John 11:30-36 KJV
30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, andwas troubled.
34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
JESUS WEPT
Jesus was well acquainted with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They often offered shelter and hospitality to Jesus and those who traveled with Him.
When Jesus arrived to their home after Lazarus had died, Mary went to Him and fell at His feet, saying with great faith, “if you had only been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw Mary weeping along with the others that came with her, he asked where they had laid Lazarus.
And then, He wept.
Jesus wept.
In our society, it is often held that it isn’t “manly” for a man to weep or cry.
In fact, many young boys are taught or at least made to feel that crying is for “sissies.” This, as we now know, is so wrongheaded and ignorant.
In our scriptural text today, we see where our Lord, by whom all things were created, wept. As ONE with ALL power, we know He wasn’t weak or a sissy.
He wasn’t weeping because of the death of Lazarus. He knew that He was going to bring him to life again.
He was empathizing with Mary and the others that wept with her. He was showing what human compassion truly is. The ability to feel someone else’s grief, pain and suffering.
JESUS LIVED and TAUGHT COMPASSION
In God’s word, we find many examples of the compassion of Jesus.
He made the lame walk again.
He raised some from the dead.
He opened the eyes of those physically blind.
Matthew 20:29-34 KJV
29 And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.
30 And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.
31 And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.
32 And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?
33 They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
But the compassion of Christ didn’t stop with physical ailments. He also tried to open the eyes of the spiritually blind.
He taught us how to be reconciled with God, through belief in Him. He taught us how to live our lives in obedience to God. He taught us how to be children of our Heavenly Father.
He came to this earth in order to usher in God’s New Covenant, where He would willingly give His life as atonement for our sins.
He would give His life even for those who would reject Him.
Now that truly is compassion.
COMPASSION FROM THE CROSS
Some of the greatest examples of the compassion of Christ were shown on the Cross.
There, He willingly gave His life for all, as our atonement for sin. Knowing that many would reject Him wasn’t a consideration. This was the greatest example of love and compassion.
There, while suffering, He had compassion for the dying thief who was hanging next to Him.
There, while suffering, He had compassion for His earthly mother. John 19:26. She was His mom and He loved her. He wanted her to be placed in good hands and to be taken care of from this day forward.
There on the cross, while suffering, He even had compassion on the ones who were causing His great pain and suffering, as He called out “Father forgive them for they no not what they do.”
"Forgive those executioners who are causing My suffering", He cried.
As He was dying a horrible death, our Lord demonstrated His love and compassion for ALL.
WHAT ABOUT US?
As mentioned in Part 1 of this lesson, Webster’s defines compassion as a sympathetic consciousness of other’s distress with a desire to alleviate it.
Jesus taught us the importance of compassion, not only through His words, but through His actions. Throughout the four Gospels we are reminded many times of the compassion that Jesus had for those who were suffering.
He also taught us that we are to have the very same compassion for others. All others.
In a new commandment, He told us that we are to love one another in the same way that He loves us.
As we finish the lesson on the compassion of Jesus, we need to look inward and make sure that we show the same compassion for those around us and those we come in contact with.
Would we show the compassion of the Good Samaritan, and willingly go the extra mile to help someone? Including someone who is not a friend?
Are we willing to accept what others may say or do to hurt us, yet still show the love and compassion of Christ toward them?
Compassion is at the very heart of our Christianity.
It is at the very center of the teachings of Jesus. It is the very essence of Jesus’ life on earth.
His love and compassion for us is beyond compare.
Let us make sure that we are showing this same compassion to our small circle of the world, so that others may see Jesus in our lives.
1 John 3:17 KJV
17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
RVH