-Learning Compassion

“When Jesus ... saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Matthew 14:14 Learning Compassion

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Why should our Lord show compassion towards those who were sick and needy? Were they not sinners? Had they not brought a lot of their problems upon themselves by the way they lived in rebellion against God? Were they not deserving of His condemnation rather than His compassion?

Precious Savior! He came to seek and to save those who were lost. He delighted to receive sinners and eat with them. He reached out to men, women, and children in their sin and misery, and brought them out of it as they responded to His marvelous grace. He could touch and heal the leper without being contaminated by his leprosy. He did not heal people mechanically, but with deep feeling for them.

He gently taught His disciples to be compassionate also. In Matthew 14:14, quoted above, while the Lord was healing the sick, the disciples were pondering how to get rid of the multitudes. While the Lord was multiplying five loaves and two fishes to feed five thousand, the disciples were multiplying reasons for sending the multitudes away. And we’re so much like them!

So He simply said, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” And then, as a means of teaching them, He proceeded to use His disciples to give the food He provided to the multitudes. Did they learn what He was teaching them about compassion? Are we learning this important aspect of service?

By Grant Steidl

With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA.

Website: www.gtpress.org

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