Jesus Is on the Way: When Jesus Is Interrupted

Mark 5:21–43

There are moments in life when we simply cannot wait any longer.

We have prayed. We have waited. We have tried everything we know to do. We have talked to people. We have looked for solutions. Yet the situation remains.

Then we come to the realization that what we really need is Jesus.

Mark 5 introduces us to two people who reached that point. They came from completely different circumstances, but they had something in common: they both had a need that was beyond their ability to fix.

One was Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue whose daughter was dying. The other was an unnamed woman who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years.

One had status. The other was known primarily by her condition. One approached Jesus publicly. The other tried to reach Him quietly.

But both discovered the same truth: Jesus welcomes the interruption.

When Your Position Cannot Fix Your Problem

Jairus was a man of authority. He was a ruler of the synagogue. He had position, influence, and recognition. But status could not solve his crisis.

His daughter was dying, and suddenly everything he possessed and everything he knew was insufficient.

There comes a point when human authority reaches a situation it cannot command.

We can have education. We can have experience. We can have titles. We can have resources. We can even have years of experience in church and still encounter something that reminds us how desperately we need Jesus.

I can be the pastor of Christian Refuge Church, but there are situations that my title cannot control. My experience cannot supply what only Jesus can provide.

That is why Jairus did something significant: he went to the feet of Jesus.

There is something about getting to the feet of Jesus.

Sometimes you don't need another opinion. Sometimes you don't need another conversation. Sometimes you don't need another person telling you what they think you should do.

Sometimes you just need to get to the feet of the Master.

Jairus essentially tells Jesus, ‘My daughter is dying. Come lay Your hands on her so that she may live.’ And Jesus goes with him.

There is no long discussion. Jesus begins moving.

Sometimes we stay stuck wanting God to say something when He is already doing something.

We are waiting for an answer while God is already moving. Learn to recognize the movement of God in your situation.

Delay Does Not Mean He Doesn't Care

Everything seems to be moving in Jairus's favor. Jesus is on the way to his house. Then somebody interrupts the journey.

A woman who has been suffering for twelve years makes her way through the crowd.

From Jairus's perspective, this could not have happened at a worse time. His daughter is dying. Every minute matters.

But what people may have considered an interruption, Jesus considered necessary.

A delay in arrival is not the same as a denial of concern.

Jesus was interested in what was happening in Jairus's house even while He stopped for this woman. And Jesus is interested in what is happening in your life.

Just because He has not arrived when you wanted Him to arrive does not mean that He does not care.

Stop measuring God's concern by your timetable. If Jesus is on the way, He has not forgotten about you.

When You Have Tried Everything Else

Mark tells us that this woman had suffered for twelve years. She had suffered under many physicians, spent everything she had, and instead of getting better, she had become worse.

Her problem was not merely physical. Her condition also carried religious and social consequences. Her continual bleeding rendered her ceremonially unclean. The condition affecting her body also affected how she could participate in the religious life of her community.

For twelve years, this was her reality. Then she heard about Jesus. That changed everything.

She determined that if she could just get close enough to touch His clothes, she believed she would be healed.

Think about the desperation required to do that. There was a crowd surrounding Jesus. There were obstacles between her and Him. Her condition itself could have given her every reason to stay away.

But desperation said: Excuse me. I need to get to Jesus.

Sometimes that has to become our attitude. Excuse me, criticism. Excuse me, judgment. Excuse me, people's opinions. Excuse me, my past. Excuse me, everything telling me that I don't belong here. I need to get to Jesus.

Don't allow man-made barriers to keep you from the One who can actually transform your life. You do not have to fix yourself first and then come to Jesus. Come to Jesus.

She Made a Decision—and Then She Moved

One of the things that stands out to me about this woman is that she did not merely become determined. She acted on her determination.

She made a plan, and she executed it.

That is important because sometimes we become determined on Sunday and fall back by Monday.

On Sunday, we say, ‘I'm going after Jesus.’ Then Monday comes. People start talking. Our insecurities return. Our failures remind us that we still don't have everything together. And suddenly the determination we had on Sunday disappears.

This woman refused to allow that to happen. She pressed through the crowd. She reached Jesus. And when she touched Him, Mark says the bleeding stopped immediately.

But Jesus did something unexpected. He stopped.

He was already going somewhere. Jairus was waiting. A little girl was dying. Yet Jesus stopped and asked: ‘Who touched My clothes?’

The disciples could not understand the question. There were people everywhere pressing against Him. But Jesus knew that this touch was different. This wasn't merely contact. Something had happened.

Jesus Wants More Than an Anonymous Miracle

The woman apparently wanted to receive her healing and disappear back into the crowd. But Jesus would not allow the encounter to remain anonymous.

This is where the story becomes deeply personal. Jesus wanted more for her than simply stopping the bleeding.

Eventually, the woman comes forward and falls before Him. Notice the pattern. Jairus came to the feet of Jesus. Now this woman comes to the feet of Jesus.

And after she tells Him what happened, Jesus speaks to her: ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.’

For the entire story, Mark has not given us her name. She has been identified by her problem.

Isn't that sometimes how people identify us? They know the failure. They know the divorce. They know the addiction. They know the mistake. They know what happened years ago. They know the condition.

But Jesus refuses to leave this woman identified only by what happened to her.

They called you sick, but Jesus calls you daughter.

Her encounter with Jesus went beyond physical healing. Jesus brought her out of obscurity and addressed her personally.

Jesus doesn't just want to deal with your problem. He wants an encounter with you.

While Jesus Was Still Speaking…

But Jairus is still there. Imagine what he must have been experiencing while Jesus was speaking to this woman.

Jesus has just given her good news when someone arrives from Jairus's house with terrible news: ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’

In other words: It's over. Stop asking. Don't bother Jesus anymore. You were too late.

But the messenger made one critical mistake. He evaluated the situation without recognizing who Jairus was walking with.

Jesus had already demonstrated authority over sickness. Now Jairus was about to discover that His authority extended even further.

Jesus tells him: ‘Do not be afraid; only believe.’

There are moments when everything around you will tell you that what you believed God for is dead. The dream looks dead. The ministry looks dead. The opportunity looks dead. The situation looks irreversible. And fear begins talking.

But Jesus says: Do not be afraid. Only believe.

Be Careful Who You Allow Into the Room

When Jesus arrives at Jairus's house, there is already mourning. Jesus tells them that the child is not dead but sleeping, and they ridicule Him.

The same people who were mourning are now laughing. Jesus puts them outside.

There is a lesson there. You cannot trust your entire circle with your miracle.

There are seasons when you need people around you who have enough faith to believe God with you. Not everybody needs access to what God is doing in your life.

Some voices continually feed fear. Some continually announce death. Some can only tell you why it will not work. Sometimes you have to shrink the circle.

Jesus takes Peter, James, and John, along with the girl's parents, and enters the place where the child is lying.

Then He takes her by the hand and says: ‘Talitha, cumi’—‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’ And immediately she gets up.

What everyone else declared finished was not beyond the authority of Jesus.

Jesus Has Authority Over What You Cannot Control

That is one of the truths running throughout this entire section of Mark's Gospel.

The disciples could not control the storm. The demonized man could not free himself. The woman could not stop her suffering. Jairus could not save his daughter.

Human ability kept reaching its limit. Jesus did not.

Your situation may be beyond your authority, but it is not beyond His.

Your storm is not greater than Jesus. Your sickness is not greater than Jesus. Your history is not greater than Jesus. Your failure is not greater than Jesus. Even what others have declared dead is not beyond His authority.

Maybe It's Time for an Interruption

The woman interrupted Jesus on His way to Jairus's house. Jairus had interrupted Jesus when he fell at His feet and begged Him to come. Neither interruption bothered Jesus.

So maybe you need to interrupt Him. Maybe you need to stop trying to handle everything yourself and finally say: ‘Jesus, I need You.’

But as I finished preaching this message, another thought became even stronger.

Instead of only asking whether you can interrupt Jesus, maybe the prayer needs to become: ‘Jesus, will You interrupt me?’

Interrupt my plans. Interrupt my distractions. Interrupt my fear. Interrupt the cycle I keep repeating. Interrupt the things that have occupied so much of my attention that I stopped noticing You. Interrupt my life and bring me back to Your feet.

Life will continue to happen. Problems will come. There will be things we cannot understand and circumstances we cannot control. But Jesus still has authority over all of it.

So if you have been waiting… If you have been hurting… If you have been hanging on by a thread… If everyone else has declared that your situation is finished… Get to the feet of Jesus.

Don't allow religion, criticism, fear, shame, your history, or anybody else's opinion to stop you.

Jesus is on the way. And He welcomes the interruption.