Daily Devotional for Wednesday, September 20

True Compassion

“And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things,” Mark 6:34.

A modern theologian once said, “Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.” Jesus had been teaching and healing consistently since He began His earthly ministry. He was never short of condemnation toward the self-righteous religionists who imposed their version of theology to control and demean people. The religious elites had not only twisted Bible teachings to suit their agenda, but they also severely lacked compassion. When Jesus came face-to-face with the large crowd on this day, He was moved with compassion because of their need for a shepherd.

It would be easy to consider the miracle of feeding these thousands of people with just five loaves of bread and two fishes as the greatest act of compassion on that day. After all, Jesus had met their most basic physical need—food. However, Jesus saw a greater need than their lack of provisions for dinner. Jesus recognized that they were lost spiritually and needed a shepherd.

Before Jesus met their physical needs, He taught them of their need of salvation and forgiveness of sin. We can assume that Jesus showed them compassion by sharing that God had sent a Redeemer to meet their greatest need of all which is salvation! Jesus modeled true compassion with His message of salvation along with His methods of providing for physical needs such as healing and feeding them.

FINAL THOUGHT: True compassion, Christlike compassion, will lead Christians to faithfully share the gospel along with meeting physical needs of people in our lives.

Steven Ridings