The Compassion of the Christ

To be moved with compassion is more than sympathy. In the New Testament, there is a specific word used for when Christ felt compassion that led him to feed the multitudes, heal the blind and work other miracles. The word suggests a visceral compulsion to DO something far beyond just feeling pity.

What if local churches stopped trying to build massive, elaborate edifices, buying planes and ultra-luxury vehicles for so-called prosperity preachers and started actually helping people? What if the Church started caring for the poor as she were instructed to do by Christ? Would there be a need for massive government? I doubt it.

"Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:15-16, 26

This is a direct reflection of Christ's warnings that many of those who claim to have done so many wonderful things for Him will be strangers to Him in the judgment.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ Matthew 25:34-36, 40