Bartimaeus was dependent on his cloak.
Remember Bartimaeus from last Sunday? He was the blind man sitting on his cloak by the roadside, begging for coins. Bartimaeus lived his life in darkness, completely dependent on the generosity of strangers for his welfare. His cloak would have represented all the security he would have known in the world. He would use his cloak to catch coins by day. And at night it would become a sleeping bag to protect him from the elements.
But when he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is coming by, he begins shouting, literally crying out in Mark 10:47 (NIV), "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." He is so obnoxious that the crowd repeatedly tells him to be quiet. But he is unembarrassed and cries out even more as noted in Mark 10:48 (NIV), "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
For the disciples, the name "Son of David" had political overtones. The hope of Israel was that a descendent of King David, i.e. a "Son of David", a political messiah, a "Christ", would rise to power, overthrow the Roman empire, and establish David's throne in Jerusalem forever.
This is why back in Mark 10 we find James and John asking to sit at Jesus' right and left hand in glory. They were hungry for power and prestige, for political conquest, and for material wealth and security. Jesus, the Son of David, was their political ticket to a bigger and brighter future. And they had to act fast because Jesus was heading back to Jerusalem!
Bartimaeus sees Jesus as an opportunity to receive mercy.
Bartimaeus though, stands in stark contrast to Jesus' disiciples. When Jesus stops and calls him, he sees within the Son of David an opportunity to receive mercy. Bartimaeus sees in Jesus that Jesus was the one who could give what no man, no matter how powerful, could ever give-- the gift of mercy, the gift of sight, and the gift of salvation.
So Bartimaeus acts fast. He throws his cloak aside, which is all the security he knows in world, leaps to his feet, and comes to Jesus. When Jesus asks in Mark 10:51 (NIV), "What do you want me to do for you?" he has the faith to make an unpolitical request. In Mark 10:51 (NIV) Bartimaeus says, "I want to see." His faith heals him, and he begins following Jesus.
But then Mark takes us to the outskirts of Jerusalem. Jesus has continued his march toward Jerusalem. The anxiety of the disciples and of the crowd is still building. The Son of David is about to assume his seat on the throne and reign over all the earth from Jerusalem.
Jesus sends two disciples ahead of him to Jerusalem to secure a colt, a beast of burden, for him to ride.
Mark 11:1-6 (NIV) continues, "As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 'Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, 'What are you doing, untying that colt?' They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go."
The fact that the gospel writers go into such detail to explain how the colt was obtained suggests that they attached some importance to it. Many commentators point to the fact that throughout scripture, God often chose beasts of burden such as oxen, donkeys, or mules, for sacred purposes. For example, in Numbers 19:2 (NIV), "...a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke", was to be offered to the priest for sacrifice. The same words, "never been under a yoke", are used to describe the donkey on which Jesus rode. There is a sense in which the donkey is symbolic of Christ himself. Jesus was about to lay down his life as a sacrifice, as a lamb without defect or blemish.
In Deuteronomy 21:3 (NIV) it says that whenever the blood of an innocent man was found shed outside a city, the Israelite elders were instructed to take, "...a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke", and offer it as a sacrifice to purge themselves of all guilt related to the shedding of innocent blood. But what beasts of burden, whether oxen, or lambs, or whatever, could possibly atone for the shedding the innocent blood of God's one and only Son?
In 1 Samuel 6:7 the ark of the covenant, symbolizing the presence of God among his people, was to be placed on a new cart and pulled by oxen who had never been yoked. Once again, a a beast of burden was about to bear the presence of God! In Mark, it's a donkey that is employed in service to God to bear Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God among us.
The colt on which Jesus rode fulfilled messianic prophesies.
In Genesis 49:10–11 and Zechariah 9:9 we find two messianic prophecies predicting the coming of Christ. Zechariah 9:9 (NIV) says, "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
There is absolutely nothing coincidental about Jesus selecting a beast of burden that had never been under a yoke on which to ride into Jerusalem. He was making a statement about the salvation he was about to bring to world. He was going to Jerusalem to become that perfect sacrifice, that lamb without defect or blemish, whose body would be broken and blood would be shed to atone for the sins of the world. No longer would God hold Israel guilty for her sins.
Speaking of donkeys, did you know that when King David made his son Solomon king over all Israel and Judah, he instructed his servants to put Solomon on his very own mule. See 1 Kings 1:33. As Solomon, literally the son of David, proceeded to his throne, the people blew trumpets and made a great deal of noise, shouting, "Long live King Solomon!" See 1 Kings 1:34 (NIV). As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, once again a "Son of David" was taking his throne. This one was far greater than David or Solomon!
Now back to our text in Mark 11:7-11 (NIV) which says, "When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, 'Hosanna!' 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!' 'Hosanna in the highest!' "
Now I've heard this text preached a hundred times. I've read countless commentaries on this passage. Everyone is always talking about the palm branches. We get the little kids waving their symbolic palm branches on Palm Sunday. But we never talk about the young colt, and how as a beast of burden it symbolizes Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect who became a perfect sacrifice for sin. We don't talk about the ark of the covenant, and how beasts of burden who had never been yoked bore the glory of Christ.
But what about the cloaks?
But there is something else we don't talk about in this passage that is right there, screaming out at us! There are hundreds of cloaks, maybe even thousands of cloaks, talked about in this passage! Did you notice them? There are just as many cloaks in this passage as palm branches. There are so many cloaks that I started to wonder why we don't call it Cloak Sunday instead of Palm Sunday?
Jesus' disciples threw their cloaks over the back of the colt. As Jesus approached Jerusalem, the people spread their cloaks on the road. At the same time, they were paying homage to Christ by singing, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!"
Hosanna means, "save me now". Not tomorrow, next week, or years from now, but "God, save me now!"
The most significant cloak in this passage is Bartimaeus' cloak. He was very first person to lay down his cloak and cry out, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" He was the very first to cry out, "Son of David, save me now!"
Isn't it funny how quickly we forget about him? Bartimaeus teaches us what it truly means to cry out for God to save us. His cloak was his security. He had nothing else! It was his protection, his source of revenue, and the thing that made him comfortable! Yet in an instant, he was willing to cast it all aside to trust Jesus for salvation. "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
On behalf of our Savior, let me ask you a question with eternal ramifications. What do you want God to do for you today? Where's the urgency in your voice? Do you want Jesus to save you now? Do you want his mercy more than anything else in this world? Are you willing to forsake all else and come to Jesus just as you are, to receive his salvation?