“The Compassion of Jesus”
BIBLE
READING: Luke 23, John 18-20
Jesus must have
had a good relationship with all His disciples, but there was really something
special about John. The Bible describes
him and his brother James as “the sons of thunder”. That gives us reason to
believe that he must have been very bold in his behavior and demeanor. We do know that at least on one occasion he
is arguing with the others about which one of the disciples is greatest; yet
when we read his account of the Gospel, we see more of a quiet disciple, one
who even feels uncomfortable with naming himself in his own book. Throughout his account of the gospel he
refers to himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved”, instead of using his own
name. There must have been something to
this designation, because as we see Jesus hanging on the cross, the only
disciple He reaches out to is John. In
John 19.26-27 as Jesus is breathing His last breaths, He reaches out to His
disciple John and asks him to care for His mother. Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have already
been a widow after the death of Joseph and would have had to rely on her family
to survive. Jesus, knowing how difficult
this situation was going to be for His mother, asks John to take care of her as
if she were his mother. The text says, “from
that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19.27). Within this small portion of Scripture, I
believe we see a great example of the compassion of Jesus. He knows that death and pain are a part of
everyday life, but He also knows the best way to deal with these things is
togetherness. I believe that Jesus does
this not only for Mary’s benefit, but also for John’s. You see, all of the other disciples have for
the moment abandoned Jesus; Judas is dead, Peter had denied Him and as for the
rest …no one really knows. The next few
days were going to be difficult for Mary and John. Jesus knew that together
they would be able to offer the comfort and peace needed for each other until
His resurrection. It is here again that
we see the compassion of Jesus being lived out. Jesus knows that when we love each other and
work together, we will be able to overcome any difficulty this world may offer
to us. This is especially true for us
as Christians, because we have the promise of a better life after this
one. So, as we continue waiting and
praying for the return of Jesus our Savior, lets “rejoice with them that
rejoice and weep with those that weep” (Romans 12:15).
Prayer
Requests:___________________________________________________________________________________
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