The Compassion of Jesus Christ Part 2
The Book of Mark
Mark 8:1-10
I. Introduction:
A. Last week we started to examine compassion as exemplified in Jesus Christ’s life.
B. Compassion is defined as a sympathetic consciousness of another’s distress together with a desire to help alleviate that distress.
C. Simply put it is being aware of other people’s needs and being willing to do something about it.
D. Perhaps the most well known example of compassion is the story of the Good Samaritan recorded in Luke 10:29.
1. A Jewish man fell to robbers.
a) Three different people came upon the man 2 of which were fellow Jews. But only one demonstrated compassion.
b) He not only saw the man’s situation but he took action to help alleviate it.
c) He didn’t just call for help.
d) He didn’t just stand there and say “I feel your pain man”.
E. As we saw last week having compassion means placing other people’s needs before our own.
1. I am sure there were many reasons that the Jewish leaders didn’t stop to help one of their own country men.
a) They may have been on the way to an important meeting.
b) They may have had to teach a class.
c) They may have had a queasy stomach.
2. People can come up with lots of reasons why they fall short in showing compassion to others.
F. We also learned that showing compassion means taking action.
1. Compassion isn’t passive, it is proactive you can’t be a compassionate person unless you are willing to do something about it.
2. Notice how far out of his way this Samarian went.
a) He cleaned and bandaged his wounds.
b) He put him on his own donkey
c) He took him to a place where he could be taken care of
d) He stayed for the whole day taking care of him..
e) He promised to pay the bill.
3. At what point would you consider it appropriate to stop?
a) Remember the Jews and Samarians had a very strong dislike toward one another.
b) He didn’t stop until he had made sure that the man was fully taken care of.
4. I think that you can also take from this that compassion is no respecter of persons.
a) Jesus didn’t discriminate between Jews and Gentiles just as the Samarian didn’t.
G. Last week we looked at the definition of compassion this week I want to look at the practical application of compassion.
II. Three facets of Compassion: the feeding of the 4,000.
A. See the need.
1. The crowds who followed Jesus stayed with Him.
a) They were so wrapped up in what was happening that they just stayed
b) Matt.15:29-31 gives the details.
c) They were the witness of a great work of God.
2. The need was obvious 8:1-2 they had little or no food.
a) It may have been that they ran out of food. Having brought some for a short stay but then they stayed longer.
b) So they may have just run out of food.
3. The needs of people we come into contact with are sometimes harder to discern.
a) We hear about people with problems all the time.
b) We receive letters in the mail.
c) We get phone calls imploring us to help.
d) It can cause us to become callous to people.
e) It can be overwhelming vs.4.
B. Feel the need vs.2-3.
1. Jesus emphasized with these people.
a) He had been ministering to them for these 3 days.
b) He had been observing them.
c) Heb.4:15-16 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
2. Vs.3 He knew that if He sent them away in that state it would be detrimental to them.
a) Remember they were in a out of the way place.
b) There wasn’t a town close enough by to accommodate all of those people and their needs.
3. He wasn’t just interested in their spiritual need compare 6:34.
4. We often do just the opposite we focus on the physical need and forget to bring up the desperate spiritual need people have.
5. Feeling the need in other people requires a sensitivity which can only come from God.
a) We must be discerning in this area.
b) It all goes to the one another principles that we spoke about earlier this year.
c) Christianity is an other oriented faith Phil.2:2
C. Meet the need vs.5-10.
1. The most difficult part of compassion is acting on what your heart prompts you to do.
2. This is the 2nd time that Jesus has met the needs of a great number of people.
a) In chapter 6 He fed about 15-20,000 people.
b) Here there are probably only around 12-16,000.
3. Both times the disciples failed to understand the significance of what was happening.
a) Once again they were looking at their own capabilities.
b) They were looking at things from a horizontal view point rather than a vertical one.
4. If you recognize the need in people but you lack the resources or power to help them it is difficult to follow up on your compassion.
a) Some loaves and a few small fish aren’t near enough to meet this huge need.
b) Sometimes when we look at the task at hand we are overwhelmed by the magnitude of it and we forget who it is we are serving.
c) We need to remember that it is God who is supplying the resources we need and look to Him.
5. Take the Good Samarian.
a) He saw the need of the man who was attacked.
b) His heart went out to him.
c) He followed up on what his heart prompted him to do.
d) He knew he had the resources to do what his heart was telling him to do.
6. Jesus saw the need understood what was needed and then He supplied the need all the while teaching the disciples another lesson.
III.Conclusion:
A. A compassionate person is one who recognizes a need in another person and takes action to help.
1. That person does not mind putting other people first.
2. He or she does not take into account the other person’s social or political standing.
B. A compassionate person sees a need and has a heart felt desire to help meet that need.
C. It is more than just helping out with physical needs although that is where we see it expressed most.
D. It also has application in the spiritual sense.
1. People need to know they are lost and in deep trouble out of which they will not be capable of extracting themselves.
2. We have the resources to meet that need as well as the mandate from God to do so.
3. We simply need to trust God to provide the power and the words to do it.
E. Don’t be afraid of having a heart of compassion because God has a handle on the need already and you just need to be available for His service.
