The Compassion of Jesus

Matthew 9:35–38 NKJV

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. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

We live in a broken world

We live among broken people

God cares about this broken world and broken people

John 3:16 NKJV

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

1 Peter 5:7 NKJV

casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Jesus sees broken people

Jesus saw the multitudes.

He saw broken humanity.

Jesus saw individuals.

He saw broken individuals.

Jesus sees YOU!

Jesus saw the weary: Those who were tired and fatigued from overwhelming mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual trauma.

Jesus saw the scattered: Those who were considered as misfits and castaways; people who were damaged, distorted, and regarded as beyond redemption.

Jesus saw broken people as sheep having no shepherd.

Psalm 142:4 NKJV

Look on my right hand and see, For there is no one who acknowledges me; Refuge has failed me; No one cares for my soul.

What was Jesus’ response to a broken world and to broken people? COMPASSION

Compassion is mercy motivated by love.

Mercy is not given to those who deserve it, but to those who need it.

Jesus’ compassion called for more laborers.

Matthew 9:37–38 NKJV

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Laborers will share in Christ’s compassion

Compassion is always the empathetic motivation for evangelism.

Compassion is a language to the broken.

Compassion is communicated through acts of kindness.

Mark Twain: “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

It costs to care

It cost the Father to send His Son

It cost the Son to leave the Father to live and die for us

It costs to care about people

Jesus called it “loving your neighbor”.

The Great Commandment involves loving God supremely and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Who is my neighbor? Broken and hurting people found along the journey of life.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37)

Caring will cost us time, money, energy, inconvenience, and even frustration and disappointment at times.

It pays to care

Jesus is reaping the reward of caring.

We will reap the reward of caring.

Proverbs 11:30 NKJV

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.

Matthew 5:7 NKJV

Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.

Matthew 25:31–40 NKJV

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

It costs not to care

Matthew 25:41–46 NKJV

“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

People need the Lord

People Need the Lord (Steve Green, 1984)

People need the Lord People need the Lord At the end of broken dreams He's the open door People need the Lord People need the Lord When will we realize That we must give our lives For people need the Lord?

Response to the Word

Jesus cares for YOU.

Jesus wants us to care as He cared.

Jesus is calling us to share in His compassion for a broken world and for broken people.

Will we join Him as laborers in the harvest fields of those who are broken and ready for redemption?