Immediately Series

What’s happening? What’s going on here? I came as quickly as I could. If you linger, you will miss Him. He waits for no one. He acts immediately. He is the most urgent person I’ve ever known. He just does not wait for anything. He acts immediately.

So, again, what’s happening here? What is this about an arrest? Why would they arrest Him? On what charge? And why now? It must have something to do with that hurry-up style of His. I’ve never seen anything like it. He sees a need immediately, He acts to meet it immediately, and the results are immediate too. Not an instant wasted. No hesitation whatsoever.

Why am I dressed like this? Or rather, why am I not dressed?! Because it’s night, and I was already in bed when the word came. I knew that I had no time to dress. Not if I wanted to see everything. Not with Him. He responds immediately; and people respond to Him immediately too. No time to waste. So I threw on this linen cloth to cover my sleeping skin. Hope you are not offended. It’s a little chilly, but I’ll be all right.

I don’t see anything yet, do you? But it won’t be long. It never is with Jesus.

While we wait, let me wrap myself up a little better and tell you about Him and the way He operates. That will help you understand why it was so urgent that when I heard, I got out of bed and came here immediately.

You see, although I’m just a young man, I’ve been watching Jesus for about three years. I’m too young, I guess, to be one of the inner circle, but I’ve been walking the roads with them anyway. Oh, let me correct that. I’ve been running the roads with them! They do not waste time. And Jesus has done more, said more, and been more places in three years than I would ever have thought possible. He gets right down to business, and fast!

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I noticed, early on, that He gets involved immediately. He does not seem to need to ponder things; wherever He is, whatever He is doing, He takes immediate action.

I saw Him approach James and John to call them as His disciples. He marched right up to their fishing boat, told them He wanted them to become fishers of men, and before their father Zebedee could calculate what it would cost to hire two new hands, it was over and done with. They belonged to Jesus immediately!

I saw Him waltz into the town of Capernaum; it was the Sabbath day, and He pushed into the synagogue, strode up to the pulpit, and began to speak. He did not consult the rabbi, He did not wait for a Board meeting, He did not inquire about procedures. He just got up there and preached, at Sabbath worship! I would have thought it better to get to know the people first, let them build up some confidence, then, maybe, after a while, offer a few modest words of greeting and work your way up to giving the sermon. But no! Jesus walked in like He owned the place and took over immediately!

Oh, and the best one of all. When He was out with His disciples, He could move with so quickly. One time He was teaching, and the crowd grew and grew … I think somebody counted about five thousand people that day … and somehow, I’ve never figured this one out, the disciples managed to find enough food to spread a repast for them all. Well, those disciples really worked, handing out fish and bread and then gathering up scraps – what a job that was! And do you know that as soon as the last scrap was picked up, Jesus snapped His fingers and ordered the disciples, all twelve of them, to get into a boat and set sail. Just do it, He said. Sail across the lake to Bethsaida. “What about you?” they said. He said, “I told you, immediately!” “But, Jesus, we need to wait for you to get in the boat too.” That’s now, He said, N…O…W, now! He is in such a hurry! And it seems like He wants you to be in a hurry, too!

Well, they set sail, and it wasn’t long before they were in trouble – winds and waves and turbulence. They weren’t getting anywhere. So what does Mr. Immediate Jesus do? He does not wait for wind or water or wave to subside; He steps right out on the lake, right out in the stormy sea, and somehow or another just glides right over to their boat and gets in! I’ve never seen anything like it! He moves so quickly. He cannot wait. He just cannot wait. He is on a mission, and He cannot wait. He acts immediately.