When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36
It was just too much. Sharon turned around and walked out of the tiny, 2-room clinic.
Sharon and her husband went to Northern Argentina to teach hygiene and help an indigenous people group access clean water. But she wasn’t prepared for the emotions that would overwhelm her. As they taught in the clinic, little babies with matted hair and distended tummies due to hunger brought uncontrolled tears of compassion.
Today, as our 24-hour news cycle brings nonstop news of suffering from around the world, we’re all at risk of developing compassion fatigue. In our inability to solve the reality of human suffering we’re left exhausted, anxious, with headaches, upset stomachs, and numbness.
Jesus, too, was moved by compassion while He lived on earth. The Bible tells that “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages…teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). The word for compassion here, in the Greek, means Jesus felt sick to his stomach.
The God of the Bible, says scripture, is the compassionate God who longs to rise up and show compassion (Isaiah 30:18), who comforts His people, will have compassion on His afflicted ones (Isaiah 49:13) and is the source of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3).
God is not at a loss over what to do for hurting, needy people. His Son, Jesus, expressed God’s mission with these words: “…the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed” (Isaiah 61:1).
Our hope is in the God of compassion.
