Go Ahead … Bother the Teacher!

               Go Ahead… Bother the Teacher!
Those of you with children can relate with me I am sure, when they really want something they may tend to hover, follow you around, looking for just the right opportunity to ask, so the answer is what they want.  There is wisdom in this, I call it ‘timing and tongue’, finding just the right moment and wording.  We as adults are the same, we want something – we pursue after it, when that want is a need, we really pursue after it.

I was reading the other morning in Mark chapter 5:35-43, where Jesus is in a crowd (to put this in context) He had just healed the woman with the issue of bleeding, remember her?  She wanted… NEEDED to touch Jesus.  She got in as close as she could, reached out and touched His clothing.  The result?  He healed her.

Now,  He is still speaking to the moment when some men near Him were talking.  We pick up in verse 35 ‘… some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler.’  They said to Jairus ‘Your daughter is dead, why bother the teacher any more.’  It says Jesus ignored what they said, and addressed the synagogue ruler, ‘Don’t be afraid, just believe’.

Jesus takes Peter, James and John and they go to the gentleman’s home.  When they get there, many are crying and wailing aloud, because she is dead.  He goes in and takes the girl by the hand, says to her ‘little girl, I say to you, get up!’.   Immediately she gets up.  All were completely astonished.

As I read this, the Lord began to speak to me about persistence.   What caught my eye was ~ as the men said ‘don’t bother the teacher’,  I can picture them reaching for Jairus’ cloak to pull him away, and can almost hear and see  Jesus turn and say… ‘go ahead …  bother the Teacher’.

Notice Jesus doesn’t address the men who made the statement?  He speaks directly to the father of the sick girl.

I have thought on this for the past couple of days.  The Holy Spirit began to rub in my heart… ‘what do you want –NEED from Jesus?’

 When the men said, ‘don’t bother the teacher anymore’, they were basically saying, it’s a lost cause, it is too late, don’t waste your time, why even go to the trouble, it is over.   

Nothing is beyond Jesus, even if it looks final.

If I am to ‘bother Jesus’,  I wanted to know how to go about it.  I looked up the word bother.  It is ‘skyllo’ in the Greek, meaning to trouble, bother, to crowd in.   Hm… crowd in… get in as close as I can!   It is not hanging back in the crowd (if you will) and hoping to catch His eye from a afar.  James 4:8 says ‘come near to God and He will come near to you’.  Hebrews 4:16  ‘Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.  (KJV)
 Jesus invites the pursuing of answers … of Him.  We see this Luke 11:9~10

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find; knock and the door will
be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives;
he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the
door will be opened.

Ask… when we ask, we are ‘specific’ we are refusing to give up until we get an answer, our desire is long… we stick with it, we come again and again.

Seeking …. ‘looking to obtain’, means you are not leaving empty handed.  One dictionary stated that to not seek is to ‘neglect’ the need.  (oh… heavy)

This  ‘knocking’ is not a light tapping mind you… the synonyms listed for the word are … to thump, to pound.  Paints a picture doesn’t it.  The opposite of  this knocking?  Siopao,  to keep still, to keep quiet.  If you really NEED something, you are not going to keep quiet.

One commentator says… ‘ to practice persistence does more to change our hearts and minds, it helps us understand and express the intensity of our need.’  The one knocking receives because of boldness.  Remember the gal who fought the crowd to get to Jesus, and all she did was reach out, grab His clothes.  And the father of the sick girl, what would have happened if he listened to the men?    He may have said, ‘yes, I best be going, there is nothing left here for me’, hanging his head brushing Jesus off and leaving.

What do you want – NEED from Jesus?  What would you like Jesus to say to you, as He did the girl ‘little girl, I say to you … get up!’ for me  ‘DeDe I say to you ____’. (I fill in the blank)

Go ahead …. Bother the Teacher!

Have a God-loving…. Crowding in and pursuing Jesus week.

In Him, DeDe (Ps. 92:4 You thrill me, LORD …)