Compassion

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

MARK 6:31-32 (NIV)

I love the compassion of Jesus in these verses. He Himself will have been weary and needed rest. His concern wasn’t for Himself however, but for His followers.

In context, the attempt to get rest wasn’t successful. Crowds followed them, hungry for Jesus’s teachings and miracles. Instead of losing His temper with them for not letting them have a rest, He had compassion on the crowds.

Also, in the context of the passage, Jesus is contrasted with murderous king Herod, who had His second cousin, John the Baptist executed. Jesus had compassion on the people because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Herod should have shepherded the people, but as Jesus described him elsewhere, he was more of a fox.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. He is the bread of life in whom we find spiritual satisfaction and sustenance. Unless we eat His body and drink His blood (as it were), we have no part with Him.

‘Merciful God, we’re grateful for Your compassion on otherwise hopeless, lost sheep like us.  Please shepherd us safely home to glory, for the honour of Your name we pray, amen’.

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