When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36
Reading throughout the gospels, we see several times that Jesus was moved with compassion. Below are just a sample of scriptures:
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Matthew 14:14-21
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. Mark 6:34-42
When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Luke 7:13
Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” Matthew 15:32
Reading about the compassion of Jesus isn’t new, and sometimes it can be such a familiar topic that we may tend to forget the weight and significance of its meaning.
When I came across this verse in Matthew 9:36, I was captured by His compassion in a brand new and deeper way than before.
This verse has rooted and sprouted within my heart that I can only pray the Lord’s good fruit grows from it.
It’s easy to consider a crowded scene. People from all walks of life gathered together, bumping into each other, some surely eager to get out of the crowd while others are not fazed by the masses.
But the one single commonality among the crowd – no matter its size or purpose – is that each individual is privately harassed and helpless within each of their own hearts.
Harassed and Helpless
In a crowd, others may see the mask we have on. Everything on the outside may be just ‘barely presentable’ but inside we know that one small light breeze and we might just break.
Jesus saw the crowd and He knew they were harassed and helpless.
El Roi, the God Who Sees, saw the burdens that were being carried, the struggles that were being fought, the pains and hurts that were being battled in every heart.
He saw everything.
He saw the crowds of individuals that likely couldn’t even verbalize the depth of their heart pain and suffering.
It’s true, sometimes we get consumed with distractions, work, and obligations that we make no time to deal with the helplessness and harassment of our hearts. Back in our minds, we know they’re there but we prefer busyness over dealing with and confronting something hard.
He saw through the masks, through the busyness, through the fronts, makeup, and all the ways we try to cover ourselves up from ourselves and others, even our own obliviousness.
Jesus saw it all, and it deeply pained Him to know their innermost being of heart suffering and that they were harassed and helpless.
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Psalm 139:1-5
Like Sheep without a Shepherd
Sheep without a shepherd are aimless, unprotected, and vulnerable. We are no different.
We wander in thought and step, we face daily attacks against the world, humanity, ourselves, and evil, and though it can be hard sometimes to honestly admit our feebleness and weakness, we know we are pitiful in our own strength.
Indeed, we are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
This verse forces us to get real with ourselves.
If we’re not honest about our hearts, we can’t be captured by the compassion of Jesus.
If we keep our masks on and deny our weaknesses, His compassion will have little value to us.
The Compassion of Jesus
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them…
Charles Spurgeon wrote that the compassion of Jesus in this passage “is expressive of the deepest emotion; a striving of the bowels – a yearning of the innermost nature with pity.”
Our Savior was deeply moved by this way of compassion when He saw the sufferers in front of Him. Weary moms with children in tow, teenagers struggling with their identity and purpose, men striving to get by and ahead for the betterment of themselves or their family yet knowing there’s always more that must be done. Ultimately, He knew the sin that corrupted and tangled every individual’s heart.
Incredibly, the compassion of Jesus didn’t begin when He saw the crowds but rather well before the beginning of creation!
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5
The compassion of Jesus led him, the Infinite One, to willingly enter His created world as an infant and to take on human flesh with all our weaknesses and fragility.
Jesus’ deep-rooted compassion led him to walk in weary feet, heal hurting souls, shoulder sorrows, surrender himself to suffering, and die for His world that rejected Him.
His compassion moved him one step closer every day on earth to the cross for our sake.
The Shepherd stepped down from Heaven to sacrifice Himself in order to spare His precious sheep.
That is the compassion that moved Jesus when He saw the crowds.
Related: For Your Sake
Invitation of Compassion
Move forward two chapters to Matthew 11:28-30.
To the helpless and harassed, burdened and worn out individuals, the Shepherd of compassion extends the invitation to come to him for rest. Receive the invitation from the gentle and lowly One and his heart of compassion revealed for you.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
He sees each of us, thoroughly knows our individual cases, and He deeply cares to meet us with His compassion.
We’re each among the crowd that Jesus saw with compassion and His heart yearns to meet and fill our deepest needs.
The invitation is extended and we are invited to make the choice to approach him and receive His perfect peace and love.
Wherever you are today, meet the Savior that was moved with compassion to be your forever and always Shepherd.
It is only from the overflow of His compassion that we receive, are we then able to love others well! Oh, how desperate our world is for the compassion of Jesus!
I pray the Holy Spirit encourages you through the compassion of our precious Savior so our numbers can grow wildly in sharing His compassion far and wide!
Related: The Good News of the Gospel
I needed this now. I need to hear more.
Thank you for sharing