THE ADVENT – COMPASSION

The LORD Jesus, it is said, during His earthly ministry, as recorded in the Bible, was compassionate towards the poor, the needy and the suffering people. “13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” – Luke 7:13

The Latin root of the word, ‘compassion’ means, “to suffer with.” Compassion is to feel the pain, the suffering, and the agony of the person, and then act upon it, with a desire to help the person to come out of it. Good Samaritan is a fine example, of someone having compassion on a person in need, in pain and in agony.

The Bible gives us an in-depth view of the compassion of God – “11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.” “3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench…” “10 But the LORD said, [to Jonah] “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not laboured, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?” – Isaiah 40:11, 42:3, Jonah 4:10-11.

The incarnation of Jesus, and His intentional and volitional desire, to rescue and restore the fallen human beings is, nothing but compassion of God in action.*
1- The Bible records, the eternal Word became flesh…“14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14
2- God took upon Himself to become a human being like us, out of compassion, so that He could help us out of our self-destruction – “17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” – Hebrews 2:17
3- The LORD Jesus, became our compassionate High Priest – “15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” – Hebrews 4:15

Jesus, out of compassion for us, became “flesh,” and offered Himself as our sacrifice. If so, how should we, then, respond towards all those who are suffering around us? Would we respond compassionately, as did our LORD? Our LORD, laid down for us, a pattern to follow; would we be willing to walk the path of our Redeemer? Would we be compassionate like our Saviour? Would we be the Good Samaritan?