Attractiveness of Compassion
"Jesus and his disciples went out to the lake, followed by a huge crowd from all over Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, from east of the Jordan River, and even from as far away as Tyre and Sidon. The news about his miracles had spread far and wide, and vast numbers of people came to see him for themselves. Jesus instructed his disciples to bring around a boat and to have it ready in case he was crowded off the beach. There had been many healings that day. As a result, many sick people were crowding around him, trying to touch him. And whenever those possessed by evil spirits caught sight of him, they would fall down in front of him shrieking, 'You are the Son of God!' But Jesus strictly warned them not to say who he was" - Mark 3:7-12 (NLT).
People were attracted to Jesus because he cared about them. He cared so much that he performed miracles to heal them of their many afflictions -- both inner and outer. Sure, his miracles attested to the fact that he was the Messiah, and from a historical and theological perspective, this is mostly likely why Mark included so many of Jesus' miracles in his gospel.
But let's face it -- people were impacted by Jesus' deep compassion for them.
People are always attracted to compassion. Where you find compassion, you will find hoards of hurting people seeking it out.
Behind many of the smiles we see are untold fears and struggles; loneliness and loss; conflict and chaos. If we wish to be like Jesus, our hearts must ever be sensitive to these realities - - whether we readily detect them or not.
We are so very good at hiding our inner turmoil, and making sure no one guesses just how desperate we really are. We are masters at concealing hurt, and camouflaging pain. We fear what people might think if we laid it all out for them. Would they still love us? Would they still respect and follow us? Would they still accept us?
Jesus well knew of such unspoken questions in our hearts, and also of our bitterest struggles. So he healed and healed and healed. He went all the way to the cross to heal us.
Financial shortfalls; health concerns; marital conflict; child-rearing heartache; fears about tomorrow; job pressures; relationship strain; and more can shape our inner wounds, weigh our spirits down, and leave us thirsty for compassion.
There have been Sundays when I've gone to church feeling so wrung out by the events of the week I just lived through, that all I wanted from the service was someone to hug me or put an arm around my shoulder and pray for me. I didn't really care about a witty five point sermon, or the song service, or even communion. As important and helpful as these things were (and are) to me, I just wanted someone to love me; to notice that I was hurting; to help me heal a little.
I am not alone. I know just about everyone feels this way at sometime or other.
I remember visiting the home of a family that once visited my church. When the woman answered the door, my heart sank as I looked inside their home and realized they had no furniture at all. The woman was eight months pregnant and sleeping on the floor.
My heart ached for her plight, and soon our church took them some furniture -- couches, beds, tables, etc. It wasn't long, and the man of the family gave his life to Christ. Just the other day I pulled out the pictures of his baptism, and reminisced about it all. This was a soul won by compassion in Jesus' name.
Compassion is so very attractive. Are you attractive?