Jesus Is . . .The One Who Cares About Us
Series: Who Is Jesus? (Sermon # 7)
Matt 9:36 April 13, 2008
COPYRIGHT © Joe La Rue, 2008
Introduction
[Special: Eleanor Rigby, by The Beatles]
A. John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s song, Eleanor Rigby, reflects a truth common to us all: many times we feel like we go through life’s battles alone. We put on our happy faces, like Eleanor did, but inside we are afraid and sad and lonely. And we want to know that we matter, that we’re significant to someone, that we would be missed if we were gone. We want someone to share our lives with. We want someone who cares about us.
I read this week about Jack Hammond and his son, Michael. Jack is 88 years old, and recently moved to a nursing home closer to his son. That move, though, took him away from his neighbor who used to go drinking with him at the local pub. They were friends, and Michael is worried that his dad will now be lonely. So, he posted an add in the post office, offering £7 an hour for someone to take his father to a pub and be his friend. (At today’s rate, that is about $15 an hour). Michael was not sure that anyone would respond; but, he said that he has been “absolutely staggered” by the response. However, as he pointed out, “There must be hundreds and hundreds of people in the same position needing some company.” Michael and his dad are currently interviewing the applicants, trying to find the perfect match for Jack. (See Man Seeks Drinking Pal For Father, British Broadcasting Company (April 3, 2008) at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7328410.stm (last visited April 8, 2008)).
While we might think that advertising for a friend is rather extreme, it’s not extreme if you feel like you are all alone and have no friends. And increasingly, people feel that way these days. Many of you here this morning are old enough to remember a time when neighbors sat out on their front porches at night, drinking lemonade and being neighborly. We knew each other back in those days. We supported each other. We were like the Mertzes and the Ricardos on I Love Lucy, or like the Kramdens and the Nortons on The Honeymooners. We knew that just up the road was somebody who cared about us.
Today, though, the situation is different. Many people these days find themselves increasingly alone. And many people, especially many of the younger generation, want to know, “Does anybody really care about me?”
1. Now, some of us, of course, are married. Some of us have good relationships with friends. But, many people these days do not. Many people these days identify with Eleanor Rigby and Father McKenzie. Many people these days feel alone.
2. And, even those of us who are not lonely still face situations that are greater than we can handle, even with the help of our friends. Sometimes we face financial challenges. Sometimes we face health challenges. Sometimes we face relationship challenges. Sometimes we face a myriad of other challenges, and we sometimes think, “I wish I had someone who really cares about me, who was powerful enough to help me with this!”
B. This morning, as we continue with our study, Who Is Jesus, I want us to focus our attention on the Bible’s portrait of Jesus as someone who does care about us, and who moves heaven and earth to help us. Look with me at Matthew 9:35-36. Not only is Jesus the fulfillment of prophecy and the one who died for us and the one who rose victorious from the grave and the one who is coming again to reign as King forever, as we’ve seen in previous weeks, He is also the one who cares about us. Matthew 9:35-36. Look at it with me. The Bible says,
“Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt 9:35-36, NASB).
Jesus felt compassion. In the original Greek, ‘felt compassion’ is splanchnizomai, which indicated a very strong feeling of compassion originating down in the depths of the being. The Greeks used this word to describe a depth of care that frequently moves the one feeling it to action: it’s the type of care and compassion where we want to roll up our sleeves and get involved and make things better for the one for whom we splanchnizomai.
And Jesus felt such compassion. He cared deeply for people. And that depth of care frequently moved Him to action on their behalf.
C. Trans: So, what does this mean for us today? Let me share with you two truths from the Bible about the compassion of Jesus. First,
I. Jesus Cares About Our Daily, Earthly Needs.
A. One time Jesus had been teaching the people and healing their sick, and there were great crowds coming to Him, bringing sick people for Him to heal. And the Bible says that the crowds were so amazed at the miracles taking place that they stayed with Jesus for three days. They were watching Him heal, and listening to Him teach. And in Matt 15:32, the Bible says that,
“Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, ‘I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.’” (Matt 15:32, NASB).
You may remember this story. The disciples protested that they had only a little bit of food, and no way to get more: how could they possibly feed the great crowd of people? And Jesus directed the people to sit down, and He took the little bit of food that the disciples had and prayed over it, then began distributing it, and it fed everybody there. And when it was all said and done, Jesus had fed four thousand men, besides women and children, with seven loaves of bread and a few fish; and when the disciples gathered up the leftovers, there filled seven large baskets!
B. Now, the need of the people that day was food. Jesus perceived that they were hungry. And He had compassion for them, and He acted on their behalf: He worked a miracle to feed them. This was an ‘earthly’ need. It wasn’t spiritual need. It was a physical need, an earthly need. The people needed food. And Jesus met their need, because He cared about them.
C. Perhaps the need for you today is for peace in a relationship. Maybe there is a relationship that isn’t right, and you aren’t sure what to do about it, and you wonder sometimes if anybody cares about you or if anybody can make your situation better. Or, maybe you’re more like Eleanor Rigby: maybe you are lonely, and you crave human companionship, but you are all alone, and you wonder if anybody cares about you. Or perhaps you have a financial need today and you don’t know how you can overcome it. Or perhaps it’s a job need for you today. Or maybe it’s an emotional need. Maybe you are hurting, or you are sad, or depressed, or grieving, and you feel like nobody cares.
1. These are earthly needs. They aren’t spiritual. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t important, to you or to Jesus. The Bible says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Pet 5:7, NIV). That’s why Jesus told us that we are to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Our earthly needs are important to Jesus, because He cares about us. And Jesus can meet those needs.
2. Now, notice what I said: Jesus can meet our needs. Jesus never promised to meet all our wants. The people that Jesus fed ate fish and bread—they didn’t eat lobster and filet mignon. Now, Jesus may choose to bless us with fillet, but that isn’t His promise. His promise is to meet our needs: “Give us this day our daily bread.” That means that if we have a financial need, Jesus can take care of it. If we have a relational need, Jesus can meet it. Whatever our need, Jesus can fulfill it. We just need to trust Him to do so. And while we are waiting on Him to meet our need—while we are waiting on Him to supply the new job or heal the relationship or fix the finances, He gives us the strength to endure. Jesus cares about our earthly needs, and meet them for us.
D. Trans: Jesus also cares about our physical, health needs.
II. Jesus Cares About Our Physical, Health Needs.
A. A lot of you are struggling right now with various sicknesses, or you have family members who are. And when people face sickness, either their own or their loved ones’, they sometimes wonder during those times, ‘Does Jesus care about me? And, if He does, why am I going through this?’ Let’s see what the Bible says about this.
1. In Mark 1:40-42 the Bible says,
“A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Filled with compassion [that’s splanchnizomai!], Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.” (Mark 1:40-42, NIV).
a. Leprosy was a horrible disease. Back in Bible times, there was no cure, and people with leprosy were isolated outside the community. They had to leave their homes and their families, and live alone.
b. Did Jesus care for that leprous man? Of course He did. He was filled with compassion, and He healed him.
2. Now, contrast that with the Apostle Paul’s situation. He had what he described in the Bible as a ‘thorn in the flesh.’ We don’t know for sure what exactly that wasy, but Bible scholars tell us that most likely, he suffered from some type of eye problem, making it difficult for him to see. Regardless, he had some type of physical difficulty, and the Bible says that three times he asked Jesus to take it away. And you know what Jesus said? “No.” Jesus said, “No.” “No, Paul, I’m not going to take it away, because it’s important for you to go through it because my strength to sustain you is shown to the world because of this problem, and I’m not going to take it away from you.” (1 Cor 12:9).
a. Now, did Jesus care about Paul any less than He cared about the leper? Of course not! Then, why didn’t Jesus heal Paul? The answer, friends, is this: Because of God’s over-arching purpose, it was better that Paul not be healed.
b. This is an important truth for us to grasp: we live in a fallen world where sickness happens, and Jesus never promised that He would heal every sickness we face. Rather, He promised that He would meet our need in every sickness that we face.
B. So, sometimes God grants healing, like He did to the leper. And sometimes God does not grant healing, like what happened with the apostle Paul. But every time, He meets our need. Even in the midst of our sickness, God does not leave us to go it alone. Remember, in the 23rd Psalm the Bible says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Thou art with me.” (Psalm 23:4). We are not alone, even in our sicknesses. Jesus cares for us! And He gives us what we need, even in the midst of our sickness. Sometimes He gives healing. But when healing is withheld, He gives us the grace to endure. As He said to Paul when Paul begged Him three times to take away his thorn in the flesh, “My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9, NLT).
1. Now, the question that I think we all want to know is, ‘Why doesn’t Jesus heal all of us, every time we get sick?’ Why do some people receive healing, like the leper, and others, like the Apostle Paul, do not?
2. I don’t know the answer to that question. I don’t know why God heals one person and not another. However, as one theologian has written,
“God is active and present in his world, quite independently of whether we experience him as being so. Experience declared that God was absent from Calvary, only to have its verdict humiliatingly overturned on the third day.” (Alister McGrath, Mystery of the Cross (Zondervan, 1990)).
This quote led one preacher to comment,
“As with the Cross, our darkest hour may be God’s finest moment. It may be there that he does his greatest work—albeit unseen to us. Thus instead of letting circumstances consume us, we are to be consumed with God. To that end, we pray without ceasing, trust in his sovereignty, and find comfort in his hope.” (Mark M. Yarbrough, “When God Doesn’t Heal,” Christianity Today (Sept. 2004), at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/september/30.80.html?start=1 (last visited April 9, 2008)).
3. I cannot answer the why question. All I can do is assure you of what the Bible says: Jesus cares about us when we are sick, and meets our needs in those moments. He may not heal our sickness, but He meets our needs nonetheless.
Conclusion
A. What this means, friends, is that we are not like Eleanor Rigby or Father McKenzie. We are not alone. We are not ‘the lonely people.’ We have one who cares about us. We have one who loves us. We have one who is there for us. And we have one who does whatever it takes to meet every need that we have.
B. What is your need today? Whatever it is, Jesus wants to meet it.
1. Perhaps you have a daily, earthly need today. Perhaps you have a relational issue, or a financial issue, or an employment issue, or an emotional issue. I want you to know today that the Bible says that Jesus cares about you, and about your need. And Jesus can meet your need, whatever it is. He may not meet your ‘want,’ but He will meet your need.
2. Or, perhaps you have a physical, health need today. Perhaps you are sick, or one that you love is sick. Perhaps you need strength to endure some sickness that, like Paul’s, God has not seen fit to lift from you. You are praying for healing, but you need endurance, too. I want you too to know that the Bible says that Jesus cares about you, and about this health need that seems so overwhelming.
3. Or perhaps you have a spiritual need. Perhaps you are struggling with a sin, or struggling with your faith. We didn’t have time to talk about these things today, but Jesus wants to help you, too. He is the all powerful one, who cares about you and your need.
4. Or maybe you need to accept Jesus as Savior. Maybe you are ready to give your life to Him in faith and baptism. Maybe that is your need this morning.
5. Maybe you have lived your life sort of like Eleanor Rigby or Father McKenzie, and you have wondered whether anybody can really care about you. Here’s the good news: Jesus cares! Jesus cares about you. And He is ready to meet your need.
C. Whatever your need is, if you would like me to pray with you about it, I invite you to come forward this morning as we sing. If you are comfortable, I’ll announce your need to the church and we’ll all pray for you. If your need is too private for that, we’ll keep it just between us. But come forward this morning as we sing, and let me pray with and for you. And, if you are ready to accept Jesus as Savior, you come forward too. He cares about you. You matter to Him. Come forward, and accept Him today.
