The Compassion Of God

Feature 2 – May 2022 — Grace & Truth Magazine

The Compassion Of God

James told us, “The Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (Jas. 5:11 NKJV ). If this writer were the only one who said it, we would believe it. But let us see if there are other Scriptures to support James’ statement. Consider Matthew 9:36, which says, “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” The Lord Jesus saw the great need prevailing among the multitudes. He felt their need; He saw their plight. They were harassed, having no joy, no peace and no security. The Lord Jesus is the One who can fully satisfy a weary soul: “For I have satiated [satisfied] the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul” (Jer. 31:25).

He is the Good Shepherd and the Great Shepherd, and He is also the Chief Shepherd. Are you like the multitudes – the many who refuse to follow the Shepherd? Or can you say like David, “The LORD is my shepherd” (Ps. 23:1)?

“Jesus … saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick” (Mt. 14:14). Again, when He saw, “He was moved with compassion.” He had a deep feeling of sympathy that moved, or motivated, Him to do what He alone could do. In the words of Isaiah the prophet, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4). There was none so compassionate as the Lord Jesus. “The LORD is gracious and full of compassion” (Ps. 111:4).

We, as believers, also have a Father who is compassionate. The apostle Paul wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassions, and God of all encouragement; who encourages us in all our tribulation” (2 Cor. 1:3-4 JND). We have a Savior who is full of compassion, and we have the Father of compassions. How wonderfully blessed we are to have been brought into such a sphere, or realm, where we experience the love and compassion of the Father and the Son.

We joy in our God, and we sing of that love, So sovereign and free, which did His heart move. When lost our condition, all ruined, undone, He saw with compassion, and spared not His Son. —W. Yerbury (died 1863)

The Challenge For Us
What is true of the Lord Jesus as a Man in this world should be true of us who belong to Him. The Father delights to see in us those things which remind Him of His blessed Son as He walked here in this world. Therefore we, too, should be compassionate.

The apostle Paul said, “Put on … as the elect of God, holy and beloved … compassion” (Col. 3:12). The deep feeling of sympathy and love produced in us by the Holy Spirit should be seen radiating from us and affecting others for the glory of God. As believers, we have the capacity to put on compassion as well as “love, which is the bond of perfection” (Col. 3:14 NKJV).

The apostle Peter said, “Be of one mind, having compassion for one another” (1 Pet. 3:8). It is pleasing and honoring to the Lord to see His people having one mind – the same mind in the Lord. Paul pleaded with the saints at Corinth, where there were divisions, that they “be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). Compassion for one another will help us to be of the same mind.

We have seen what Paul and Peter, led by the Holy Spirit, wrote concerning compassion. Let us hear what John has to say to us: “Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 Jn. 3:17). Shutting up his heart is to show no compassion, affection or sympathy.

The good Samaritan in Luke 10 is a lovely type of the Lord Jesus. He saw the man stripped of his clothes, wounded and left half-dead by thieves (v.30). The “Samaritan … came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion” (v.33). His heart was opened fully to this man in need; he took care of him. The Lord Jesus was full of compassion as He walked in this world. May we be more like Him.

By Paul Palmer