Good Morning All,
Mark 6:34; “When he went
ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were
like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.”
This verse occurs shortly before the feeding
of the 5000. Jesus and his disciples
were taking a break from their ministry work.
The people around saw Jesus and began to gather together on shore where
his boat was going to land. There were
thousands and thousands of people. The
feeding of the 5000 only counted men who were fed. It doesn’t count women, children, those who
went home early; it doesn’t count the people who “don’t count.” Jesus looked out on the people as if they
were sheep without a shepherd. Sheep
without a shepherd don’t know where to go and not to go. A flock with no shepherd would have been
battered, bruised, bleeding, hungry, thirsty, and completely lost. The sheep would have been cut up from the
attacks of wild animals, emaciated from a lack of food and water. These people weren’t just gathering for a
picnic; they weren’t a beaten down and beaten-up group of souls.
One of the reasons that I like this verse
is the part where it says “and he had compassion on them;” I think that line
sums up Jesus both in his earthly ministry and his eternal ministry. The word for compassion in Greek is “splagchnizomai”
and it means to literally have your innards turn and twist and come out. When you say the word properly, it feels like
that is what is happening. It means more
than pity or sympathy. It is that
“kicked in the stomach” feeling you get when you see or hear or experience
something painful. It is that feeling
that makes your knees weak and your eyes blurry. It is, for a moment, living it out in our own
life.
Jesus looked out on all those people and
that is what he felt, a pain that not only hurt but a pain that leads to
action. In Matthew’s version of this
passage, Jesus heals many of their illnesses.
Jesus not only saw the pain, experienced the pain but then did something
to alleviate the pain. This is where,
too often, Christians in the US, miss what faith is. In our antiseptic PC world, Christianity is a
messy, dirty business. You have to get
your hands dirty. You have to see things
that aren’t always pleasant. You have to
experience things that are messy.
Sometimes life is just plain ugly.
The death of someone way too early, sicknesses, diseases, broken and
destroyed relationships; Jesus calls us to get in there and get dirty.
The truly wondrous part of this is that
Jesus wants you and me to do it because he did it and does it and will do it
forever. Jesus came to this earth and
got right down in the messiest parts to reach and to save. He does the same in our lives, usually with
family and friends, and he wants us to do the same. So go out and get dirty and sweaty; have
compassion, have “splagchnizomai,” for those in need of God’s mercy the
most.
Father of mercy, you
shower us with your grace beyond our comprehension and you have compassion on
us. Break our hearts when we see, hear
or experience others in pain. Lead us to
be your arms of comfort, of healing, and of consolation. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
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