WHAT WAS JESUS' PRIMARY EMOTION TOWARD THE LOST? It was compassion.
- Matthew 9:36.
-Matthew 9:13; Matthew 9:36; Matthew 12:7; Matthew 14:14; Matthew 15:32; Matthew 18:27; Matthew 20:34.
- Jesus’ primary emotion toward the lost was compassion.
- Look at how often it comes up just in Matthew: Matthew 9:13; Matthew 9:36; Matthew 12:7; Matthew 14:14; Matthew 15:32; Matthew 18:27; Matthew 20:34.
- He saw them in their situation and He felt compassion for them.
- What is our primary emotion toward the lost?
a. Disgust?
b. Annoyance?
c. Pity?
d. Indifference?
- Let’s look at how we can get closer to where Jesus is. This passage gives us some insight in that direction.
CHANGING OUR EVANGELISM: We should long to give them good news, not a canned doctrine list.
- Much of our evangelism has the feel of a sales pitch. It makes me uncomfortable.
- Further, the actual “presentation” is often less a hopeful explanation of joyful life in Christ and more a list of the doctrines that you “need to believe in.” Now, obviously truth matters and doctrine has its place, but we don’t do a very good job of explaining how this “Good News” is actually good news and will tangibly make their life better.
- More often we ask them if they believe that Jesus died on the cross, that Jesus was raised from the dead, that they are a sinner, and do they want Jesus to live in their hearts? That’s all well and good – and it’s all important and true – but it fails to explain how it is good news for their life.
- The gospel is, literally, “Good News.” We should convey it in a way that shows that it is.
- Examples:
a. “I know that you’re feeling overwhelmed with your guilt, but I have some good news if you want to hear it.”
b. “I know you don’t know what direction to go, but I have some good news about how you can get that direction.”
c. “I know you have unanswered question about the point of life, but I have some good news about Someone who knows those answers.”
WHAT JESUS SAW AND WHAT HE DID:
- I think there is an inverted symmetry to these verses. There are basically four statements in v. 35 and four in v. 36. I think the first one in v. 35 goes with the last one in v. 36. The second one in v. 35 goes with the second to last one in v. 36. And so on.
- I think v. 36 tells us what He saw and v. 35 tells us what He did in response to that. Or, to put it a different way, v. 35 tells what He did and v. 36 tells us why He did that.
- As we look at these, we need to think about how we do (or don’t do) evangelism.
1. Jesus saw sheep without a shepherd; in response, He went.
- Matthew 9:35-36.
- Verse 36 ends by telling us that Jesus saw the people as sheep without a shepherd. Aimless, defenseless, looking for direction and order, longing for a leader.
- Of course, today we often exalt in our independence. But when you look around there are so many wandering through life aimlessly, not knowing the right way to go.
- Jesus longs to provide them with a shepherd.
- Verse 35 tells us one of the things He did in response to that: He went.
- That is, Jesus went out to where they were. He didn’t wait on them to come to Him. He went out to where they were.
- It’s essential if we are to have a heart like Jesus that we be willing to go where lost people are. We can’t just open the doors of the church and say, “Everyone’s welcome!” and think we’ve done our part. We can’t just stay surrounded by our circle of church friends and say that we’ll be nice to an unsaved person whenever we encounter them.
2. Jesus saw people who were helpless; in response, He taught.
- Matthew 9:35-36.
- Verse 36 tells us that Jesus saw that the people were helpless.
- What does that mean?
- I think it means that they didn’t know the path to make their lives better. The religious teachers of that day didn’t provide in their instruction a road to abundant and eternal life. The people wanted help in knowing how to live their lives well, how to make it, and how to know they were ok with God.
- Verse 35 tells us that Jesus taught.
- He gave them practical instructions on what to do to be right with God. He told them how to handle situations. For example, the majority of the Sermon on the Mount is straightforward application.
- He didn’t just tell them that they were not where God wanted them to be. Instead, He marked the path to get to God.
3. Jesus saw people who were harassed; in response, He preached good news.
- Matthew 9:35-36.
- Verse 36 tells us that the people were harassed.
- Harassed by whom?
a. By the religious leaders who put heavy burdens on them.
- See Matthew 23.
b. By life that was a constant struggle.
c. By hurtful people.
- There were not people who were looking out for their best interest.
- Verse 35 tells us that Jesus preached good news.
- Think of all the bad news that they were surrounded by and had to slog their way through every day. It was a heavy burden.
- Jesus brought them good news: God loved them; the Kingdom was coming; healing could happen; walking with God was not impossible; etc.
- The way that we share the gospel, it often doesn’t come off as good news. He seem to convey it more as an obligation or a fix-it, but not joyous good news.
- What would happen if we shared the gospel as being exuberant good news?
4. Jesus saw people deserving His compassion; in response, He healed.
- Matthew 9:35-36.
- Verse 36 tells us that He had compassion on the people – we’ve already talked about this being His primary emotion toward the lost.
- One key part of having compassion on people is that you’re looking into their lives. Do we look at people and actually see their plight? More often we:
a. Look past them (they are in the background to us).
b. Ignore them (we see them and choose to not engage).
c. Don’t have time to mess with them (they aren’t a high priority to us).
d. Don’t want to get involved in their mess (they aren’t worth our time to get down in the mud).
- Verse 35 tells us that Jesus healed.
- We talked in the previous sermon about how Jesus didn’t do the miracles in order to publicize Himself. Those miracles rarely inspired obedience, so He didn’t do the miracles to attract a crowd.
- Rather, He did the miracles because He had compassion and concern for the person suffering.
- We obviously can’t do miraculous healings. But we can bring healing to people’s lives.
- How?
a. By sharing hopeful words of truth.
b. By loving them.
c. By encouraging them.
d. By helping with financial problems.
e. By checking in on them.
f. By praying for them.
