Compassion

Matthew 9 I Desire Compassion

One of the marks of the ministry of Jesus was His compassionate spirit for His people who were suffering. Twice in this chapter He reminds the religious leaders that this is the true ministry of His kingdom. What was it that He saw and the religious leaders did not and often we do not as well? He saw the heart of mankind, but unlike like the religious leaders who saw with their physical eyes but not their spiritual eyes, Jesus saw the heart and had compassion. 

Matthew recorded these stories to remind his Jewish audience that Messiah sees and understands all. Also, he shared these stories one after another to remind them that one must see with the heart not just the physical presence, which is what Messiah did. 

So where should we have a heart of compassion? Recently a friend shared out of her heart the hard news of her son’s suicide. How do we respond to news such as this? It is not to wear the cloak of the Pharisee’s judgment but the cloak of the words of Jesus: “But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”[Matt 9:13]