by Richard Clark, Jr.

Jesus’ entire life is clear evidence of His constant love and compassion for His lost, rebellious children. But the authors of the gospel go out of their way to record particular instances where Jesus’ compassion led Him to specific actions both for individuals and for groups of people. Jesus did something for these persons that fulfilled their need—He touched, fed, healed, taught, cast out demons, and raised the dead. Taking a closer look at these instances brings out how Jesus addresses differing levels or categories of human need. Here are three such stories.

The first story (Matthew 14:13-21): When Jesus heard the news that Herod had murdered His cousin, He left for a deserted, solitary place by boat. But the multitudes found out where He was going and followed Him there on foot. Arriving at His destination, Jesus saw that the crowd had gotten there first. Matthew records that "He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick" (verse 14 NKJV). When it got late and the crowds hadn’t left yet, the disciples wanted Jesus to send them away so they could buy supper. Instead, Jesus said, "they don’t need to go away—you feed them" (verse 16, author’s paraphrase)! When the disciples brought what they had to Jesus, He performed a miracle, supplying enough food for the whole group of more than 5,000 people. And in the very next chapter, Matthew states that, Jesus’ compassion led Him to feed yet another crowd, this time of 4,000-plus people.

The second story (Matthew 20:29-34): When Jesus was near Jericho, two blind men called out to Him. The crowd around Jesus hushed them, but the two only had an ear for Jesus’ answer. Jesus heard them and asked them what they wanted. Following their request, He touched their eyes and gave them sight. And after this the two men followed Jesus.

The third story (Luke 7:11-15): When Jesus was entering the town of Nain, a funeral procession was just heading out. A young man had died, the only son of a widow. When Jesus saw the widow, He had compassion on her and said, "Don’t weep." Then He came right up to the open coffin and touched it. And He said, "Young man, I say to you arise" (verse 14, NKJV). With that, the previously dead man sat up and started talking. Then Jesus gave him back to his mom.

Now let’s take a closer look at the level of need that Jesus addressed in each story.

In the first story, Jesus’ compassion led Him to not only heal the sick people in the crowd, but to quiet the crowd’s grumbling stomachs. Compared with many other needs, this need seems almost trivial. The people who followed Jesus didn’t need to be fed that night. They surely could have skipped supper and have been none the worse. Yet Jesus didn’t let them go away hungry.

Although the blind men’s needs, in the second story, were definitely much more serious and life-altering than being hungry, they could have lived blind the rest of their lives. After all, blindness doesn’t kill. And besides, begging might have given them a reasonable living. Yet Jesus answered their prayer for sight. He didn’t let them go on living with their blindness. Instead, He gave them increased mobility and empowerment.

The needs Jesus met in the last story are above and beyond needs seen in the other two stories. And though it is conceivable that those blind men’s eyesight could have been restored with the latest medical advances if they lived today, only God can resurrect people from the dead. Only God could confront and reverse the widow’s loss. At the moment Jesus met him, the son of the widow didn’t have a need (or a care)—he was dead! As Solomon wrote, "the dead don’t know a thing" (Ecclesiastes 9:5, author’s paraphrase). It was the mom who had the needs. Things probably would have become very difficult for her since no one was left in her immediate family to provide for her. Life would have gone on for her, however. Yet Jesus didn’t leave the mother to mourn. He didn’t let her son return to dust. Jesus interrupted the son’s "sleep" and banished his mother’s grief. 

These stories portray only a small picture of the God I worship. Looking at Jesus, I see that His love is not mere words and talk. His love was—and is—proven by His action. He cares for me; all of my needs He longs to meet. When on earth, Jesus didn’t want people to miss supper. He didn’t want people’s faculties to be missing or impaired. He didn’t want death to have the last word in anyone’s life.

As in Bible times, our world is still full of suffering. The results of sin are ever present. There are still multitudes of people who are hungry, who are ill, and who have disabilities. Funeral processions still wend their way out of town. People still mourn for loved-ones. Nevertheless, Jesus’ promise is that He will "make all things new" (Revelation 21:5). The things that typify life on earth—the death, the sorrow, the crying, the pain—will be gone forever, and Isaiah records that these things "shall not be remembered or come to mind" (Rev. 21:4, Isaiah 65:17). In the end, Jesus’ love and compassion will win.

Richard Clark is assistant editor of Connected magazine.