The Compassion Of The Christ

“The Compassion of the Christ”

Mark 5:1-20

Mark 5:19 “Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.”

God's Compassion

The word compassion appears 41 times in the Scripture and is almost always used to describe the mercy and sympathetic nature of the Lord. The most common verb used in the Greek New Testament to refer to God's compassion is splanchnizomai. This verb is used twelve times. Once it is used of the Samaritan's compassion for the wounded man (Luke 10:33). The other eleven uses refer to God's compassion. In two separate parables Jesus uses this verb to refer to God's compassion in saving and forgiving sinners (Matt. 18:27 and Luke 15:20). The remainder of the uses of this verb all refer to compassion as the major motivation for Jesus' healing and miracles. So in nine out of eleven occurrences where this verb is used of God's compassion it refers to the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ as his motivation for healing! What is the meaning of splanchnizomai when it refers to God's compassion? The nominal form of this word originally referred to the inner parts of a man, the heart, liver, and so on. It could be used of the inward parts of a sacrificial animal, but it became common to use this word in reference to the lower parts of the abdomen, the intestines, and especially the womb (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, eds. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1971] 7:548).

Some theologians have felt that this term was too rough or graphic to be used in reference to God's compassion. Using the word for 'intestines"" to refer to God's compassion is akin to our using the word 'guts"" for courage in modern English, as when we say, 'He really has guts."" However, I think the New Testament writers meant to do exactly this. They were impressing on the readers the power and the force of God's compassion. They may also have had in mind a physical feeling associated with compassion. Sometimes a sharp pain in the abdomen will accompany intense feelings of compassion or pity for those we love. The choice of such a graphic word served to impress the New Testament Christians that God's compassion for them was rooted in his deep love for them and his sensitivity to their pain.

Psalms 86:15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

Psalms 145:8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

Matthew 20:34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

Luke 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

I. His circumstances

In the third chapter of Mark’s Gospel, our Lord’s miraculous works were attributed by His opponents to the power of Satan (verse 22). Our Lord responded sternly by calling this accusation blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and as such was the one unpardonable sin (verses 28-30). From this point on, Jesus began to speak to the crowds in parables in order to veil or conceal the gospel from those who had blasphemed the Holy Spirit (Mark 4:lff). At the conclusion of this day of teaching by parables, the Lord had instructed His disciples to cross over the Sea of Galilee to the other side. This is when the storm arose which threatened to destroy the ship (Mark 4:35-41). Sometime after the Lord Jesus miraculously calmed the storm, the ship landed, perhaps late in the evening,111 on the other side of the lake in the country of the Gerasenes.112 If, indeed, it was late at night, the scene must have been an eerie one, with the nerves of the disciples already worn thin by the terrifying experience of the storm.

A. His confrontation v. 1-2 The boat had no sooner touched the shore than out of the tombs rushes a ghastly ghostly figure wearing practically nothing, all disheveled and covered in dirt and filth smelling of rotten putrification from having come in contact with the

dead. From his wrists hang the remnants of ropes and fetters that men have used in vain to bind him but he cannot be bound. When we look at this poor creature we feel that he scarcely even resembles a human being but we have more in common with him than we know. Of course, we are far more sane, far more decent and respectable. The difference is a difference of degree rather than kind.