~ Jesus was frequently interrupted—and He didn’t seem to mind.

And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” (Lk. 8:41–45)

In a sense, Jairus himself, was an interruption – Jesus had not set out that day pay him a visit at his home. But then, along the way, the woman with bleeding interrupted Him. She, in fact, was an interruption of an interruption. She touched Jesus’ robe, and He stopped everything to speak to her.  

These were not isolated incidents. Jesus’ ministry was filled with interruptions. We don’t think of them as such, but that is what they were. Here are some others:

• While teaching in a synagogue, Jesus was interrupted by a man with an evil spirit (Mark 1:21–26). This was a rude interruption.
• Blind Bartimaeus was an interruption. He kept shouting Jesus’ name despite the crowds trying to silence him (Mark 10:46–52). 
• The Syrophoenician Woman, pleading for her daughter’s healing. (Mk. 7:24-30)
• En route to Jerusalem, ten lepers interrupted him. He healed them (Luke 17:11–19).
• The Rich Young Ruler, stopping Jesus and asking a question about eternal life (Mk. 10:17-22) 
• The Paralytic who was lowered through a roof by his friends (Mk. 2:1-12),
• The Woman with the Alabaster jar, showing up uninvited at the house of Simon the Pharisee and anointing Jesus’ feet (Lk. 7:36-50).  
• The royal official who asked for healing for his son was also an interruption (John 4:43–54).
• The list goes on . . .

Jesus was not simply wandering through Galilee and Judea aimlessly. He was on a mission – the most important mission in history. And yet, He welcomed interruptions. He did not get irritated or frustrated. He did not sigh or groan and let loose some curt remark. People were not distractions to Him. Instead they were the very reason why He was up and about.

So, what can we learn from this? And what do we do when we have a day where it seems like one thing after another keeps interrupting us?

Some thoughts:

1. Jesus handled interruptions with grace, not irritability or frustration or groaning. He was gracious. He saw the person, not just the problem. We can do the same. Interruptions can be moments to learn grace and its outflow, graciousness.
2. Jesus’ interruptions were significant. They were not trivial happenings on the side. They concerned weighty matters like salvation, healing, teaching and God being glorified. Might the interruptions in our lives be ministries in the making? Divine appointments in disguise?
3. But yet, not every interruption is significant. Some are petty distractions (e.g. the latest viral video). Others are inconsequential diversions or subtle derailments. Still, whether we say “yes” or “no,” we can respond with graciousness. Not every ask requires a yes, but every person still gets grace.