Jesus stopped

Mark 10:49

Jesus was a busy man.  He only had three years to fulfill His mission here on earth.  He had many things to say, important things to say and so little time.  He was preparing His disciples for the things to come – primarily His crucifixion – while they walked. The disciples and the crowd that was following Him had so many questions so when a blind beggar began calling out to Jesus, they told Him to be quiet.  They didn’t want Jesus interrupted or was it that they didn’t want their agenda interrupted? I don’t know, I wasn’t there that day.

Jesus surprised them though, as He so often did.

He stopped.

Jesus was interrupted and responded by stopping and asking the man what he would like Jesus to do for him.  The result:  the blind man was blind no longer.  Equally important, the disciples and the crowd saw the love and compassion and humility of Jesus.

Author Richard Beck writes that: “interruptibility is a form of welcome and hospitality. It is a way of making room for others. This space we create is less a physical space than a temporal space, making room in your To Do list, making space so we can slow down and pay attention to others. In this, interruptibility is a form of slowing down. “

Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be interrupted many, many times.  He laid down His agenda to stop, look and listen, really listen to the outcast, the widowed, the blind, the ill, the demon possessed. Marginalized people who seemingly had little to offer society and therefore, could be overlooked by the crowds and unfortunately, the disciples.

Interruptibility is more than slowing down though.  We can all slow down and miss the significance of the moment.  Interruptibility requires that we humble ourselves and put the needs of someone else above our own, long enough to truly hear that person.  To see that person and give that person the love, the value and dignity that Jesus would if He heard them and stopped.

Episcopal Priest Mike Kinman writes:

Of all the things Jesus invites us to do, of all the practices Jesus invites us to emulate, there is none so quietly revolutionary as this single act – so briefly mentioned in scripture that we scarcely notice it.

Jesus stopped.

And listened.
And loved.
And healing happened.

But first … Jesus stopped.

Father, forgive me for the times, countless times that I was so busy, so fill of my agenda that a person audibly asking for help could go unheard.  Or worse, heard and ignored.  Help me to surrender my will to Yours and allow the interruptions You bring to my life to be heard and seen and valued.  Help me to truly be Your hands, Your feet, Your eyes, Your voice to the hurting You put in my path. In Jesus’s name, amen.