Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Being
Compassionate Like Jesus
10 When the apostles
returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him
and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but
the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to
them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. 12
Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so
they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and
lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” 13 He replied, “You give them
something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread
and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14
(About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down
in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so,
and everybody sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to
the disciples to set before the people. 17 They all ate and were
satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that
were left over.
What
a great story in the life of Christ. All four Gospel writers include this
miracle in their Gospels (Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:35-44; John 6:1-14). This story really teaches us how to have
compassion on people.
If we are to show compassion to a hungry, desperate, world, we must cooperate with Jesus in total trust. Hand Him your little and watch Him make it much!
In John 6:35, Jesus said these words, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will ever go hungry, and he who believes in me will never go thirsty.”
Prayer:
Jesus, help me to see people like you do. They are like sheep without a
shepherd. They are hungry and thirsty for You.
I cooperate with you by trusting You to take my little and make it much.
Please bless and break what I give you so I can give it to others. It is all
for your glory. It is all for you
kingdom. Amen.
If
we are going to have compassion on people like Christ, we have to see people
they way He sees them. In Mark’s account of this story, Christ saw these people
as sheep that had no shepherd. They needed guidance. They needed care. They
needed protection. Luke tells us that he welcomed these people and spoke to
them about the Kingdom of God. That is exactly what he told the Twelve to do
when He sent them out. Preach the kingdom. Preach the Good news. Jesus knows exactly what people need and
everyone needs the Good News that He has to offer. Do you see people like Christ sees them?
Apparently,
the Twelve had not learned to see people like Christ. They had another plan for
these hungry, helpless people. Verse 12
summarizes their plan to send the people away.
Their plan was to allow the people to find for themselves what they
needed. The Twelve didn’t think they had anything to offer. Isn’t that amazing?
Jesus is with them and they think they have nothing to offer these people. Jesus seizes this moment to teach them an
important lesson. He commands them to
give them something to eat. I believe the emphasis in verse 13 is on YOU. You
guys do it. You guys show compassion. Notice the response of the Twelve, “We
have only five loaves of bread and two fish.” Those first three words are
revealing – we have only. Those three
words are a huge obstacle to compassion – we have only. Have you ever let those
words stop you from showing compassion? I only have so much time. I only have
so much ability. I don’t have what I need.
The
lesson that Jesus teaches is very clear, not only for the Twelve, but for all
of us. If we are going to show compassion to people, we must cooperate with
Jesus. We must depend on Him to take our little (we have only) and make it
count. Jesus took the little bit of bread and the little bit of fish and spread
it out to satisfy 5,000 men! So, how do we cooperate with Jesus to show
compassion?
1)
Give Him the little that you have and let him bless it. Jesus took the loaves
and fish and blessed them. To the Twelve it wasn’t enough; to Jesus it was
plenty. Jesus doesn’t need big things to
accomplish God’s work. He takes small things and blesses them and that is
enough. Watchmen Nee said, “Everything
in God’s work depends upon God’s blessing.” Give Jesus what you have and watch
him bless it!
2)
Give Him the little that you have a let him break it. Jesus took the bread and
fish and broke it. Don’t be surprised if
Jesus takes what you give Him and breaks it. Maybe He needs to break our
pride. Maybe He needs to break our fear.
Whatever the case, Jesus is the Master of using the broken. Jesus uses broken
things to bless people.
3)
Jesus will use you to bring it to the people. He gave the broken and blessed
bread to the Twelve and they brought it to the people. He used His followers to
show compassion on these folks. I marvel at the fact that Jesus uses His followers
in spite of their small faith.
Everyone
ate. Everyone was satisfied. There were twelve baskets left over. Coincidence?
Hardly.If we are to show compassion to a hungry, desperate, world, we must cooperate with Jesus in total trust. Hand Him your little and watch Him make it much!
In John 6:35, Jesus said these words, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will ever go hungry, and he who believes in me will never go thirsty.”
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