What do we think of when we hear the word compassion? Does it conjure an image of a heart, or of one rescuing the helpless? If we ask Google, it would define compassion as the “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others”. Now what happens if we take this up a notch and ask about Christ-like compassion? What would that look like?

 Last Sunday, Pastor Richard took us through a reflection on Matthew 9: 36-38, to help us understand Jesus’ model of compassion.

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest”.

 What did Jesus see that stirred His compassion? Jesus saw a harassed and helpless crowd, and He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd (v36). And who were their harassers? Most probably their religious leaders, the ones that He radically calls out as the very hindrances to people seeking to enter heaven; But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in (Matt. 23: 13).

 How did it move Jesus to action? Interestingly, it wasn’t this sight that moved Jesus. If we go back one verse, He was already in motion. Jesus was going through all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness (Matt. 9:35). What was His move to show His compassion? It wasn’t to attack ones who harassed the crowd. Instead, to rescue them, He addressed their spiritual and physical needs by preaching the Good News and healing them.

 So how do we grow in Christ-like compassion? By sharing Jesus’ compassion for people and praying for more to help in His cause. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (v37-38). It’s a seemingly simple yet dangerous prayer, for it is these very disciples He spoke to that He also sent out as workers. Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddeus, Simon, and Judas; These twelve Jesus sent out… (Matt. 10: 5). Jesus’ model of compassion was to make disciples who also made disciples who could be sent into His harvest. His call to prayer is one that not only seeks us to pray that others might be sent, but one that also requires us to ask if we are the very ones He seeks to send. It is work that is not limited to certain people, for Jesus can use even the most unlikely ones. This cast of twelve included fishermen and a tax collector. Yet God changes them into Christ-likeness and uses them mightily to follow His footsteps, to preach and to heal; Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply (Acts 4: 13-14).

 The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few (v37).   This verse is equally true today as it was in Jesus’ time. As we reflect upon last week’s message, let’s also pray for the Lord to send out workers into His harvest. And as we do this, let’s ask ourselves – How would Jesus show compassion in Singapore, in our home towns, in the circles where we live and move? How would Jesus like us to show Christ-like compassion to the people around us?