A Study of Matthew: Inconvenient Compassion

Matthew 14:1–14 ESV

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

If this passage sounds familiar, it’s because we looked at the majority of this passage last time in our study of Matthew.

Herod the tetrarch, also known as Herod Antipas, stole the wife of his brother Phillip. In order for them to get married, the two lovebirds had to divorce their previous spouses. All of this goes directly against the laws of Moses. But while the official religious leaders turned a blind eye, John the Baptist publically called Herod and his wife Herodias to repentance.

Herod has John arrested for speaking against the king, then Herodias manages to manipulate Herod into having John executed. John’s disciples take his body for burial, then they went to Jesus and reported John’s death.

How does Jesus respond to this news? Matthew says that Jesus set out to find a place to get away by himself. You get the impression that Jesus really cared about John.

Jesus and John, after all, are relatives. Their mothers are cousins. We also know that the Holy Spirit was working in John’s life since before John was even born. When pregnant Mary came to visit pregnant Elizabeth, Elizabeth felt her baby react to the presence of the unborn Jesus.

Jesus and John, being relatives very close in age, and both being uniquely filled with the Holy Spirit, might have spent at least some time together growing up. Can you imagine those two as boys at family reunions? All the other kids are playing ball, and Jesus and John are off somewhere talking about the things of God.

So it’s no surprise that Jesus, who is both fully God AND fully human, has a strong emotional reaction to the loss of his cousin, the one person on earth who was the most like him probably understood him better than anyone else.

Jesus gets in a boat and sails to a wilderness area, away from crowds, so that he can be alone with his grief. He needs to pray, talk to his father. He needs to process this pain.

But the crowds heard that Jesus was traveling. They were curious about what Jesus would do next. They had needs, and Jesus is the miracle-worker. So they followed him. They searched for him until they found him.

Have you ever been the middle of something important, only to have someone else show up wanting your help with something urgent to them? Maybe it wasn’t so traumatic—you’re trying to get work done, and you get interrupted. Maybe you were in the middle of something devastating, and someone shows up, “Hey, I could really use your help.” REALLY? Right now?

It always seems like people show up at your doorstep, asking for help at the most inconvenient times, doesn’ t it? And it’s frustrating. When Zenetta was pregnant with Clara, we were traveling and saw signs saying there was road work ahead. Be prepared to stop in about a mile. We slowly approach a line of cars and take our place at the end of the line. As we are sitting there, a van come flying up behind us and slams into us. We get thrown forward into the back of the car in front of us. The trunk of the car is completely pushed in. Most importantly, we are worried about any harm that might have come to the baby.

We call 911 for help. Then Zenetta says I should check on the driver behind us. I go, and this lady is crying, “Why did this happen to me? I don’t have insurance. Blah blah blah.” I want to scream at her, but instead, I am having to comfort this woman and make sure she and the other passengers are ok.

When Jesus found this crowd coming to him, it was certainly at an inconvenient time. He wanted to grieve his cousin’s death. How easy it would have been for him to say, “Can’t you just give me some space? I’m hurting too. Come back tomorrow.”

But what WAS Jesus’ response?

Matthew 14:14 ESV

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Jesus didn’t complain. He didn’t politely excuse himself. He didn’t get all frustrated. Deeply aware of his own suffering, Jesus was moved with compassion to alleviate the suffering of others.

And that’s what separates compassion from sympathy. You can be “touched” with sympathy. Sympathy means you understand why someone feels as they do, or that your feelings are stirred because of someone else’s situation. I can feel sympathy for you, and do absolutely nothing to help. Compassion literally translates “to suffer with.” I feel your pain. You hurt, I hurt.Compassion stirs us to move, because it’s not just someone else’s problem now. It’s our problem too, because we are one body.

As Christians, our goal is to be more like Jesus. “I want to be more like Jesus.”

(Song) To be like Jesus, to be like Jesus All I ask is to be like him All through life’s journey, from Earth to glory All I ask s to be like him.

That sounds nice, but do we really realize what we are saying? To be like Jesus is to be filled with holiness, to be filled with righteousness, to be filled with compassion. And compassion is not convenient.

We all have our own drama; we don’t really want other people’s drama too! Compassion means setting aside your stuff because someone else is going through stuff.

I remember when I was in my first missionary term in Croatia. I had been trying to build a relationship with some college students at church and build a young adult ministry. I had especially tried to connect with one guy, Danko, who was leader of that group, but he made it clear that he was not interested in building a friendship. One day, I was busy preparing for an upcoming event at the youth center, when I got word that Danko’s dad had passed away. It was inconvenient, but I made time to go to the funeral. Danko was shocked to see me there. I just said that he was a brother in Christ, and I wanted him to know that I was sorry for his loss. Just a few weeks later, my own dad passed away, and I was heading home on Thanksgiving Day for the funeral. I stayed through Christmas, trying to comfort my mom, my brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, and everyone else while I was grieving. All through that time, the Lord kept bringing Danko and his mom to my mind. Danko’s dad had rejected Christ. If I was suffering, knowing that my dad is in heaven, how much more would Danko be suffering, not knowing if his dad made things right with God in time? What was his first Christmas without his dad like?

When I got back to Croatia, I couldn’t wait for Sunday to come, so I could see Danko at church and find out how he was doing. When I saw him, I told him how he and his mom were on my mind all through the last month, and that I had been praying for them to have peace and healing. He looked at me like I was weird, but two days later, he showed up at my apartment to visit. It turned into a weekly thing where we would get together and talk about God and the Bible and stuff. And then he started bringing friends. And that was the start of a wonderful young adult ministry that is still going strong.

Here’s the thing. Compassion is not about doing good things for others. It is about having a heart that is so in tune with God’s heart that it can’t help but reach out to others in need.

We can be the most generous people in the world and not have an ounce of compassion. The proof of compassion is in the timing. I like to see myself as being kind-hearted and loving and ready to help others; but I can get so angry when my schedule gets interrupted.

I’m going to be honest—this message is really stepping on my toes! As I’m preaching about having Christ-like compassion, the Holy Spirit is reminding me of all the times I have chafed, complained, outright screamed in anger because someone DARED to have a need in a moment I had reserved for myself. When I tell Clara I’m trying to teach her to be more independent, but the truth is, really, I just don’t want to be bothered.

Please don’t take this message as condemnation or accusation. We’re all human, and I know we have all felt this way at one time or another. But, if we are going to pray for a Christ-like spirit within us, we need to know what it is we are asking for.

I need to have a Christ-like spirit in me, because I, by myself, am selfish. I want to choose when I am generous and helpful. I want to do it when it will make me look good. Jesus isn’t about building himself up. It’s like Paul said in Philippians

Philippians 2:5–8 ESV

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus humbled himself, leaving heaven’s throne to born in a trough, because he had compassion for us. He healed the sick because of compassion. Because of compassion, Jesus cried in the garden, “I don’t want to die; nevertheless, not my will but your will be done.” It was not convenient for Jesus to allow the soldiers to arrest him. It was not convenient for him to be humiliated in front Pilate and the Jewish religious leaders. It certainly wasn’t convenient to be beaten to the point of disfigurement, made to carry a heavy cross, and then nailed to that cross. It was not convenient to take on every sin that ever has or will be committed.

But the thing about compassion is that compassion never feels inconvenienced. You may be aware of your own problems, but compassion makes that other person’s problems your problem too. Jesus seemed to think that saving us was worth it.

(Prayer)