He Had Compassion For Them

Like many of our travels, our recent Caribbean cruise has illuminated areas I still desperately need Jesus for. One of those areas is compassion. On one hand, I have had deep compassion for some of the crew we have met like our two waiters in the formal dining room. The impact of COVID cost them their jobs for almost two years. One is from the Philippines, and the other is from Thailand. We know that the Philippines has been on a severe lockdown throughout the pandemic. In most cities, only one family member has been allowed to leave the house, so it is difficult for people to work even if they want to. Some cruise ships are operating now, but our ship is at only half capacity. Fewer passengers means fewer staff and less gratuity for the staff which they use to support their families. I have compassion for these men and women that are trying to sustain their families back home.

On the other hand, we have run into passengers who don’t seem to care if they are late on an excursion and cause the rest of the tour to wait, who cut in lines, who loudly condemn anything conservative or religious, who yell at or talk rudely to the staff, and show little or no concern for the staff and fellow passengers around them. Not only am I lacking in compassion, but my fuse is short. I grumble and complain to my husband about these people. I stew in anger and feel “righteously” superior.

Awhile back, a friend sent me the book Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund. Jesus’ compassion with weak sinners and those who are suffering convicted my heart. I jotted the idea of compassion in my notes, but I didn’t return to it until this trip when my lack of compassion blasted a warning.

As I thought about compassion and my lack of it, Matthew 9:35-38 came to mind.

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” [1]

Although, verse 36 illustrates Jesus’ compassion for the crowds, verses 35 and 37 give us the context for His compassion. Jesus went throughout the cities and villages “healing disease and every affliction” (vs 35). Jesus was encountering crowds of people that were suffering for various reasons. He had compassion for them. Obvious suffering more easily leads me to compassion for someone else. I can observe a need. A scared child or an elderly person struggling to stay upright while opening a store door, move me to compassion. But this isn’t always the case.

All too often, like my encounters with other passengers from our cruise, I choose to focus on how I am affected, hurt, or inconvenienced. Then compassion is tossed overboard, and I choose anger and self-righteousness instead. Jesus didn’t do this. Did you notice that verse 35 began with Jesus teaching wherever He went? Yes, Jesus healed, but He first and foremost taught truth. In verses 37 and 38, He told His disciples that the harvest was plentiful, but the laborers were few. Jesus knew the crowds needed something more vital and necessary than healing from every disease and affliction. The crowds, as do we, need spiritual healing. We need the Gospel. Jesus saw beyond the physical needs.

Now let’s study verse 36. We tend to think of the word compassion as something we feel or a way we can act, but H. Köster comments, “outside the original parables of Jesus there is no instance of the word being used of men. It is always used to describe the attitude of Jesus and it characterizes the divine nature of His acts” [emphasis added].[2] Whereas I flip flop between feeling compassion depending on the person and situation, compassion is Jesus’ character. For those in Christ, compassion shouldn’t be a feeling or act that happens occasionally. It should characterize us just as it does Jesus.

Jesus saw the crowds as “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Again, Jesus wasn’t ultimately looking at the temporal diseases and afflictions. He was seeing the deeper, eternal, spiritual need. “The imagery is that of shepherdless sheep, sheep wounded and torn either by hostile animals or by thornbushes and the like, and then prostrate and helpless. . . ‘Sheep without a shepherd’ points to people who are in great danger and without the resources to escape from it.[3]

All of us are like this. We are completely helpless to save ourselves. Even those of us in Christ still need our shepherd. A lamb isn’t rescued once and then left on its own. As David taught us in Psalm 23, we need our Good Shepherd every day to provide for us, to lead us, to protect us. Daily I still wander from my Shepherd. I think I can handle whatever comes my way. I can’t. Like sheep, I’m dumb. I forget that I need my Shepherd, and that my compassionate Shepherd is always there for me.

When I remember my daily great need for my Shepherd, I can then see others with the same compassion that my Shepherd has for me. We all need Jesus. We need Jesus on our best days. We need Jesus on our worst days. We need Jesus on our in-between days. We need Jesus to redeem us. We need Jesus so we choose glorifying Him over choosing sin. We need Jesus so we can have compassion for those around us even when they inconvenience us, hurt us, or sin against us. They need Jesus just as we need Jesus.

Reflection

1. What circumstances or people move you towards compassion? What circumstances do you more often respond without compassion? Why? Be specific about the heart issues behind the lack of compassion and confess those to God knowing that He forgives You and has already given you Jesus’ perfect record of compassion.

2. Choose at least one person or circumstance that you struggle to show compassion to/in. What are some specific ways you can see that person’s need for Jesus considering your own daily need for Jesus? Come back to this list before, during, and after you spend time with that person.

3. Spend some time in prayer thanking God for His compassionate character and the particular ways you have experienced His compassionate character towards you. Then ask God to continue to conform you to His compassionate character.

I want to close with a prayer from Prone to Wander: Prayers of Confession and Celebration by Barbara R. Duguid and Wayne Houk.

“Lord, You are our faithful Shepherd who walks beside us in green pastures and through the valley of deep shadow. You have promised to pursue us with Your goodness and mercy all the days of our lives. Yet we confess that we often doubt Your compassion and care for us. When we are harassed and helpless, instead of turning to You and trusting You to care for our needs and lead us in straight paths, we seek help in our idols and comfort in our sins. When others around us are harassed and helpless, we are impatient and lacking in compassion, uncaring about their needs and concerns. Father, forgive us.

Jesus, thank you for the compassion that brought You from heaven to live among us as the Good Shepherd. Thank you for entering life’s trials and enduring death’s valley in our place, without fear. Thank you that You always trusted Your Father’s care for You, even when He gave You the overflowing, bitter cup of suffering to drink for us. Thank you that You have prepared a bounteous feast for us in Your Father’s house and that we will dwell there in heaven with You forever.

Holy Spirit, be our comforter in the midst of the trials of life. Help us to trust You to provide when we are helpless to do so. Teach us to find refuge in You when we have nowhere else to turn and when no one else seems to understand our needs. Enable us in turn to show similar compassion and care to others as well, we pray, so that we may learn to love the other members of Your flock as You do. In Jesus’ name, amen.”[4]

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 9:35–38. [2] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 239. [3] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 239. [4] Duguid, Barbara; Houk, Wayne. Prone to Wander: Prayers of Confession and Celebration (pp. 126-127). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.