When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them… Matthew 9:36
It was in his gut. Jesus felt it. A deep ache that he embraced as his own when he entered into the spiritual aimlessness of the people.
I’ve often celebrated the historic power of Jesus becoming flesh and living among us… but that doesn’t tell the entire story. Not only did Jesus walk the dusty trails of Israel; not only did he enter miraculously into lives of people; not only did he teach with power… he choose to engage his gut; to feel at the core; to personalize the pain.
Jesus chose this.
The tears of the vulnerable landed on his cheek.
His mission was world changing, but it extended beyond a global strategy. Jesus invested his emotion in his mission.
The fragile and damaged lives that Jesus encountered were more than just pieces on a cosmic chessboard. Jesus loved. With the risks, disappointments, vulnerability and suffering that this invites.
Jesus rescued the desperate. He entered into the chaos. There was nothing sterile about it. Mercy met the mess.
Hope can’t be delivered remotely. A manger proved that.
Forgiveness can’t be purchased without a price. The cross made this clear.
Love won’t be extended without tears. Compassion exposed that.
Victory is impossible without resurrection. A grave without a corpse revealed that.
Compassion. There is nothing hypothetical about his care.
His model of love shows the way. Real tears. Real pain. Real love.
Nothing less will honor him.
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