Jesus’ Great Compassion

From the desk of Pastor Ben

“When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.”        (Matthew 14:14)

The normal, natural inclination for Jesus at this time would have been to ignore the crowd or to forthrightly dismiss the people and tell them He’d do no more miracles to help them. But Jesus, being God’s Son, did not merely operate according to human emotions. Even though He was exhausted and in need of rest, the Lord “felt compassion for them,” which drew Him to the people.
The word translated “compassion” means literally to be moved in one’s bowels, which the ancients considered to be the seat of human emotions. Christ was far from detached and unfeeling regarding humanity’s needs, but was deeply touched by fallen people’s confusion, suffering, and spiritual lostness. No doubt He felt here much as He did when He approached Lazarus’ grave and wept (John 11:35), or as He did when He wept for Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34-35; 19:41-42).
In His divine mercy, Jesus had compassion even on many shallow, self-centered thrill seekers in the crowds following Him. This displayed God’s loving heart toward people who would not understand or believe the gospel, and would thus ultimately reject Him.
Jesus’ compassion also derived from His perfect perspective of hell and the terrible consequences he foresaw for those who would not trust Him for salvation. As much as our Lord wanted to heal people’s sick and injured bodies, He was infinitely more concerned about their sin-plagued souls. Physical bodies can become sick or injured again, but once Christ redeems a fallen soul, it forever remains whole and free from sin’s dominion.

Ask Yourself:
Perhaps you struggle to sense or experience the love of your Heavenly Father. But Jesus said, He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). When you see the Son’s heart bursting with compassion, do you realize you’re also seeing the heart of your Father?