Do: Compassion
Matthew 15:29-38
After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?’ Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ They said, ‘Seven, and a few small fish.’ Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children.
As we get closer to the events of Holy Week, more and more attention is given to Jesus “Passion,” by which is meant his “sacrificial” suffering and death. The recent film “The Passion of the Christ” focused entirely on the end of Jesus’ life, with a special emphasis on the suffering and the blood. What is not talked about as much is “The Compassion of the Christ.” Jesus and his actions are more defined by his love for people than by any kind of understanding of being a cosmic atoning sacrifice to right the wrongs of humanity. Borg and Crossan say that the true passion of Jesus was God and the Kingdom of God.
The words for “compassion” in both the Hebrew and Greek hearken back to a similar etymology. Translated variously as “deeply moved, moved in his guts (often phrased as bowels), feeling for.” But the “guts” it refers to are actually feminine plumbing. In the Old Testament, one passage clearly says “as a mother feels for her child.” To feel in your guts, biblical compassion, is uterine. It is love for the ones formed within your womb. Jesus’ compassion is an example of the feminine aspect of God.
The clip from DreamThinkBeDo makes an interesting observation. Anthropologist Margaret Meade said that the first evidence of civilization is a healed femur, which tells her that someone cared for the injured person. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiWCwF_uqSg) Human civilization began with compassion.
How would it change our celebration of Holy Week and Easter if we focused on Jesus’ Compassion instead of “The Passion?” We’ve explored both Jesus and the issue of violence and have talked about how ours is not a God of violence. God did not want Jesus to suffer and die. Jesus endured his torture and death because of his compassion for the poor, the oppressed, and even his enemies and persecutors. Hopefully, Jesus’ example will inspire in us a similar compassion.
1. GOOD NEWS: Jesus’ ministry is motivated by deep love and compassion.
2. DIRECTION: Christ’s compassion can transform, feed, and heal our world. “Civilization” continues.
3. ANCHOR: Love with Guts
EXPERIENTIAL FIELD: We experience God’s deep love for Creation and us when we share in Christ’s compassion.
No comments:
Post a Comment