The Compassion of Jesus Christ

“Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way." Matthew 15:32 (NLT)

by Alexandra Copeland

Jesus Christ is the most compassionate human being that has ever lived. When he walked upon this earth, he revealed to all of humanity the very heart of God. In John 14:9 (NLT), Jesus Christ said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!” In the earth, he was the Word of God in human form, and he gave us a pattern and example of what the Father wants us to be. Our precious Savior taught the disciples how to pray, and he told them to pray that the Will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven. By this, you and I can know that God’s intention for us is to duplicate the mindset and culture of heaven within this earthly realm. We cannot do this without cultivating the kind of compassion that Jesus Christ exercised as he ministered on earth, and is still exercising in heaven on our behalf.

Compassion is a deep level of sensitivity and concern for the suffering of others. It is a feeling that should prompt us to act with wisdom, generosity, kindness, and assistance. Jesus Christ never missed an opportunity to share compassion, and we need to cry out to our beloved Savior and ask him to teach us to have his kind of compassion.

As we learn to take on this all-important compass for spiritual maturity, it requires us to also understand a few things. Chief among them is how high the stakes are for each of our souls. 1Timothy 2:4 (NLT) tells us that God, our Savior, “wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.” The perfect Will of God is that all people will be saved and get to know Him intimately. The aim of the devil is to keep the lost from finding Jesus Christ by blinding them with the cares of this world, so that they will not come to know Christ in the pardon of their sins.

Jesus Christ doesn’t just have compassion on those who have given their lives to him. He has compassion on everyone, and he doesn’t want any souls to be lost.  He knows the conditions of our souls, what heavy burdens we carry within them, and he is always willing to aid us.

In Matthew 15, he sat down on a mountain to minister to the needs of many. Matthew 15:30-31 (NLT) tells us, “A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.”

Our blessed Lord did not discriminate between rich or poor, sick or well. He looked upon all who needed help, healing, and deliverance with compassion.  He knew the conditions of not only their souls, but their physical bodies as well. He was moved to deliver healing on them, and as it was with everything that he did, not one detail was overlooked.

Jesus Christ was human. With such a multitude, and such healing to be done, those of us today can understand how easy it might have been to become impatient—to be ready to get everything over with, so that we can take a rest. Exhausted from excessively long hours of seeing and healing so many with diseases and ailments, it would be easy to dismiss or overlook the fact that food supplies were depleted from long waits, and people might go away hungry; but our loving Master did not overlook this.  

Matthew 15:32 tells us, “Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.” His words to the disciples were purposeful. They were instructive by way of teaching the disciples to incite within themselves a level of compassion equal to the needs of those they served.

This is a great lesson. There are those of us for whom compassion comes easy, because for whatever reasons, we are innately compassionate people. We have an easier time of recognizing the times when we need to exhibit compassion to others, but this is not true for everyone. Some people will need more instruction and experience. They will need to be more attentive to stirring up compassion within themselves by remembering the heart of Christ.

All of us have to remember that our standard is the giving and compassion of Christ. He was willing to touch the lives of people regardless of their race, background, social or economic status. During his time, those that were afflicted with leprosy and other diseases were ostracized and marginalized by society. Certain rights were taken from them for no other reason than the fact that they were sick. Jesus looked on them with compassion and healed them time and time again. This is an incredible standard, and because we have his DNA through our born-again reality, we can share God’s love with the same intensity and authenticity as our Lord and Savior.

Compassion is the engine that should prompt us to give and share so that we can be conduits of our Heavenly Father's love. He meets the needs of others through us, and as our faith grows, and we mature spiritually, we should become more pliable to the move of the Holy Spirit. Our hearts should swell with gratitude, and create within us a spirit of compassion for all people. We should remember the importance of one soul to Heavenly Father, and like Christ, make sure that we do not miss an opportunity to show compassion when it matters most.■

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.