Words From the Cross
Part 3-2
Compassion
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Intro: In the third set of words spoken from the Cross of Christ, we can clearly see the compassion of Jesus Christ. It is important to remember that these words are spoken in a LOVING, DIRECT, PERSONAL manner. These words were spoken to His mother, and the Disciple that HE loved. There are 3 things that I believe can clearly be seen from these words on the cross.
Lets read our text:
John 19:26-27 (NIV)26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
I) His compassion is undeserved
A) I can only imagine how humbled this DISCIPLE and MARY must have been.
1) Jesus is in tremendous pain
2) Suffering
3) Emotional Distress
4) Spiritual Agony
(a) And yet he pauses for just a moment to show them compassion, and speak these words.
(i) In the middle of this horrible time in His life, he stops to take care of His mother.
¨ I don’t think Mary was going… “I deserve this”
¨ “It’s about time Jesus, I was wondering if you would ever get me taken care of.”
¨ “Finally.. the compassion I deserve”
Þ No, I believe Mary and this Disciple would have been and were humbled by these words of compassion of Jesus.
· After all they understood that he was the:
Þ Savior of the World
Þ The Christ who would forgive their sins
Þ God in the Flesh
Þ The Christ they had been waiting for.
Þ Mary and This disciple would have been humbled, and felt undeserving of this great compassion of Jesus Christ.
B) Matt 8:8-10 (GW) 8 The officer responded, “Sir, I don’t deserve to have you come into my house. But just give a command, and my servant will be healed. 9 As you know, I’m in a chain of command and have soldiers at my command. I tell one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I tell my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 Jesus was amazed when he heard this. He said to those who were following him, “I can guarantee this truth: I haven’t found faith as great as this in anyone in Israel.
1) How many of you think you DESERVE the compassion of Christ in your life?
(a) How many of you have earned it?
(b) How many of us are worthy of this great compassion?
(c) How many of us are deserving of such compassion?
(i) No one in the world is deserving of the compassion and Grace that Jesus gives us.
(ii) No One
2) This man, this officer of the army, understood that he was not:
(a) Worthy or
(b) Deserving of the Compassion of Jesus
(i) But He also understood that the grace of Jesus goes far beyond:
¨ What we have earned
¨ What we deserve
¨ What we are worthy of
Þ The grace and compassion of Jesus far exceeds what we deserve.
C) We can learn from Mary and this Disciple.
1) WE are not worthy
2) We are not deserving
(a) But Jesus still pours his grace and Mercy out on our lives.
(i) The Compassion of Jesus is undeserved,
¨ But He gives it freely to all who draw near to the cross of Christ.
II) His compassion is unexpected
A) Why do you suppose Mary and this disciple came to the cross?
1) Most of the other disciples where hiding in fear for their lives, so why did these show up?
(a) Do you think they came expecting the compassion of Christ to be poured out on them?
(b) Do you think they came because they thought Jesus might pour His inheritance out on them?
(c) Do you think they showed up to receive anything that day?
(i) I don’t
(ii) I think they showed up for support
(iii) I think they showed up because they loved Jesus
(iv) I think they showed up in case there was something Jesus needed in this horrible time
¨ They did not show up thinking about themselves.
¨ They showed up thinking about Jesus.
B) This compassion that Jesus shows them is unexpected, and undeserved.
1) This is a big difference from the followers of Christ today isn’t it?
(a) We come to Jesus when we need:
(i) Healing
(ii) Money
(iii) Strength
(iv) Love
(v) Support
(vi) Advice
(vii) Answers
(viii) Help
(ix) And lots of other stuff.
¨ WE come to Jesus EXPECTING His GRACE, MERCY, and COMPASSION.
Þ These early believers were not expecting it, they were not focused on themselves.
Þ They were focused on the Savior.
C) We should learn from this view of the Compassion of Christ.
1) They did not show up expecting Jesus to help them, they went to help Jesus.
(a) How different would our churches be if we had this view of compassion?
(i) If we made it our first priority to follow, and help Jesus, before we started looking for His compassion and Grace?
D) Have you ever been in a place in life that you thought was the last place you would see the grace and compassion of Christ?
1) Have you ever been so far off the path of God?
2) Have you ever been so far away from the cross of Christ?
3) Have you ever been so messed up?
4) Have you ever been so out of line?
5) Have you ever been involved in so much sin that you thought that was it?
(a) Then unexpectantly Jesus shows up and pours His great compassion out on your life.
(i) That’s the good news today, when we least expect it
(ii) When everything is going wrong
(iii) When everything is out of whack
(iv) Jesus still has COMPASSION on us.
¨ No matter where you are in life today
¨ No matter how good or how bad things are going
Þ There is COMPASSION at the cross of Christ.
III) His compassion is unnoticed by many
A) Just a few feet from the cross of Christ
1) Just a few steps away from this great act of compassion, we find the Roman soldiers, who don’t even notice it.
B) John 19:24 (NIV) 24 "Let’s not tear it," they said to one another. "Let’s decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.
1) Why did these guys miss the compassion of Christ, why did they not notice this great act of Compassion?
(a) They were self-centered
(i) The soldiers were self centered
¨ They were not concerned with anything other than themselves
Þ What they were going to get
Þ How much they would take home
· It was all about them
(ii) Many of us miss the compassion of Christ for the same reasons, we miss it because we are so focused on ourselves we don’t even see what is going on just a few feet away.
(b) They were materialistic
(i) They wanted the clothes of Jesus because they were materialistic
¨ They wanted them for their own financial benefit
¨ They wanted the clothes so they could profit or gain from another’s loss.
(ii) Sadly today many of us are focused more on:
¨ The size of our houses
¨ The size of our bank accounts
¨ The year model of our cars
¨ And the size of our nest egg for retirement
Þ WE are so focused on materialistic things that we don’t see the cross and the Compassion it displays.
(c) Their eyes were miss-focused
(i) They had their eyes on the ground instead of on the cross.
¨ They had their heads down casting lots for the clothes of Jesus, while Mary, and the Disciple stood staring at the face of Jesus on the cross.
(ii) How many times do we do the same things?
¨ How many times do we get our own eyes focused on other things and not on the cross?
¨ We get upset, or depressed, and down.
¨ We hang our heads and we miss the compassion that Jesus desires to pour out into our lives, because our eyes are focused on the wrong things.
Conclusion: In closing today let me just ask you:
1. Have you missed the compassion of Christ like the soldiers did, perhaps for some of the same reasons as well?
a. I think if we really all think about it, the answer is yes. The compassion of Christ has gone unnoticed in our lives as well.
2. Do you deserve the compassion of Christ?
a. No
b. But..unrepentantly he brings it into our lives.
Prayer of Salvation: Jesus I know that I have sinned, I invite you into my heart to be my Lord and Savior. Forgive me of my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. Thank you for your grace and goodness. Amen
