it aside! It was his entire survival system. Why did he throw it down?
  • Read verse 51. Why did Jesus ask Bartimaeus what he needed? What would be your answer if Jesus asked you, ‘What do you need’?

Follow Him on the Way:

  • Read verse 52. What did Jesus tell Bartimaeus to do now? At what point did he see? Jesus told him to go ‘his way.’ What did Bartimaeus do? Where was Jesus going next?
  • Bartimaeus is now seeing, yet he follows Jesus. Can you imagine the horror he saw over the next hours as Jesus was ready to be crucified? Do you think Bartimaeus felt as if the crucifixion was a bad dream?

Practical Steps for this Week:

  • Name what you need Jesus to do for you, and then leave it with Him.
  • Tell one person before next Sunday that you know Jesus as your Savior.

Close:

If Jesus asked you right now, ‘What do you need?’ what would you say? Perhaps you would be like Solomon: when he could have asked for great riches or honor, but he asked for wisdom to lead Israel. Would you waste your request on something that could be gone in a year? Would you ask for money to give to every needy soul you met? Can you imagine God granting that desire, and then, the next week, someone who needed money for food had a pack of cigarettes in their pocket—would you pull back? Or someone who needed a doctor’s bill paid, but you saw a Rolex watch on their arm—would you pull back? Or would you want great health because, after all, you love to play golf? Or perhaps you want good health so you can be a missionary in an African veldt.  Would you ask for a heart that was completely sold out to Christ? Maybe that’s why Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he needed—to hear him give an honest answer to the one question Bartimaeus had never thought anyone would ever ask. Think it over: what would you really ask for? Life? Health? Peace? Money? Or strength to follow Christ, dying to yourself daily?

By Sandy Day

September 06, 2026

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