The power of compassion
Peace and grace from our Lord be multiplied unto you today, dear friends!
Today I would like to talk about the power of compassion. If we look at the life of Jesus as the image of God – and that is Who Jesus is, – we will see that Jesus was motivated by compassion. When we are moved by compassion, we can’t be idle and barren. Our world is full of problems and God is calling us to work to solve them. We are His representatives on the earth. We are the Body of Christ on earth, so anything that God wants to do here He does through us.
Looking at the life of Jesus we see that He never was idle. Every time when He wanted to be alone and relax after long hours of ministry, people would find Him and ask for help. And He never rejected anybody. Many times we read in the Bible: «He had compassion and ministered to them». He went from town to town, because He was anointed to bring solutions where problems were.
«At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, „Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” But He said to them, „Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful fro him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless»(Mathew, 12: 1-7).
In this passage of Scripture we see a description of a category of people that are rather educated in the matters of the law and live by it. But knowing of the law and observing it had made these people useless for God and men.
There was another category of people; Jesus was the perfect example of this category. He also knew the law. But He also knew the heart of God that is behind the law. Jesus knew that God created the law not to limit people and create obstacles, but to help people. A man is the greatest asset and valuable in God’s eyes. Many times Jesus did things which at the moment appeared going against the law, but in essence He fulfilled the law by showing mercy and compassion.
There are many things we do not know and they can hinder us from living a full life. If we won’t take God’s revelations as a foundation of our ministry and actions, then we will become useless, religious people and do works with no worth or value no matter how sacrificial they might look.
Without the knowledge and understanding of what was the main motivation for Jesus in ministry, we won’t be effective. He said to the Pharisees: «But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’…»
This is the very thing that Jesus was motivated by and that helped Him to go and minster to people. Jesus had a revelation about God’s heart and true understanding of the Scripture. The Pharisees also had read Torah; they even knew it by heart. But they had not learnt the spirit of the Scripture.
Sacrifice is a good thing; but if it is not based on mercy, then God won’t accept it. We must learn to let go of those things that stop us from going forward and serving God: the key thing is to grow in compassion. Mercy and compassionate heart are what motivate us to serve people no matter what kind of faults we have. The Pharisees lacked this merciful and compassionate attitude towards people.
Test your heart today. How do you react on the needs of people? What motivates and moves you to serve people? Jesus was full of compassion and mercy! Let’s learn from Him!
Be blessed! Till tomorrow!
Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
