Choosing Compassion
“When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. ‘Don’t cry!’ he said.”
We typically know when it’s time to go to the hospital to see a doctor. The preventative maintenance stuff, like physicals, we schedule once a year at our doctor’s office, but we go to the hospital when we know something is wrong. Maybe we’ve broken a bone, we’re bleeding profusely, there is unbearable pain, or we’ve lost feeling somewhere. We’re aware that we have a problem, so we want to see a doctor to help us get better.
Jesus recognized this in Luke 5:31-32 when he addressed the Pharisees who took issue with Him being the guest of honor in the home of Levi, a tax collector.
“Jesus answered them, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent’” (Luke 5:31-32, NLT).
Jesus was a good doctor, and He knew where His time was best spent. As Christ-followers, our time is well spent when we offer compassion to those in need. Jesus had recently healed a Roman officer’s servant when we see this happening:
“Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. ‘Don’t cry!’ he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. ‘Young man,’ he said, ‘I tell you, get up.’ Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother (Luke 7:11-15, NLT).
I love this about Jesus. Jesus was just walking through town with many people following Him when he came across a funeral procession. As the good doctor, He quickly assessed the situation. There was a young man who died. A mother was weeping. He probably noticed no husband or other sons beside her, making her a widow who lost her only son. His diagnosis was that she would be dealt a life of poverty and struggle. He comes up with a brilliant medical treatment—He will raise this young man from the dead! Problem solved.
But look at what the Word of God says: “When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion.” Many of us struggle to get a handful of compassion, but Jesus overflowed. This phrase for having compassion in Greek is defined as “to feel sympathy or to pity, to be moved with compassion.” We don’t always like the word “pity.” Pity has gotten a bad rap, mostly from prideful people who say they don’t want your pity, or from Mr. T, “I pity the fool.” But you want Jesus’ pity. Pity is “sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another, often leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy.”
Jesus, you can pity me all day! Send me relief. Show me mercy.
But here’s another thing I love about Jesus overflowing with compassion and telling this woman not to cry. Jesus allowed himself to be interrupted. This funeral was not on His schedule for the day. When he saw the need, He did not consider it an inconvenience or a disruption to His day. He could have let the funeral processional just pass on by, but his compassion for this widow made him stop the funeral and perform his first miracle of raising someone from the dead. The other two accounts of Jesus raising someone from the dead were the result of Jesus being sent for while the person was sick for healing. On this occasion, there was no request made of Jesus. He saw a need, and he was moved to do something about it.
How is your compassion? Are you willing to be interrupted to meet the needs of those hurting around you? Or are you too busy, too focused on your own agenda to have pity for someone else in the middle of their struggle?
Prayer Starter
Father, we surely hope that You are never too busy to see our needs and intervene. When we see someone else struggling, help us communicate with compassion and then move into action. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Dig Deeper
Colossians 3:12-13 NIV: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Reflections
To whom is God calling you to show more compassion?
