In the bible there is an extraordinary string of events that highlight the compassion of Jesus.
Twice, even though Jesus has been out walking and teaching and is ready for some rest himself, he is met with crowds of thousands upon thousands of hungry people. In Mark chapter 8, we are told Jesus says, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” In both instances in Mark when Jesus feeds these large crowds, we're told he does so out of his compassion for them. In both of these stories, the focus can easily be on the physical miracle that Jesus performs. He feeds thousands with bread and fish that in non-miraculous settings would only feed a few dozen. I think the physical miracle is an important part of the story, but clearly Jesus didn't want it to be the main point. After the disciples have witnessed these physical miracles, they were in a boat with Jesus headed away from the crowds. Jesus was talking with the disciples, warning them of the people who had just witnessed the miracles he performed but who had totally missed the point. Don't you miss the point, Jesus was saying to them. Well, right on cue, the disciples begin discussing how they don't have enough bread in the boat to eat. They only had one loaf - I can just hear them arguing about who forgot to grab the bread for the trip. I am a dad who has two young boys who've argued with each over about things I've countless times proved to them there is no point in arguing about. So I'm with you Jesus on this one. So Jesus says to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” Oh, how often do I and do we as a church get so caught up in our own physical pursuits of comfort and security and power and acceptance and fame and fortune and on and on and on that we miss what Jesus has done in our lives and what he is still trying to do. When I read that passage this morning I could hear Jesus saying to me, "Do you not yet understand?" I heard Jesus asking, has your heart become so hardened that you have missed the point? The point isn't whether or not you can take care of everyone, the point is do you have the compassionate desire to do so? Are you willing to put your own personal comfort aside long enough to do what compassion demands of you? I hear Jesus asking, have you not heard and seen, do you not remember what I have done in your life? Are you so caught up in chasing your own comfort in life that you've completely forgotten all I've done to take care of you up to now? We are all capable of missing Jesus. These were his disciples. They had just witnessed Jesus feeding thousands upon thousands with almost nothing - and yet they are arguing about whether or not they'll have enough to eat. Is there a more appropriate definition of absurd? If these dudes are capable of missing the point - Lord, so am I. The beauty about Jesus is, if we'll take the time to reflect, oh he'll simplify the point for us. He'll tell us the point is compassion. The point wasn't that Jesus could feed the multitudes, the point was in the midst of his own need for rest and sleep when it would have been easier to turn his back on them - he didn't. Jesus told us the point was love your neighbor - all of them. He said be careful, people will try to tell you the point is whether you can or should take care of them. No, he said, the point is do you have the compassionate desire to do so?
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Robert "Keith" CartwrightI am a friend of God, a dad, a runner who never wins, but is always searching for beauty in the race. Archives
February 2025
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