Human Side of Jesus: Jesus Felt Compassion

“God loved us so much, which is showing his compassion for us He sent Jesus to die on a cross. I can’t think of any other you know display that could prove that.”

Tony

GPS Podcast

Transcript

Rick: 0:00

Welcome to the podcast. My name is Rick and I'm here with Tony. I'm excited as today we're continuing our series on the human side of Jesus. We will be discussing the human emotions that he felt different times in the Bible. Hence, emotions that most of us have felt at some point in our lives. The second emotion that we are going to look at today is compassion. So for

Tony: 0:33

all our listeners out there, like Rick alluded to, this is the second sort of human side of Jesus we're looking at. If you didn't catch our last episode of Jesus' human side of anger, we highly recommend you check that one out first before you continue on with this. just to be able to sort of, because everything sort of flows together, right? And, you know, a lot of times, I guess, when I think of compassion, right? Compassion is not really something you can voice, right? Like you could say, I'm sorry, but most of the time, people as humans, we show compassion by our actions, right? So we may do something like, for example, giving a condolence card or something to the source, right? So we actually, it's more of an action that I think of that I do myself. You know, it's an action. So actions are a verb, going back way back in school. So it actually means doing something, right? So it's a doing emotion, right? And You know, the big thing is I can think of many times that I felt compassion, but what we're going to look at in the podcast today is how Jesus showed compassion, right?

Rick: 1:58

And he did show compassion, didn't he, Tony?

Tony: 2:00

He did. You know, a lot of people like to think of God as this God of judgment, God of bringing wrath. But listen, God loved us so much, which is showing compassion. His compassion for us, he sent Jesus to die on a cross. I can't think of any other, you know, display that could prove that, right? When I was in the military, you know, basically, you would want to die for your fellow shipmate or your country to defend your rights and freedoms, right?

Rick: 2:39

That's a very compassionate thing to do.

Tony: 2:40

It is. And sometimes I think... we sort of downplay compassion. We don't think we're compassionate people, but if you really examine yourself, everybody's got a degree of some sort of compassion, right? Even the Grinch that stole Christmas had compassion of some sort. I don't have this a little side joke, but you know what, Rick, I can remember a couple of years ago. And if you guys haven't guessed by now, I like to give Jesus spoken parables, parables are stories. I like to share stories of maybe sometimes I've gone through something or Rick will share he's gone through something. And it's just to sort of make people think, because Rick and I are doing this podcast. We are by know all means, the know and all, the seeing all. We're just trying to make people think. That's the bottom line, right? So I remember a couple of years ago. My wife and I used to live above a dry cleaner. So upstairs there was apartments. And we got to know the owners quite well. In fact, for a short time, Brenda worked in this dry cleaners. Living above a dry cleaner was great. Never had to have heat on. It almost played like in-floor radiated heat because the heat comes up through the floor. So it's almost like having heated floors. We had the windows open all year long. Wow. Didn't help though. It was across from the refinery. So that could be combatant sometimes or not, not a good thing. So because we had, uh, developed a relationship with, uh, the owners of that, we got to know one of their daughters. Now, one of their daughters worked, uh, downstairs and she did more of the accounting aspect of the business. Okay. So I knew her quite well.

Unknown: 4:40

Uh,

Tony: 4:41

More as an acquaintance, though. Do you know what I mean? Like, you know how you have certain relationships in your life. You have friends and then you have acquaintances. It's people you know, but not on a more intimate level. Right. So what happened is she was home alone one day and she was in her 30s and her husband came home and found her dead.

Rick: 5:03

Wow.

Tony: 5:04

In their house. Okay. And I just can't. First of all, I can't even imagine being alone. I hope to God I never have to... To go through that. To go through that, right? Because that would be a hard thing, and especially where it's a loved one too, right? So you add that layer on to it too, right? So she ended up having a wake. So I went to it on behalf of the family. I think, oh, Abby was too young. I'm not going to... Not that I'm trying to hide her from that, but she really didn't have a relationship with... with this girl, so she didn't really... She didn't know her. No. No. Beyond just an acquaintance, just, I know that person, recognize them, right? Right. And Brenda was, I think Abby had something going on, so only one of us could go. So I went, and I'm waiting in line to pay respects, right? So you know how, depending on what it is, I find caskets are harder for me. Oh, is that right? Yeah, just because... It has, I wouldn't say bad memories for me, but hard memories, I guess, is the best thing, right? Because I remember my mom in her casket and the way I seen her and she fought cancer for so many years. It's hard, right? So there was an emotion automatically triggered in me, right? And most people, anyways, don't like that type of environment because it's hard. Yeah, it's emotionally hard. It is. So I'm waiting in line and I'm seeing... So the way we're lined up, if I look to my left, I could see... I call it almost like a receiving line. I don't know what you'd even call it. When I think receiving lines, I think of when you get married, you have a receiving line. So I don't know what the even proper terminology is. I'm just saying receiving line. Yeah,

Rick: 7:04

receiving line. To pay respects. Pay respects to the family.

Tony: 7:07

Right? So that's the way. So... I went up and, you know, I said a prayer for her. And then I came down around to where her parents were. And it was... So it's the different family members. And I had relationships with them, right? So you knew them, yeah. I knew them. So I knew the two brothers, and I knew their parents.

Unknown: 7:30

Okay.

Tony: 7:31

And I knew some of her aunts and uncles, but really the core four, I'll call it, was the two brothers. And... the mother and father. Because as a parent, I'm a parent, A, it would be hard. It's hard to endure death of, say, your spouse. But when your kids die before you, that's got to be extra hard. That's got to be a really hard place to be, right?

Rick: 7:59

Yes.

Tony: 8:00

So I'm coming up, and I found myself get really emotional, right? And it's... I had an overwhelming sense of compassion because it's not like I'm only seeing what they're feeling. I'm feeling their hurt, right? So welled up inside of me, the point where I was like tears, man, like, and I felt a great sadness just overtook me, right? And it's not that, you know, I just felt it. compassion. I really felt the true compassion of what they were going through. So I don't know what the spirit was doing that day, but obviously operating through me, because I did say a couple of things that I just, just being there. That's, you know, a lot of times when we're, because when we think compassion, compassion usually involves some type of loss or sacrifice, someone's sick, someone's not well physically. So you got compassion for their situation and what they're going through, right? Right. And I just really truly felt a great, like the best way, it was like something just washed over me. It's like, you know how if it's, I'll give you an example. So here in good old Nova Scotia, We get a lot of great humidity. Some people listening somewhere else might go, yeah, you guys think you get humidity. You guys got nothing. But anyways, I could only give this as an example, right? Right. So I could be in a nice air conditioned house and go outside and you get the heat that just hits you as soon as you go out the door. And it's like, it just totally encompasses you. And it's like hitting you in the head with a frying pan. You go, oh man, what is this? Yeah. That's the best way I can. That's the compassion you were feeling at the time. That's what the sense was. And, you know, Jesus felt compassion just like we do over different parts of his life, right, in his ministry. Yes, he

Rick: 10:16

did.

Tony: 10:16

Because I really don't think Jesus just healed people to prove that God's real, God wants a relationship, and God is here. I think he had a compassion relationship. for some of these people.

Rick: 10:31

Yes, and Jesus was showing compassion to the people that he healed. And by doing that, it showed that God, you know, cared,

Unknown: 10:44

basically. And that he was showing that God cared because he was God and man all in one, right?

Rick: 10:51

And at the time that he was doing his ministry, he wanted to show the people that, hey, this is what God can do for you. This is what God will do for you. And he showed them that you can also be compassionate about it, too.

Tony: 11:13

Yeah, and the thing is, too, Rick, with the whole compassionate piece, look at who Jesus sort of had around him i'm not talking to disciples look at the places he went you got the women in the well story you've got different stories you know the woman's going to be stoned

Rick: 11:30

yeah

Tony: 11:30

you've got different stories where jesus showed up

Rick: 11:34

yeah and there was also there was just ordinary people around yeah like people came from from kilometers around to see Jesus and to be healed and to hear his teaching and just to be around him. And he had a lot of followers, too, that came alongside of him. And this was part of Jesus' ministry, and compassion was definitely a part of that ministry.

Tony: 12:02

Like, compassion just bleeds all through the Bible. You really want to think about

Rick: 12:07

it. It

Tony: 12:08

does, yes, yeah. It's a major sort of theme. That runs through the entire Bible. Even Revelations. Really. Yeah. You know, when they're writing the seven churches, it's not to condemn them. It's to show the compassion that, hey, some churches were doing right. Some churches thought they were doing good, but they weren't really doing good. And it's showing the love and compassion to show them the truth, right? Mm-hmm.

Unknown: 12:40

So...

Rick: 12:41

As you can tell, we're going to be talking about compassion and Jesus' compassion that he showed during his ministry. So let me set this up for you. So we have Lazarus has just died, and his sisters had sent word out to Jesus that he had been sick. Now, Lazarus was a friend of Jesus, and Lazarus also had two sisters, and they all lived together at home.

Unknown: 13:07

Yeah.

Rick: 13:08

So Jesus is out doing ministry at the time, and when Jesus hears that Lazarus has died, he goes out to confront Lazarus' sisters, and they were Mary and Martha. Now, Jesus and Lazarus had a close friendship. In fact, Jesus had a close relationship to Mary and Martha, and we can see this in Luke chapter 10. Verses 38 to 42. And Luke says, Yep. Yep. Don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me. Martha, Martha, the Lord answered. You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.

Tony: 14:26

And you know what, Rick? I really think this scripture really actually speaks back to before even Lazarus died. I think Jesus' ministry used to go to different towns and stuff. And it's not like Jesus could check in at the Best Western, right? No. People would open up their homes and basically feed the disciples and Jesus and things like that. So I think that they, you know, really, if you think about it, some of us could probably relate to martha some of us could probably relate to mary how many of us get so prepped with this has to be done this has to be perfect this has to be because jesus is coming this has to be this way and we miss what jesus really wants us right so we're missing you know you think it says right there it says uh mary sat at jesus's feet That's something endearing, right? That's a tenfold, right? And how many times do we get distracted from the real mission, right? That's trying to go on.

Rick: 15:35

That's right. Now, let's look at John 11, verses 1 to 16. And it says, here John says, Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary, and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick... was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sister sent word to Jesus, Lord, the one you love is sick. When he heard this, Jesus said, This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. And then he said to his disciples, Let's go back to Judea. But Rabbi, they said, a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world's light. It's when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light. After he had said this, he went on to tell them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going to go wake him up. His disciples replied, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better. Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. Then Thomas, also known as Didymus, said to the rest of the disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. So that's quite a story that happened to Jesus and to Lazarus. And look at how the disciples are reacting to it, too.

Tony: 18:08

Exactly. And that's the thing, right? I know we're talking about compassion here, but this story brings a lot of different themes into it, right? So it's almost like when, you know, when they say, you know.

Rick: 18:28

It's like Jesus is almost wasn't compassionate there. He didn't seem to show any compassion. How come he waited two extra days? Yeah, he was, you know, usually if somebody's sick, you want to go and help them, right? Isn't that the compassionate thing to do? That is. It is.

Tony: 18:42

Or you want to see them before they die. That's right. Right? And the funny thing is, you know, Thomas says, said the rest of the disciples, let us go, that we may die with him.

Rick: 18:54

Yeah.

Tony: 18:55

It's like... It's almost like a mocking, right? Yeah, let's go because we may die with them. Like, they didn't get it.

Rick: 19:01

No, they didn't. And Thomas was afraid, you know, because they had just come out of that area. Judea, yeah. Of Judea. They were going to get stoned. He was afraid they were going to get stoned. He said, well, okay, boys, let's go back. I want to go with them. It's almost like he's saying, let's go back to die. Yeah. Really. That's basically what he's saying. That's right.

Tony: 19:22

And, you know, in John 11, verses 17 to 35, It sort of finishes the story. It says, If you had only been here, my brother would not have died. Did I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask? Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? She replied, Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who has come into the world. After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. The teacher is here and is asking for you. When Mary heard of this, She got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house comforting her noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his seat and said, Lord, You know, Jesus showed great compassion, and this is the thing, too. Sometimes we don't always get why God doesn't answer our prayers immediately. And sometimes we get distracted in our own little, I'm not going to call it a pity party, but. And we see both of

Rick: 21:57

these in these verses, don't

Tony: 21:59

we? Oh, for sure. And the thing is, this is, I guess, because we only see, you know, the here and now. We don't see big picture.

Rick: 22:07

Whereas God does.

Tony: 22:09

Imagine if Jesus would have went right away. So it would have took him two days to get there. roughly, let's give or take, because if you would have left right away, I'm figuring two days, I don't know. But imagine how less of people there would have been in two days, vice four days, because back then it wasn't like Facebook and saying, hey, there's a funeral for Lazarus at eight o'clock on Saturday. Right. Do you know what I'm saying? So it would have been word of mouth, right?

Rick: 22:41

That's right.

Tony: 22:42

So they would have passed it on somebody. They would have passed it on somebody. So it allowed more people to witness. And imagine if Jesus would have came when he was still in the mode where he was sick and healed them, would it have had the same effect as raising them from the dead? No,

Rick: 23:00

because this was the first person that Jesus has raised from the dead.

Tony: 23:04

Yeah.

Rick: 23:06

And... This is a teaching moment. It is. It's not only a compassionate moment. It not only shows Jesus had compassion for Lazarus and his family, but it's also a teaching moment for, like you said, everybody that was involved there. Witnessed. You know, to the mourners, to the disciples, you

Tony: 23:29

know. To his family.

Rick: 23:30

They all witnessed this.

Tony: 23:31

And he would have had his own family. Like, you've got to figure, it's not saying it, but he obviously had extended family, just like we have extended family. Cousins, aunts, uncles. I think, Tony,

Rick: 23:43

the big picture here is Jesus is showing compassion. And the compassion that he's showing is through his teaching, this teaching moment, and through the fact that He raised Lazarus from the dead. And he also showed his emotions, right? You know, Jesus wept. The smallest verse in the Bible. Two words. Jesus wept. And you can't get any more compassionate than that.

Tony: 24:12

And you can't get any more direct. There is no room for figuring out. oh, why did Jesus weep? It pretty well sums it up.

Rick: 24:21

Yeah, we know why, don't we?

Tony: 24:23

Yeah, and the thing is, in the scripture, we can see that Jesus was so moved by feeling compassion that he actually wept. But the story didn't end there, because he would raise Lazarus from the dead. Have you ever felt like you were waiting an eternity for God to show up in a circumstance or situation that you found yourself in? I can guarantee you, because I have, in those four days that Lazarus was dead, Must have felt like in the end of the story, right? For their family. And that God hadn't shown up. And that's, you know, I found myself in that situation before. But the big thing to take, the biggest takeaway is that God loves us so much. You know, he sent his only begotten son to die for us. Did we deserve it? Did we deserve it? For God to die for us? Absolutely not. No, because we were

Rick: 25:16

in sin, right? That's right. We're separated. You're separated from God through sin. And by God sending his son to die for our sins on the cross and then raising three days later shows a major compassion. You know, that's a major compassion for people. You know, God doesn't want to see us die in our sin. No. And that's why he sent his son. He was compassionate enough and loves us so much that he sent his son to die on the cross and to shed his blood for our sins. And then to raise again three days later and to go back to be with God in heaven. You know, that's a major thing.

Tony: 26:05

It

Rick: 26:05

shows

Tony: 26:06

compassion, right? Oh, for sure. And can you imagine? So think of all those people that witnessed this, because I don't know how many people were there. The Bible doesn't say it was like 50 people or 100 people or 1,000 people. We don't know. But just think of the impact, the ripple effect that had. That just set Jesus up as the above and beyond. He's just not... somebody, you know, a lot of people would think Jesus is, you know, the former whatever, whatever label you want to lay in that, right? Right. It really gave them, and I think too, the apostles too, right? Because let's face facts, you had these group of guys that loved him. I'm not saying they didn't love him, but that they truly believe everything that he said about himself. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it's easy to hear something, but it's almost like putting truth pudding to the truth or truth to the pudding, however that saying goes.

Rick: 27:02

Truth is in the pudding?

Tony: 27:03

That's right. Truth is in the pudding. See, that's why I love you, Rick. But it's just, it really, I think it, not only for the witnesses, we think witnesses as being the people that were there, but it also witnessed the disciples to say, man, this is really the full meal deal. This is, you know, you know what I'm saying? It's almost like it helped them further believe that Right?

Rick: 27:30

Right. And it taught the disciples compassion too. And we see throughout Jesus' ministry when, especially when he healed the sick and drove demons out of people, how compassionate he was for them. He felt compassion for them, right? Yeah. He showed his love through his compassion for them. Yeah. And the disciples are seeing this and his followers are seeing this and they're learning, you know, This is the way that God wants us to live. And Jesus was showing them that. And when we get our scriptures or when we get the New Testament, we get to see that too. That's right. In a written form, mind you. Yeah. But still, we have a blueprint on how to show compassion to other people also in our lives. Yeah. So when we show compassion to somebody, we're not only... helping them out, but we're showing our love, and in a roundabout way, God's love is flowing through us to the particular person that we're showing compassion

Tony: 28:39

to. Because the world today, I find, Rick, will make, try to sort of push their agenda on people that compassion is a sign of weakness. Like, do you know what I'm saying? Some

Rick: 28:51

people would definitely feel that way. Or someone... may have a lack of compassion.

Tony: 28:57

That's right.

Rick: 28:57

You know, they may not want to be compassionate because they feel, well, the world owes them something. Why should I be compassionate to that person? I don't owe them anything.

Tony: 29:07

That's right. And the thing is, too, is to be very mindful. We don't know anyone else's story. And maybe they were brought up into a family that they never experienced compassion. Because when I grew up, you know, my dad was an alcoholic. And his father was an alcoholic and my grandfather's father is an alcoholic, so my great-grandfather. So I can look at my dad and the fact he left us when I was two years old and be angry with him for that fact. But then I got to also look at the fact that what role models did he have to display compassion? So if he never had that through three generations of people, can I really... blame him for not being able to display compassion.

Rick: 29:53

I think, Tony, you have a great example from your family history on how to show compassion to people that are in that situation. Yeah. Because you know where they're coming from.

Tony: 30:05

That's right.

Rick: 30:05

Right? You've experienced what it's like to live in this situation. And therefore, you can say, okay, I'm not going to end up in this situation, number one. Yeah. And number two, I'm going to show compassion people who are in this situation, God's love and compassion, and help them get through this. That's right. And be there for them. And that's what Christ wants us to do. Yep. You know, when we ask Christ to come into our lives and forgive us of our sins, he does that. But what he also does is he changes us from the inside out. That's right. And when he does that, we start showing love and compassion that we may not have shown before to other people. And people see that in us. And they see that change that Christ is making in us because Christ, through his Holy Spirit, works from the inside out, not from the outside in.

Tony: 30:59

That's right. And that's the thing, Rick, and you nailed it right there. But we have to be willing first. We have to be willing to let God change us. So if you're having, our listeners out there, if you're having a struggle with a particular emotion, then take it to God. you know, starts thinking to yourself, why do I think that way? Or why do I feel that way? Because there's always an underlying reason. We like to sort of say it's because of this, this, and this, but there's always an underlying emotion that's at the root of everything, right? That's right. And sometimes we get deceived because we think it's this or it's that. It's almost like chasing the I don't know what you'd even want to call it. But it's almost like we can't quite hone in on what it is. But God can help you hone in what it is. That's right. What's the underlining root emotion going on, right? And

Rick: 31:53

God can show us or give us the ability to be compassionate to people that we may not have been ever compassionate to in our past because of that change in our hearts and in our minds that he brings. And the love that... works through us from him to love others and show compassion. So hit that like button and tell people about us and have a great day. God bless.