The meaning of compassion is to
Recognize the suffering of others
And then take action to help.
“When Jesus heard it,
He departed from there by boat
to a deserted place by Himself.
But when the multitudes heard it,
they followed Him on foot from the cities.
And when Jesus went out He saw
a great multitude;
and He was moved with
compassion for them,
and healed their sick.”
(Matthew 14:13 – 14)
Before I say anything about
Jesus and compassion
Let us first consider the first
Part of verse 13:
“When Jesus heard it,
He departed from there by boat
to a deserted place by Himself.”
(Matthew 14:13a)
“When Jesus heard” WHAT?
That John the Baptist was dead
Jesus and John were cousins
John had baptised Jesus in the Jordan
John had prepared the way for Jesus
And so Jesus departed after hearing
This News
So that He could be on His own
Presumably to pray to His Father
BUT…
“But when the multitudes heard it,
they followed Him on foot from the cities.
And when Jesus went out He saw
a great multitude;
and He was moved with
compassion for them,
and healed their sick.”
(Matthew 14:13b – 14)
Jesus was a Man, just like us
Except He was without sin
And He withdrew because of John
But when He saw these people
This multitude
He had compassion on them…
And HEALED their sick
People today talk about compassion
And associate it with love
And doing GOOD things for people
Action is taken
But is it the action that Jesus requires?
Remember in Matthew 10
Jesus sent the twelve out
To preach the Gospel
And HEAL the sick
Among other things…
How readily are we…
To lay our hands on the sick…
And see them HEALED?
When we meet hurting people
Do we offer to pray…
Or ask if they would like prayer…
With a view to maybe simply
Holding their hand…
As a way of “laying hands” on them?
This was the type of compassion
That Jesus exemplified