A Picture Of Compassion

Photo by Steffen Kastner on Unsplash

As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone.  But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns.  Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.                             -Matthew 14:13-14

When Jesus heard of John the Baptist’ death, he went off to be alone, but when the crowds found him he had compassion on them and healed their sick.  In the midst of his sorrow Jesus served others.  His first instinct was to get away and process his feelings but that just didn’t happen.  He wasn’t mad when people showed up unexpected.  He didn’t ask the people to leave him alone for while.  Jesus welcomed them and served them. 

It’s not easy to serve when we are hurting.  This scripture isn’t saying that we can’t have time alone to process our pain.  Jesus, in this story, was an example of how we must not dwell on our grief.  This scripture is encouraging because we can be sure that Jesus is on our side always, that even when He had good reason to take a break, he didn’t.  Jesus won’t take a break in our situation either.  He is compassionate towards all people.  He leads us to serve others with compassion and sometimes the best times to do so are when we are sad ourselves.  Helping others in their sorrow is healing from our own sometimes. 

How many of us can say in our moments of grief and sadness we are willing to serve others?  I know a beautiful woman who was a picture of this kind of genuine love and compassion.  This woman suffered in her last months on earth.  She felt sick most of the time but her smile never left her.  She continued to serve her congregation and her friends and family.  She never complained about her own pain but was sure to help others in their suffering.  As she lay sick in her last days of cancer she was still determined too have her candy jar full of candy for her young visitors.  

Are you willing to serve others when things aren’t going your way?  Do you know someone who is an example of this compassion and selfless love?  Thank Jesus for being the perfect example and for the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us live a life of compassion and service to others.  Praise Jesus for never taking a break in our moments of need!