Jesus Had Ompassion

We know that Jesus displayed compassion more than anyone that has ever lived, and as His people, we should display His compassion for lost and hurting people. For us to pursue the compassion of Jesus in our lives involves: Outreach, Discernment, Willingness to Help.

Matt. 9:35-38

We need to be driven by compassion because Jesus was driven by it. From the life of Jesus life we can see it involves outreach, Involves Discernment and Involves Helping.

THE ONION Author Unknown

I was an onion before Christ set me free. Layers upon layers of iniquity. An ugly old onion whose fragrance was strong; that my Jesus bought and loved all along.

Unknown to me what He was going to do. Of what He was planning, I had not a clue. Pulling each layer off one by one. In order to make me more like Jesus the Son.

The first layer wasn't so bad. I saw all the sins that I knew I had. They were easy to fix, just change the way I talk.

And learn more of how He wanted me to walk. Reading His Word, and learning again; How to put aside my life of sin.

But the next layer was pulled which hurt more. He was getting closer to the core.

Unknown what He would find there. I simply gave it to Him in prayer.

As another layer was removed, He started to cry; pulling this layer brought pain to my Father on High.

And I was crying over the sadness I felt; the brokenness and all of the guilt. Past memories that I thought were gone; they were buried under layers disguised in a fragrance so strong.

As onions peel more and more; And they put tears in our eyes as we get close to the core; So my Father wept over my pain; Giving me a balm of comfort and strength to sustain.

"No More Layers." I would scream. As He continued to peel them off of me. "I'll have nothing left my Lord, what will I do? I'll be nothing but a worthless core to you. "

But He just said "Trust me," and continued to peel I was sure He was blinded to my pain that was so real.

Year after year I shrunk more and more; until all that was left of this onion was a core.

It was then that I began to understand; As the Lord embraced me in His loving hand. He said, now and only now can you be; the creation that will minister before me.

Clothed with the righteousness only from above; gone are your layers of self so you can be filled with my love.

He took my layers of sin, hurt and pain; and clothed me with love, truth and mercy in His name.

Yes, we are all onions, learning with each day; How to overcome as each layer is taken away.

Some layers tear and pull at our heart; while others grieve us to our innermost part.

But we are nothing but an ugly onion without Christ. Layers upon layers of pride, sin and strife. Only God can take those layers away. And clothe us with His righteousness in that final day.

A major problem regarding evangelism today is the lack of motivation. Many Christians seem to lack the motivation to teach others. Years go by, and little is done to share the gospel. Rather than being troubled by this fact, many just attain a state of self-satisfaction. Yet motivation is "the steam that drives the train." With proper motivation, a Christian will seek to save the lost. Even if they don't know how, they will not rest until they are doing something that might lead others to Christ.

2. What motivated Jesus to save the lost? What prompted Him to come to this earth? What propelled Him to go from city to city with the gospel of the kingdom? What moved Him to endure the shame and pain of dying on the cross?

I. To have Compassion means we have to reach to others (35) “Jesus went to all the towns and villages. He taught in the synagogues and spread the Good News of the kingdom. He also cured every disease and sickness.”

As we see Jesus’ ministry on earth was His compassion for hurting people. This caused Him to act to reduce their suffering. “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” We also know that not only did He have compassion on those who came to Him, but he also went looking for those who needed Him. We see this is one of the most striking things about v. 35. Jesus didn’t sit around and wait for people to come to Him. He went looking for people that needed Him. He knew that there would be people who could not or would not come to Him, so He went after them. We have all kinds of way to travel today but Jesus traveled mostly on foot. It was compassion drove Him to do so. Why is that many in our church today have a "Field of Dreams" mentality to ministry: "if you build it, they will come?" If we have compassion we cannot wait for people to come to us, but we have to be willing to take the message of Jesus to them. We also know that Jesus didn’t just go to the big cities, but to the towns and villages; anywhere there were those who needed Him.