Key Verse: “Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35-36 CSB)
A.W. Tozer once wrote, “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” How we see God and how we think He views us can make a huge difference in how we live our lives. For some people, they know that God loves them, but they’re less convinced that He likes them. In their minds, God is looking down on them with eyes filled with disappointment. He’s frustrated and fed up with them. He’s wondering when they’re going to get their act together. Can you identify with this? I can.
The only problem with this view of God is that it’s not true. It doesn’t reflect the God who has been revealed to us through His Son Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 9, as Jesus and his disciples traveled from town to town, they encountered people with all kinds of needs. Some were blind or deaf. Others were sick or lame. In some cases, people were being demonized. Everywhere Jesus turned, He found broken people who needed His healing touch. When He looked out over the crowds of people and all their various needs, how did He feel? Was He frustrated with them? Was He aggravated or exasperated by who He encountered? Not at all.
Instead, “he felt compassion for them.” The word “compassion” conveys a lot of emotion. It means to be deeply concerned about something, to have your heart go out toward someone in need Why was Jesus feeling such compassion? The verse tells us that it is “because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd”. Other translations used the phrase “harassed and helpless” or “torn and thrown down”.
The imagery that is being used here is of an animal that has been attacked by a predator and is seriously wounded and close to death. Like a sheep that has fallen prey to a wolf, Jesus saw a group of people who left to themselves were in grave danger and in desperate need.
In many ways, this describes where we found ourselves apart from Jesus. Before Jesus, we were distressed and dejected, harassed and helpless, torn and thrown down because of our sin. We were separated from God, spiritually dead, without hope and without the ability to do anything about it ourselves. But God in His mercy and compassion reached out to us in our most desperate state. “For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). This is the incredible good news of Jesus toward us.
And God’s compassion toward us continues. Even in the most broken and desperate places of our lives, Jesus is still looking upon us with eyes of love and compassion. As our shepherd, He wants to care for us, heal us, and lead us to the abundant life that He has promised to us.
Prayer: Jesus, I thank you for your incredible compassion toward me. Instead of writing me off or giving up on me, you reached out to me in my sin and brokenness and offered me new life through you. Thank you for all that you’ve done. Thank you for being my Shepherd. I surrender myself again to you today. Amen.
Author: Jonathan Miller has served in pastoral roles for more than 13 years in churches in Barrie, Oakville and Burlington, Ontario. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Prison Fellowship Canada, a ministry that mobilizes and equips local churches to engage in the restorative work of prisoners, ex-prisoners, their families, and victims across Canada. Jon holds degrees from McMaster University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He and his wife Adrienne have been married since 2004, and live in Burlington, Ontario with their 4 children. Jon’s greatest passion is to know Jesus and to see lives transformed by Him and for Him.
