Life Interrupted, Questions Unasked

Please read Mark 9:30-32

In what other book can five sentences—80 words—say so much about Jesus, and so much about human nature?

“Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples.”

When was the last time you went off-radar, on-purpose? With today’s increasingly “smart” technology, few of us are literally unreachable for any real stretch of time. For many of us, anything we do anywhere is subject to interruption. As I’m writing this, I’m oh-so-aware that my napping child may wake any minute, I can hear text messages stacking up on my cell phone, my mom just emailed, my husband called [I answered that one], and with part of my brain I’m trying to remember the three things I need to remember to do once I finish this post. My days are far more responsive, reactive and fragmented, than intentional, directive and focused. And it shows.

When was the last time I truly let Jesus hide me away—for more than 15 interruptible minutes—so he could teach me? And what would he teach me if I let him?

“They did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.”

Can anybody relate? I’m right there with them [and you]. Sometimes I’m willing to raise my hand and put my ignorance on the line—and sometimes I keep my mouth shut and listen harder, hoping I can somehow pick up what I’m missing without having to ask.

Jesus had just said he would be betrayed, killed, and then “rise” three days later. By now the disciples had heard Jesus say a lot of things that didn’t make sense to them. Sometimes they asked questions; sometimes they didn’t. Sometimes Jesus’ answer was literal; sometimes figurative; sometimes illuminating; sometimes downright cryptic.

If there’s one thing we can learn from the disciples about questions, I think it’s that no question is off limits, and Jesus always has a ready answer. Though this time they chose not to ask, there were plenty of times they did. [Given some of the answers they received, you’ve got to give them credit for continuing to speak up!]

What would Jesus have said if they had asked this time? I love the way this verse makes me wonder—and makes me wonder, too, about what I’m not asking...that Jesus is ready and willing to answer.

Krysti Hall