Compassion Series

Journey With Jesus: The Daily Trek of Discipleship

COMPASSION

Introduction

In our journey with Jesus we have studied…

-The foundation of the disciple’s life, the Beatitudes.

-The source of authority, Jesus is Lord.

-The divine help we receive, the Holy Spirit.

-The life of service in imitation of Jesus.

-The love we have for Jesus. 

-The effort we put into pursuing Jesus.

-The growth in maturity we achieve in following Jesus. 

-Today: developing a compassionate spirit like Christ. 

Compassion is a word from Greek word splanchnizomai. (https://biblehub.com/greek/4697.htm) The word originally referred to the inner parts of a man, the heart, liver, but later became common to use this word in reference to the lower parts of the abdomen, the intestines,  and especially the womb. This impresses on the readers the power and the force of God’s compassion. They may also have had in mind a physical feeling associated with compassion. Sometimes a sharp pain in the abdomen will accompany intense feelings of compassion or pity for those we love. The choice of such a graphic word served to impress the New Testament Christians that God’s compassion for them was rooted in his deep love for them and his sensitivity to their pain. (Jack Deere)

Compassion is a concern for the suffering of others; it means to “suffer with.” Someone else’s heartbreak becomes our heartbreak; another’s suffering becomes our suffering. Matthew 9:36 “…When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them…” The compassion of Jesus is to be our guide as disciples.  

1. Compassion for the Lost (Matthew 9:35-38)

Matthew 9:35-38 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. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

The mission of Jesus is also the mission of the church: reach the lost. Everything we do ought to be aimed in that direction. Jesus taught us to pray for laborers to go into the harvest field.

Some reasons why this can be difficult:

-This is the most personal subject of all.

-We can come across as being the judge rather than pointing others to the Savior!

-We struggle with our own spirituality and wonder how we can talk to someone else. 

-We sometimes fail to see the open doors and bravely walk through!

Romans 10:13-15 asks some important questions:

-How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? 

-And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

-And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

-And how are they to preach unless they are sent? 

-As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

-Some might feel relief! “I’m not a preacher” - but we are all bearers of the good news. We are the laborers in the harvest! How can the world believe if we do not share with them the greatest news they will ever hear?

Jesus has compassion for sinners. 

Hebrews 4:15 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." Jesus is able to sympathize with the struggle we have with sin. Wayne Jackson: “The Christian who struggles against the urgings of temptation may be assured that there is someone who understands this difficulty and is sympathetic to us as we engage the battle against carnality.”

Compassion drives us to care for the lost.

2. Compassion means to See, Feel, Act!

John Ruskin, famous poet and art critic, once said that a good artist must possess three qualities. (1) An eye to see and appreciate the beauty of the scene he desires to catch on canvas; (2) a heart to feel and register the beauty and atmosphere of the scene; (3) a hand to perform - to transfer to canvas what the eye has seen and the heart felt. These are essential qualities of compassion! 

An eye to see the need of men and women around us. 

-Their spiritual needs are the most important, but not always as easy to see.

-Their physical needs are important as well.  

-Matthew 15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

-With all of the sophisticated communication technologies we have, there are still hungry people in our city, country, and world.  Jesus still cares about them, and so do we.