Look at your schedule today. All you have to get done in such a limited time. Do you feel rushed? Me too.

It’s funny how we translate busyness to importance. If I have all of this to do, I must be important, right? Let’s compare our to-do list for the day, and the one with the longest list wins most important person. The one rushing more takes the trophy. No, girl, the one rushing more is the one missing more. Jesus, unrush me as I set my schedule today. Please unbusy me.

You and I are not more important than Jesus. Agreed? He had bigger business to be taking care of in his days on earth than we have today. But was he rushed? Did he hurry his way through? No, quite the opposite. Jesus allowed interruptions. He gave himself fully to unscheduled people when he had somewhere else to go.

We’re going to read two back to back stories to see how Jesus unrushed himself. One story he’s on his way to Jericho, and the very next story he’s just arrived to Jericho. Why is it important where Jesus is going? Understand Jericho is on Jesus’ way to Jerusalem. What was awaiting Jesus in Jerusalem? The cross. Yes, this was the final week of Jesus’ life. His time was limited, yet he was not rushed. His mission was clear, yet he was not too busy.

First, Luke 18: 35-43, “As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by. So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
“Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him.
But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”
And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.”

How did everyone else respond to this blind beggar? They hushed him. They said, “hey, unimportant poor guy, Jesus doesn’t have time for you.” But Jesus said the exact opposite. When Jesus heard him, he stopped and then he asked, “what do you want me to do for you?” Jesus is on his way to die on the cross and take the keys from hell to set us free, but he stops for the blind beggar everyone else tried to hush.

Honey, you think he won’t stop for you? You think you’re not important to Jesus? You think your problem is too big or too far gone for the touch of Jesus? Jesus healed this blind man living on the street immediately. He can do that. He wants to do that. He responded to this one man’s cry for mercy. He will respond to yours too. Jesus says today, “my girl, what do you want me to do for you?”

Do you want me to guide your next step? Do you want me to help you make the right choice here? Do you want me to show you how to live better? Do you want me to heal? Do you want me to restore? THEN ASK ME. Jesus says in James 4: 2-3, “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

What is the motive behind your ask? Check your heart, because Jesus is. Get your heart right about this, then ask. You will never receive if you don’t ask. The blind beggar cries out for mercy and says, “Lord, I want to see.” What happens next is the man can instantly see! Then … then he changes what he’s doing. He no longer sits and begs. He follows Jesus and praises God.

Jesus heard this man. Jesus slowed down and looked around. Jesus intentionally sought this forgotten man out and personally invested in him. You want to know what Jesus would do … yeah, this is what Jesus would do.

Now, let’s check out the second story to see how Jesus lives his last week of life. He’s already been delayed by this blind beggar on the way to Jericho. The very next thing the Bible shows us is another intentional stop and interaction.

Luke 19: 1-5, “Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

To understand the importance of this unrushed interaction Jesus is making, you must understand how absolutely hated a little man like Zacchaeus was. Tax collectors were crooked, greedy men. They taxed the people, then they demanded more for themselves to become rich. Nobody liked Zacchaeus. He was never invited to anyone’s house for dinner. He was excluded from all circles. Until Jesus shows up.

Jesus knew exactly who this little corrupt man standing in a tree was. And he knew he was available that day because there wasn’t anyone else going to hang out with him. And Jesus stops everything and says, “Hey man, I’m coming to your house today!”

This was a man who had his priorities all wrong. A man who had spent years doing bad things and hurting other people. But Jesus didn’t dismiss him. Jesus sought him out and spent time with him. Maybe you think Jesus doesn’t see you because you’ve spent years avoiding him. Maybe you think he doesn’t hear you because you only talk to him when you’re in trouble. Oh honey, Jesus sees you. He’s coming right for you in the tree you’ve gotten yourself stuck in. Sweet girl, Jesus hears you, even when you only use him as your “get out of jail free” card.

This is how Jesus spent his last week of life. He had places he needed to go, big work he needed to do, and important lessons he needed to teach. But none of that got in the way of the people along the way. He stopped when no one else stopped. Jesus lived unrushed. Unhurried. Undistracted. Fully available.

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28 MSG, “Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. “

Do you really want to know what Jesus would do in your real life circumstances today? He wouldn’t rush. He wouldn’t be distracted. He would unhurry this day and be fully present in what was happening in each moment.

Yip, Jesus would put down that cell phone.

Did you know the average person touches their cell phone 2,617 times in one day? That’s 2,617 times you’re here, but you’re not really here. You’re not seeing what’s really happening around you. Your body is here, but your mind is somewhere totally different.

A Harvard study shows that 47% of the time our mind is not where our feet are. We’re in the room, but we’re totally disconnected from the people in the room with us. You feet are in Missouri, but your mind is in Qatar watching a cat video. Oh honey, that’s not what Jesus would do.

We have babies growing up who rarely see the eyes of their mama, because Mama is looking at her phone. We have toddlers learning all their words from the TV or tablet. Studies show when a 1 year old has anywhere from 1 to 4 hours of screen time per day, they are at high risk of developmental delays in communication, motor skills, problem solving and social skills by the age of 2. What are we doing to our babies? We’re pacifying them, keeping them entertained, and straight up damaging them, ya’ll. But it’s become normal.

We have married couples who can’t sit and have dinner together without the aid of TikTok. We can’t stand in line at the grocery store without looking at our phones. Think of all those trash magazines in the check out isle that are no longer getting read. Shoot. But really, think of all the souls around us who may be carrying an unbearable load, but we never saw them because we never looked up.

Jesus looked up. He stopped. He asked, “what can I do for you?” He went to their house.

And again, this was the final week of his life. If Jesus can make time for a blind beggar and a crooked rich guy nobody liked in his very busy last week of life, I think we can make time for people we share a home with. We can make time for people who make our coffee for us. We can make time for the person divinely placed behind us in the check out line.

I have a precious daughter who works as a cashier at a Wal-Mart. She’s struggling. She continually questions her place in life and forgets she’s so darn loved and precious. I pray today that someone coming through her lane makes time for her. I pray someone puts away their phone and looks in her big brown eyes and acknowledges her presence. She needs that.

Your husband needs your presence. Your children need your presence. Your life needs your presence. Your feet desperately need your mind to be where they are today. You’re not so important that you don’t have time. Girl, you’re not possibly more important than Jesus. If Jesus made time, you can make time.

Where are you today? Will you be there?
Who are you with today? Will you make time for them?
What can you do for them here? Will you make sure and do it?

That’s some real life WWJD up in 2023. He would be here, really here. Unrushed. Unhurried. Undistracted. Available.

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