The compassion of Jesus

I am posting my notes on Pastor Mike’s teaching this morning. These are MY notes. Not a transcript. Not his notes. Any misquotes, mistakes, or mistifications are my fault (or something like that).

Colossians 3:12. NASB 1995.
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience...

Most of these focus on our behavior towards others. We do not usually focus these on ourselves. They are mostly focused on others in the church. Jesus focused these on those outside the church.

Jesus is an example of having a heart of compassion.

Matthew 9:9-13
9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.
10 Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples.
11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.
13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus had compassion on the tax-gatherer, and he ended up eating with Matthew, tax-gatherers, other sinners, and his disciples. This offended the Pharisees. But Jesus had compassion even for them, telling them to learn something from the Bible: “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’”

Jesus laid out his desire: “I came for sinners.” His motivation was compassion. He wanted those who were good at sacrifice to learn to be compassionate.

Matthew 9:35-38
35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
37 Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Jesus came teaching, proclaiming, healing. Why? He felt compassion. They were “distressed and downcast.”

Compassion, not theories, not duty, not philosophy.

Matthew 14:13-16
13 Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
14 When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.
15 When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”

Jesus felt compassion for them so he healed them and fed them.

Matthew 15:32
32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

Jesus felt compassion, so he fed the multitudes.

Compassion is not a feeling that gives goose bumps. It was the state of Jesus’s heart that moved him to the things that he did.

Matthew 18:23-27
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’
27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

Jesus teaching about compassion. The king who felt compassion for his servant who was also his debtor. Jesus was teaching about himself in the form of a story.

Matthew 20:34
34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

Jesus healed the blind out of compassion.

Luke 7:1-10. The story of the centurion with the sick servant. Jesus saw his faith and was moved to heal him.

Luke 7:11-17. Jesus raised a man from the dead because he had compassion for the mother.

Luke 15:11-24. The story of the prodigal son. The father felt compassion for his son. Again, Jesus was telling a story about his own compassion for the lost and sinful.

Philosophy, good ideas, the way of the world would have required that the father wait for the son to return, confess his sin, and wait and see if he had really repented.

Compassion drove the father to run to his son, embrace him and order a celebration.

So, where do you get compassion?

Jesus was God and man. Was it a human emotion, or just something special to the God side of the Jesus?

Colossians 3:12. NASB 1995.
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience...

Paul saw it as something for all of us. Something that we can put on.

We can not look at people through the lenses of right and wrong. Looking at people through the lenses of right and wrong does not bring compassion.

Mike: “I need a huge does, an IV of compassion. I do not need a shot once a day. I need to be hooked up 24/7.”

Jesus could heal and teach all day long. He seemed to have huge amounts of compassion. Where did it come from?

It is free, It will cost everything. But it is free.

Pray for compassion.