THE COMPASSION OF JESUS
TEXT: Matt. 9:36
INTRODCUTION:
1 Seen on a church sign: “We Care About You Sundays 10 a.m. Only” -- Gary Shank, Olathe, Kans. "Lite Fare," Christian Reader.
2 “Preach to the suffering, and you will never lack a congregation. There is a broken heart in every pew.” -- Joseph Parker, Leadership, Vol. 3, no. 4.
3 I read recently of a teaching hospital that found one of its young resident students had a marvelous effect on children. They responded to him with delight. They would do things for him and yield to his ministrations in a way that they wouldn’t do for any other person on the staff. They assigned a nurse to discover what the secret of this young resident was. It wasn’t until the second week when she was on night turn that she found out the secret. It was simply this: Every night on his last round he would kiss, and hug, and tuck in every one of the children. It was in that act of compassion, you see, in that act of sympathy, that he made his contact. And it’s this--this sympathy, this compassion that belongs to Jesus--that reaches out to us. It’s this about him that charms us more than anything else. -- Bruce W. Thielemann, "Telltale Tears," Preaching Today, Tape 40.
4 Some lessons we can learn from the compassion of Jesus.
DISCUSSION:
I. Show Compassion when you think you’ve been mistreated.
(Mat 9:36 NKJV) But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
A. Our 4-year-old daughter’s surgery was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. We were becoming anxious as time passed and no one came to get her. Finally at 12:30, the surgeon arrived at her room. Knowing my husband is a minister, the doctor asked us if many people were praying for this surgery. Edgy from the delay, I said, "They were praying for you an hour ago." With a smile, he shot back, "Thanks. That surgery went very well." -- Marcia Hornor, Salt Lake City, Utah. "Lite Fare," Christian Reader.
II. Why did Jesus heal these people?
(Mat 14:14-16 NKJV) And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. {15} When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." {16} But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
A. In One Church from the Fence, Wes Seelinger writes: "I have spent long hours in the intensive care waiting room ... watching with anguished people ... listening to urgent questions: Will my husband make it? Will my child walk again? How do you live without your companion of thirty years? "The intensive care waiting room is different from any other place in the world. And the people who wait are different. They can’t do enough for each other. No one is rude. The distinctions of race and class melt away. A person is a father first, a black man second. The garbage man loves his wife as much as the university professor loves his, and everyone understands this. Each person pulls for everyone else. "In the intensive care waiting room, the world changes. Vanity and pretense vanish. The universe is focused on the doctor’s next report. If only it will show improvement. Everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about." Long before we’re in the intensive care waiting room maybe we can learn to live like that. -- Hugh Duncan Boise, Idaho. Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 1.
III. Real compassion is not for self glorification
(Mat 14:14-16 NKJV) And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. {15} When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." {16} But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
A. I read recently of a teaching hospital that found one of its young resident students had a marvelous effect on children. They responded to him with delight. They would do things for him and yield to his ministrations in a way that they wouldn’t do for any other person on the staff. They assigned a nurse to discover what the secret of this young resident was. It wasn’t until the second week when she was on night turn that she found out the secret. It was simply this: Every night on his last round he would kiss, and hug, and tuck in every one of the children. It was in that act of compassion, you see, in that act of sympathy, that he made his contact. And it’s this--this sympathy, this compassion that belongs to Jesus--that reaches out to us. It’s this about him that charms us more than anything else. -- Bruce W. Thielemann, "Telltale Tears," Preaching Today, Tape 40.
IV. Everyday evangelism flows from compassion
(Mat 20:34 NKJV) So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.
A. The well-off and the secure have too often become indifferent and oblivious to the poverty and the deprivation in their midst. The poor have been shut out of our minds and driven from the mainstream of our societies, because we have allowed them to become invisible. Ultimately, a great nation is a compassionate nation. No nation can be great if it does not have a concern for "the least of these." -- Martin Luther King, Jr., Christian Reader, Vol. 34.
V. The Lord’s compassion should move us to compassion for others with the gospel
(Mark 5:19-20 NKJV) However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." {20} And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.
VI. His compassion moved others to faith.
(Mark 9:20-29 NKJV) Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. {21} So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. {22} "And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." {23} Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." {24} Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" {25} When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" {26} Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead." {27} But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. {28} And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" {29} So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."
CONCLUSION:
A. Are you a person of compassion?
B. Do you see Christianity as an opportunity to play on the compassion of others or an opportunity to show compassion to others?
