Supernatural Compassion

Intro:

Matthew 9:35–36 NKJV

35 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. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

The title of my message is, [Supernatural Compassion].

If Jesus’s three and a half years of ministry had taken place within the last ten years, everything He did would be captured on our phones. His miracles would:

§ posted on Facebook

§ tweeted in 140 characters on Twitter

§ Put on tik tok

§ or texted to friends

Many would have pulled out their phones and videoed Jesus as He ascended to heaven, recording His last words. That is the way news travels today.

If it had happened in the 1990’s, people would have emailed their friends about Jesus’ recent moves. The new twenty-four-hour news channels would have followed Him everywhere recording his every move.

If He been around anytime after WWI to WWII, telegrams and phone calls would have been made detailing his ministry. People would have listened to the radio as stories of his miracles were shared.

Prior to that, newspapers would have sought to write articles about this controversial teacher from Galilee. The front pages of national newspapers would be all about Jesus.

If He had been alive within the last 100-150 years, {His message} and {His ministry} would have been shared much quicker than it was in the first century.

In fact, for the first twenty years after His resurrection, the only way people heard about Jesus was from person-to-person. His story started with:

§ twelve disciples

§ then 120 people

§ then 3000

§ then 5000

§ then the story turned the world upside down

This worked for a while, but the simple gospel of salvation spread and the church grew so fast; oral history no longer did the job.

Furthermore:

§ many of the eyewitnesses were aging

§ persecution was increasing

§ soon those who knew Jesus when He was on earth would be in heaven

The Holy Spirit saw these circumstances and inspired four men to write what Jesus did. It started with {Mark}, {then Matthew or Luke}, and {finally John} wrote his perspective.

While they provide different details, their writings do not contradict each other. Instead, they paint the whole picture of all that Jesus did while He was alive on earth.

If the Gospels are invaluable to us now, imagine what they meant to the early church. No longer would they need to rely on a few people to tell the story.

Now they had the details of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection written on paper. They could {read}, {memorize}, and {study} their Savior.

However, it was also pivotal because it provided the New Testament Christianand ever believer thereafter with a model.

Through the story of Jesus, we have the perfect example of what Jesus can do for people.

In the forty days after His resurrection, Jesus told the church to go, make disciples, and teach people.

He promised them the Holy Spirit would come and equip them with the necessary power to fulfill this assignment to live like Jesus.

But, through the gospels, we have {examples} and {specific stories} that help us in understand the life and method of Jesus’s ministry.

Tonight, I want to focus on how Jesus had had compassion on people. He took them where they were and helped them. He did not care about their past, their mistakes, or their failures.

§ No case was too hard.

§ No sickness to bad.

§ No person too far from him.

Jesus moved forward, extending the Kingdom of God, with power and authority, built on the solid foundation of compassion.

I was very conflicted about what to preach this evening. We have three nights together and I do not want to squander an opportunity to share what God wants us to hear.

I laid down to wait on God and listen to Him. As I did, He moved my heart with compassion. I thoroughly believe He wants to show His supernatural compassion to everyone in this room.

To illustrate Jesus’s supernatural work of compassion, we will focus on the call of the Apostle Matthew. There are three parts to this story, [Matthew’s Context], [The Pharisee’s Complaint], and [Jesus’ Compassion].

1. Matthew’s Context

Matthew 9:9 NKJV

9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

Before we can understand the incredible nature of Jesus’s call to Matthew, we need to discover a little about {his name} and {his occupation}.

The name Matthew means, gift from God. But that was not his birth name.

Both Mark and Luke tell us that his birth name was Levi. Names were important in those days. When he was born, his parents did not search through a baby name book and find Levi.

With the name Levi, it is likely he was of the Jewish tribe of Levi. A Levite was one who was responsible to take care of the temple. Matthew/Levi would have come from a family that was serious about God.

But somewhere along the way, Levi got off track.

§ Jesus didn’t find him working in the Temple.

§ He didn’t see him singing in the temple thinking,

o that Levi would be a good candidate to follow me.

(No, where did Jesus find him?) At the tax office.

Who LOVES dealing and talking about taxes?

It do not like taxes, but I like our accountant. She is a godly woman, her husband was a pastor, and before that they were evangelists. I don’t always love what she tells me about my taxes, but I believe her to be an honest person.

This was not the case when Jesus found Matthew. A Jewish tax collectorwas one of the most hated people in Jewish society. The Roman Empire contracted Jewish people to collect taxes from other Jewish people.

Matthew was ethnically Jewish, but he was employed by the Romans. There were four kinds of taxes he collected:

· A tax on land

· A personal property tax

· An import or export tax

· And taxes on houses

(Why did they hate tax collectors?)

If the tax bill was $1000, the Romans wanted their $1000. But Matthew was allowed to charge them however much he wanted.

If he decided they owed $1500, as long as the Romans got their $1000, they didn’t care. So, Matthew became rich off the people he should have protected.

But when Jesus saw him, He invited him, Matthew, Follow me. Something compelled Matthew, so he got up and began to follow Jesus. [Matthew’s context] shows he was the most unlikely candidate to follow Jesus, which led to…

2. The Pharisee’s Complaint

Matthew 9:10–11 NKJV

10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

At some point, possibly the same day, all of Matthew had a feast. This was sort of a goodbye party. Matthew quit his job as a tax collector because he was going to follow Jesus.

Matthew was so touched by the Lord’s kindness that he invited all of his friends. Matthew as a man with a lot of money, so this dinner was more like a banquet.

They would have had the best food in one of the nicest houses in the area. It was not uncommon for a tax collector to have this type of event. They loved to show off their money. The uncommon thing was who attended.

The Pharisees watched from the outside, refusing to participate with such terrible people. Piously they watched as{unclean} and {immoral} people entered.

(And guess who was on the guest list?)

Jesus.

They stopped some of his disciples before they entered into the house and asked,

§ how could your Teacher go and eat with “those” type of people?

§ Doesn’t He know they are nothing but tax collectors and sinners?

§ Why would Jesus go around {alcoholics}, {prostitutes}, {adulterers}, and {other criminals}.

The Pharisees were staunchly opposed to “that type” of sin. Notice they weren’t opposed to all sin. The Pharisees loved to gossip about “those type” of people.

Their complaint was in WHO Jesus ate with, not in WHAT He did.

When it was the fisherman, He asked to follow Him, nothing was said. When it was a disciple of John the Baptist, not a word.

For them, Matthew was too terrible a person. He was too far-gone. In their mind, a man like that did not deserve the kindness of a Jewish rabbi, let alone a Jewish person.

Jesus heard their complaint and then we see…

3. Jesus’ Compassion

Matthew 9:12–13 NKJV

12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Notice what the Pharisees did, instead of going to Jesus to ask the question, they went to His disciples. Instead of going to the source, they went to someone else.

They acted {tough} and {strong} on the outside, but their lack of character shines through in how they handled their conflict. Instead of asking the question directly to Jesus, they asked the disciples.

Jesus did not let this manipulative trick go unnoticed. He heard their complaint and spoke to them.

I can almost see the Pharisees in my head, “rolling their eyes, mumbling under their breath, can you believe that Man? He claims to be Godly and look; He is eating with the worst of society?”

I can see one of them whispering to the disciples, (why do you follow Him?) (Why would He go in to “that” house?)

Instantly Jesus turns around and looks them in the eye and explains with a medical analogy. If someone is healthy, they have no need to go to the doctor.

I imagine the Pharisees shrinking back and holding their heads down because they were caught red handed.

Jesus then quoted from Hosea 6:6, God wants mercy not sacrifice.

This meant something to the Pharisees. They prided themselves as being teachers of the law.

They knew the passage Jesus quoted. And the Pharisees loved to focus on their sacrifices. They loved to spend hours discussing the law.

But Jesus is more interested in showing mercy. We could say, compassion.

The whole purpose of His coming was {to help sinner} and {bring them to repentance.} He was not interested in those who assumed they were righteous.

§ Matthew knew he was a sinner

§ He felt the sting of failure

§ He understood what it meant to be a disappointment

But Jesus still had compassion on him.

No wonder Matthew invited all of his sinning friends. He wanted them to feel the compassion of Jesus as well. At once, He was surrounded by the people He came to save.

Close:

Jesus’ invitation Matthew and His explanation to the Pharisees underscores His purpose here on earth. He was moved with compassion for the needs of people.

Later in the chapter we see that Jesus went to the cities and the small towns, {teaching}, {preaching}, and {healing the sick}.

(Why?) Because He was moved with compassion.

He saw people who were in the plight of sin and knew that He had the remedy.

I looked through the gospels and found fourteen times Jesus’ ministry was directly connected to His compassion.

Jesus had compassion on {their sickness}, {their suffering}, and {their sin}.

§ He was moved with compassion when the two groups of 5000 and 4000 suffered with no food, and Jesus fed them with loaves and fishes.

§ He was moved with compassion when two blind men were sitting by the side of the road, so He healed them.

§ When the leper announced he was willing to be cleansed, He was moved with compassion and instantly healed him from his sickness.

§ He was moved with compassion when delivered the demon possessed man who was stuck in a cave, so controlled by a demon he could not be bound with chains or fetters.

§ He was moved with compassion for the father whose demon-possessed son threw himself to the ground, foaming at the mouth and gnashing his teeth.

§ He was moved with compassion of the father whose son died, so he returned life to the boy’s body.

And like the father to the prodigal son, He was moved with compassion when He saw Matthew, {a reject}, {a failure}, and {an outcast}, He went to an undeserving person, giving him the invitation of a lifetime: Follow Me!

There is something I want us to notice. When Matthew wrote of this account, he said in

Matthew 9:9 NKJV

9 As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

, “…So he arose and followed Him.” That was his personal account and his memory of the event.

(But what was it like to those around him, what did they think of his story?)

Luke 5:28 NKJV

28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.

(Notice the difference?) When Luke wrote of Matthew’s conversion, he added three words, HE LEFT ALL.

(What could Luke have meant?) From the outside perspective, Matthew had it all.

§ He had wealth,

§ he had status,

§ he had friends,

§ he had power,

§ and he had a lucrative position.

Perhaps many of his fellow tax collectors thought, (why is he leaving all of this to follow that?)

(Why would he exchange a life of comfort to follow a Man without a home or without money?)

From the outsider’s perspective, Matthew left EVERYTHING.

But nearly thirty years later, when Matthew set out to write his account of Jesus’ life, I wonder how he felt when he included this story.

Perhaps he knew that Luke wrote, HE LEFT EVERYTHING.

Matthew purposely omitted those three words. (Why?) Because he knew the events {not from the outside looking in}, {but from the inside looking out.}

§ He knew the shame he carried.

§ He knew the disappointment he caused his family.

§ He knew the people he had robbed.

§ And he knew the reviled place he held in society.

When Jesus passed by and showed compassion and said Matthew,

§ people see the worst

§ people see the faults

§ people see your failures

o but I see your future.”

When He compared what he gained by following Jesus, what people considered EVERYTHING, he considered nothing! His life began when he met Jesus.

He responded to Jesus’ compassion and became a leader in the church, writing the longest of all the gospels.

I have tried to compare myself with those in scripture:

§ A leader like Moses

§ A worshipper like David

§ Had wisdom like Solomon

§ Faith like Elijah

§ Dedication like Daniel

If I were really take honest inventory, I would be most like Matthew.

{I have made my mistakes}, {I have sinned}, and {I am unworthy}. But in wondrous compassion, Jesus came and invited me to follow Him!

Jesus had compassion on us. And the life we lived, to some may have seemed like everything. But when we weight it in the balance, what we thought was EVERYTHING is really NOTHING!

And tonight, Jesus has compassion on each of us. He knows right where we are and just what we face.

And in His great supernatural compassion, Jesus wants to:

§ Forgive sin

§ Baptize in the Spirit

§ Heal bodies

§ Provide encouragement or Give revelation