Jesus doesn’t just feel sympathy for the broken, He empathizes with us. In Mark 1:40, a leper kneeled before Him and begged, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus, “moved with compassion,” responded, “I am willing; be cleansed.” What is amazing here is the fact that while Jesus could have just spoken a word of healing over the leper, He went one step further. He stretched out His hand to touch him (1:41). For a Jew to touch a leper was absolutely unthinkable. But such was Jesus’ compassion for the sick and rejected.
“Does Jesus care, when my heart is pained, too deeply for mirth and song? When the burdens press and the cares distress, as the day grows weary and long?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes! He does!” When we are afflicted with disease and pain, He cares. When wegrieve the loss of dear ones, He cares. When we are confused, desperately needing leadership, He has compassion for us. When we are mistreated, He feels for us. When we dredge ourselves into the mire of sin, He grieves over that disaster. When, in hardness of heart, we even hatefully oppose Him, He continues to feel for us. No wonder the “goodness of God” leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4)! May we all say, “I will show compassion to others, because my Jesus first showed compassion to me” (1 John 4:19p).
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
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