Compassion - A Call to Action

READ: Matthew 9:35-36 (NLT)

35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 

REFLECT

While traveling and spreading the Good News about the Kingdom in Galilee, Jesus was confronted by hurting and lost people. These people had physical and spiritual ailments which He responded to with healing and love. Even while performing miracles like healing the blind and paralyzed, and casting out demons, when Jesus looked at his people, he was moved with compassion. 

The Oxford Dictionary defines compassion as a noun meaning sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. The word compassion comes from the Latin word compati, which means to suffer with. When Jesus saw people lost and hurting, He didn’t just empathize with them, He had compassion for them - He felt their suffering and was compelled to do something about it. As His heart broke for the hurting, lost, and confused, He responded with a call for prayer, then action, as shown in Matthew 10.  

While Jesus walked the Earth, he modeled the way His followers should walk, talk, and live. He showed us how to pray, love, care for others, and respond to others’ pain and suffering. When Jesus saw the broken, he took pity upon them and healed. When He saw the tired and weak, He offered rest. When He saw the hungry, He fed them.

Jesus calls us to do the same. Instead of turning a blind eye to those suffering around us, He wants our heart to break with theirs and do something about it. Jesus doesn’t need us to feel empathy for others; He calls us to show compassion for the hurting and lost by taking action. A homeless man can’t keep warm by the cloak of empathy, he needs shelter. Starving children can’t get nourishment from empathy, they need food. A lonely woman isn’t comforted by empathy, she needs a friend. 

RESPOND

Pray and ask God to give you a heart of compassion. Is there someone around you in need of compassion? Answer God’s call and do something about it.  

SONG OF THE WEEK

The Cause of Christ (Kari Jobe)

DNelson

11/11/2023