Remember, this week we are looking back at our incarnational living series that we went through in December to help cement some of those ideas that we talked about there. We've already talked this week about the theology of the incarnation, how our location and time matter in ministry. Today let's look at the compassion of Jesus.
First, Zechariah's prophecy at the birth of his son John, later to be known as John the baptist the one to prepare the way for the Messiah, links the incarnation of Jesus to the compassion of the Father.
Luke 1:76–79
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Jesus is to visit them because of the tender mercy of our God. "Tender mercy" here is the word most often translated as "compassion".
Then we see one of the key themes of Jesus' incarnate ministry was compassion. No serious student of the OT Scriptures in the first century could miss the apostle's portrait of Jesus' compassion and the Father's compassion. Compassion is the first characteristic of God that God mentions about himself in his self declaration in Exodus 34:6.
"The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God..."
The writers of the gospels make the compassion of Jesus quite obvious throughout their stories of his life. To list a few mentions of Jesus' compassion on display:
- The feeding of the five thousand (Mk. 6:34)
- The parable of the unforgiving servant (Mt. 18:27)
- The leper who came too close (Mk. 1:40)
- The parable of the good samaritan (Lk. 10:33)
- The parable of the prodigal son (Lk. 15:10)
- The healing of two blind men (Mt. 20:34)
- The raising of the widow's son (Lk. 7:13)
These are just some of the stories in which the compassion of Jesus is explicitly mentioned. The compassion of Christ is seen in countless other places throughout his story without the explicit mention of the word. I hope you also recognized that these are some of the most famous stories of Jesus' life. Jesus is known for his compassion.
In doing ministry like Jesus, then we should have compassion like Jesus has compassion. Our hearts should go out to the people around us steeped in sin and those systems so corrupted by sin. We should have compassion on those in need. We should have compassion for those in pain and suffering.
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Reflection
Think of your compassion for others today. When was the last time you heard a story and your compassion swelled up within you? When have you felt for someone else a feeling that you would describe as "gut-wrenching"? When we are acting like God and doing ministry like Jesus we should feel a strong sense of compassion for those around us. If you aren't very good at this, spend some time alone, in quiet and put yourself in the shoes of a loved one. Try to experience life through their eyes. As best you can feel their pain, their frustrations and their heartache. Empathize with them. This is vital for us to understand one another and love one another like Jesus loves us.