Compassion

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

COMPASSION

Luke 7:11-17

11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out — the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry."  14 Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!"  15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

NIV

A moment in time when Jesus raises a boy from the dead. We always remember his great moment before the tomb of his friend Lazarus, but how often do we point to this moment? Certainly we know Jesus has the power to raise people from the dead. We know the point with his raising Lazarus was to show his friends his authority, to demonstrate they need to have faith in him, as well of course he felt a compassion for Mary and Martha. That is the lesson here, as he did not know either the boy or his mother, as he did with Lazarus and his sisters. Jesus had not sat in this woman’s home and fellowshipped. This was an act of pure compassion for a grieving mother. Yes the town’s people were amazed and he was regarded as a great prophet. This was not his motive, as he would rather they had seen him for who he was. His motive was nothing more than to have compassion on this mother. Here is our life lesson. It is about understanding the compassion of Jesus. Nothing was said about this woman being his disciple or follower, in fact we are to understand she had never seen or heard about Jesus before this day. He has compassion for all mankind, not just believers. We may be too quick to judge rather than to demonstrate his compassion on those who do not believe yet. Surely as a result of his compassion on her, she believed, perhaps only that he was a great prophet, but as the rest of his life unfolded, her faith in him for salvation may well have become the foundation of her life. The point is he had compassion on her, and as his followers we should have that kind of compassion on people who have yet to believe, as well, of course, on each other. Compassion is certainly different than empathy. Rather than feeling as she did, his heart went out to her, he felt sympathy or pity for her situation, and he did not feel as she was feeling, most likely because he knew he had the power to change her situation. This compassion is a difficult characteristic to incorporate into our being. Although his compassion only required his speaking to the dead boy, telling him to get up, our compassion might require a little more than a few words, although perhaps that is all it might take. Yet showing or having compassion for someone might require some time and effort. Nevertheless this is a trait or characteristic we need to have the Spirit help us develop more. When we see someone hurting, either physically or emotionally, we need to show compassion. How that looks, it may not be clear right now, but if we are open to the Spirit it will be at that moment. We need to be able to have compassion on whoever is in need of it. Then they just might see Jesus.