Reflections on Compassion

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Matthew 9:35

At what point does the real comfort come? Is it in the advice someone gives concerning where to go or what to do or how you should feel? Is it in reassurance of words or hope? Is it the expressions of sorrow on your face? It’s actually much deeper than that. What really counts is this: that in the moments of pain and suffering, someone took the time to stay with you.

In his book titled Compassion, the late Henri J. M. Nowan stated, “When someone says to us in the mist of a crisis, ‘I do not know what to say or what to do, but I want you to realize that I am with you, that I will not leave you alone,’ ” we have a friend through whom we can find consolation and comfort." (p.11) “Simply being with someone is difficult, because it asks of us that we share in the other’s vulnerability, enter with him or her into the experience of weakness and powerlessness, become part of uncertainty, and give up control and self-determination." (p.12) “Those who offer us comfort and consolation by being and staying with us in moments of illness, mental anguish, or spiritual darkness often grow as close to us as those with whom we have biological ties." (p.12). They enter the dark, unsure / uncharted spaces of our soul.

Those words give us just a small peek into what is meant when it’s said; ‘God-with-us.’ God came to share in our lives. He enters with us into our illnesses, mental anguish, and spiritual darkness, problems, confusions and questions. Because He is God-with-us (Immanuel), He has committed Himself to living in solidarity (unity based on shared interest, objectives, or standards)¹ with us; and to share our pains, joys, disappointments -- to defend and protect us. He suffers all of life with us. He’s here with us as His other self -- The Holy Spirit. Incarnational presence at work through us.

Jesus is God’s compassion that took on flesh and lived among us. After He re-entered paradise with the Father, the compassionate Jesus later returned with (through) the Holy Spirit, and lives within His people. His compassion is within us, and that gives Him the ability to share/give His compassion to others through us; His compassion is then mixed with our own as we comfort others.

The Hebrew word for compassion is rachamim, which means “womb of God.” It shows the roots of Jesus (Hebrew speaking-Jewish), and the meaning of this deep powerful emotion. The Greek term for compassion is splangchnizomai. Splangchna are the internal body parts -- and happen to be the place of the most intense and intimate emotions. Both the Old and New Testament words for compassion (rachamim and splangchna) give reference to the “guts-inward parts of the body” as the location/origin of this powerful emotion of compassion. It is also the place from which the Holy Spirit flows; “He that believeth on me as the Scriptures hath said, out of your belly (inward parts) shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive…." (John 7: 38-39 KJV)

In Matthew 9:36, we see that Jesus had compassion toward a crowd that was milling around like sheep without a shepherd. Witnessing this, His ‘inward parts’ trembled and He felt the pain of many within Himself. Jesus becomes hungry with the hungry, sick with the sick and lost with the lost.

Another example can be found in the book of Job. There we read about Job’s friends that arrived on the scene and sit with Job. They sat with him for days, and said nothing: “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place-Eliphaz the Temanite, Blidad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great." (Job 2:11-13 NKJV)

They mourned with him; they even sat on the ground with him for seven days, without saying a word. How many people do you know that are willing to sit on the ground with anyone for seven days and nights straight, without talking?

In the case of Jesus and the multitude in Matthew 9:35-36, the Scripture is clear about what happened. However, what the Scriptures don’t tell us is that Jesus, in having compassion in the large crowd, actually held, handled, sat down with, cried with and grieved with the many people. He was one man in one place at one time. However, when Jesus returned as His other self, Holy Spirit, He became omnipresent -- everywhere at the same time.

Jesus is with each and every one of us through the Holy Spirit, fulfilling His promise that says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Talk to Him; tell Him how you’re feeling and what you’re feeling. Tell Him all about every problem, every detail, every pain. Allow him to embrace you in His compassion.

¹The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, (Merriam-Webster, Incorporated). Springfield, Massachusette., 2004. P. 684.

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