• New Testament Reading: Matthew 9:18-38
• Old Testament Passage: Psalm 116
• Points to Ponder

“He Had Compassion”

One of the reasons that Jesus was always doing and saying the unexpected was because he saw people
differently than everyone else did. When he looked at people he didn’t see them primarily as
violent, possessed, physically handicapped, socially despised or diseased. He saw them as “sheep
without a shepherd”. Therefore, he didn’t respond with fear, pity, embarrassment, disgust or anger;
instead he responded with compassion.

I am so often guilty of buying into the world’s stereotypes and making humanistic judgments about
my fellow human beings. I so often allow what I see on the outside to affect how I consider them
and thus how I interact with them. Jesus simply didn’t see people from a worldly point of view, but
he saw them through spiritual eyes.

You and I can’t manufacture compassion. It’s not something that we can put on the outside (at least
not for long), if it isn’t on the inside first. And whether or not we have compassion on the inside for
our fellow human beings is determined by what we “see” when we “look” at them. If we see them for
what they are on the outside -- what they’ve done with their lives and what life has done to them --
we won’t respond the way Jesus did. However, if we see them as God does, we will be filled with
compassion!

• Questions to Consider: When you see the crowds, how do you respond on the inside? Do
your best to respond to each person you meet today with compassion despite who they are or
how they look.