Compassion

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:1-18, NIV)

…………

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life. (John 11:38-53, NIV)

REFLECTIONS:

“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35-36)

We can begin to understand the immeasurable depths of God’s love for us because of the healing ministry of Jesus and the compassion he showed to the marginalized and the afflicted.

The prophet Isaiah realized that this world, in its current state, is not the way that it was created to be. The existence of blindness, deafness and lameness only reminds us of this. The perfection and shalom (peace) of Genesis 1-2 is brought to complete and utter ruin by man’s rebellion against God. In the aftermath, we see in the person of Jesus just how much compassion God has toward his people. Isaiah announces that centuries prior to the manger in Bethlehem, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Jesus was genuinely and emotionally moved by our suffering. When two blind men asked Jesus to have mercy on them and restore their eyesight, Matthew tells us that “in pity” Jesus touched their eyes and healed them (Matthew 20:29-34).

Perhaps the greatest example of Christ’s compassion is at the death of his friend Lazarus. John tells us that when Jesus arrived at Lazarus’ house, “Jesus wept.” His response is most surprising because Jesus told his disciples even before they arrived that he knew Lazarus had already died. In fact, he says he was glad that he wasn’t there to heal him, so that he could bring him back to life so that others might believe in him. So Jesus, glad for the opportunity to show his miraculous power, when he arrives is so distraught by the situation that he weeps. He weeps not at the loss of a friend who is moments away from life, but grieves how the world cur­rently is.

He is distressed by the reality of death and pain, mourning and suffering. This is not the world that Jesus and his Father had created, and it grieves him.

But this is the very reason that Jesus had come, to begin the work of mak­ing all things new. The work of restoration applies to all of Creation, but we see it most personally and poignantly in the way Jesus restores sinners to right relationship with God because of his great love and compassion toward us. And just like Lazarus, God has called us out of death and restored us to new life because of his great love for us.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-7).

This kind of compassion and love toward us should move us to respond in greater love for God and others. The gospel is never about works, but it is about transformation. Many of us around Christmas time sense some sort of obligation to serve those in need, and I think that could be a God-given and good desire stirred in us when we think about how God has moved toward us in his Son. The gospel, however, demands our love and compassion year-round instead of a once-annual obligation. Our action should flow out a deep love for Christ and his work on our behalf.

J. D. Greear recommends that we pray to God in this way: “In Christ, there is nothing I could do that would make you love me more, and nothing I have done that makes you love me less. Your presence and approval are all I need today for everlasting joy. As you have been to me, so I will be to others. As I pray, I’ll measure your compassion by the cross and your power by the resurrection.”

This is the kind of prayer that comes from one whose identity if firmly rooted in the love demonstrated in the gospel and will produce real life change.

PRAYER:

Spend a few minutes contemplating the following prayer. Ask God to make such a prayer to arise spontaneously out of your heart.

“In Christ, there is nothing I could do that would make you love me more, and nothing I have done that makes you love me less. Your presence and approval are all I need today for everlasting joy. As you have been to me, so I will be to others. As I pray, I’ll measure your compassion by the cross and your power by the resurrection.”