Luke 7:13 The Lord had compassion on her

I thought compassion is a word that should be very common in the Bible.  But it’s not, really.  Mercy is a similar word.  It’s used more often, but it doesn’t convey the same thing as compassion.

In mercy, someone acts on behalf of someone else, someone in great need and who is unable to help themselves.  Mercy suggests too that the person isn’t compelled to do this.  They just want to.  But you can show mercy without showing compassion. 

Showing mercy is just the right thing to do.  If you see a need that you can meet, most of us just do it without even thinking about it.  In compassion, the person thinks about it.  In compassion, the first person feels the pain of the other person before responding.  And that pain is what impels the response even above whether that is the right thing to do or not.  You want to help, because you share that pain.

What I found surprising that when compassion is spoken of in the Bible, it is used most often of Jesus.  And He tells a few parables that involve compassion as either a picture of how God loves us or of how we should love other people.  But it’s a Jesus word.

It’s easy for us to feel compassion for other people, but a lot harder for many of us to believe and feel God’s compassion for us.  Maybe I’m just saying that from my own experience.  Maybe everybody else has no problem with that.  I wish that were true.

I have asked the question in different contexts why humans spend so much time of their lives before adulthood compared to animals, and I’m thinking that it might help us adults to remember childhood more, and that in our relationship with God we are more children than adults.  As we grow older, our parents become more as peers to us in many ways.  They are as likely to come to us for advice than the other way around.  But with God, we are forever children in many respects.

Consider these two passages:

Matthew 23:37 (NASB95)  Jesus speaking: ³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

Mark 10:13–16 (NASB95) ¹³ And they were bringing children to Him [Jesus] so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will by no means not enter it.” ¹⁶ And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

I’m thinking it can be really helpful if we see ourselves as children when we talk to God and not as that big adult we think we are.

I’ll close by adding here all passages in the Bible that speak of compassion and Jesus or God.

Matthew 9:36 (NASB95) ³⁶ Seeing the people, He [Jesus] felt compassion for them, because they were distressed [weary, harassed, troubled] and thrown on the ground like sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 14:14 (NASB95) ¹⁴ When He [Jesus] went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.

Matthew 15:32 (NASB95) ³² And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”

Matthew 18:27 (NASB95) ²⁷ “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

Matthew 20:34 (NASB95) ³⁴ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

Mark 1:41 (NASB95) ⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be made clean [as in, healed].”

Mark 6:34 (NASB95) ³⁴ When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

Mark 8:2 (NASB95)  Jesus speaking: ² “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat.

Mark 9:22 ²² “It [an unclean spirit] has often thrown him [my son] both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You [Jesus] can, have compassion on us and help us!”

Luke 7:13–15 (NASB95) ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴  _{. . .}  And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Luke 10:33 (NASB95) ³³ “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him [a man beaten by robbers and left for dead]; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,

Luke 15:20 (NASB95) ²⁰ “So he [the prodigal son, who left home and squandered his inheritance] got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

Philippians 1:8  ⁸ For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

 

 

Mark 4:19 The Cares of the Age

I wouldn’t have expected Jesus to talk about the cares of the age two thousand years ago.  You can get the impression this is only a modern phenomenon. 

Mark 4:19 (NASB95)  ¹⁹ but the worries [cares, anxieties] of the world [literally, the age, not the physical world], and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

If Jesus had simply been referring to the usual problems of life, making a living, paying the bills, I don’t think He would have used the word ‘age’ here.  There are other words that more fit the physical aspects of life.  This seems to me to be that the thinking of this age is causing people to worry, not the usual stuff of just getting by.

But actually, this is a problem throughout the Bible.  All through the Old Testament, everybody had a problem with idols.

But why would that be? 

An idol is something you can see.  They don’t speak, but at least you can see them.

God speaks, but you can’t see Him.  And you often wish He would speak more often.  Like right now, I have a lot on my mind, and I’m waiting to hear from Him.

The verse cited is from Jesus’ explanation of one of His parables.  He talks about different kinds of people, how they respond to God, or more specifically, to the Word of God. 

Basically, there are 4 responses to God or His Word. 

Some people just don’t get it, others like it, but they don’t see it as this life-changing, all-defining thing where God is the most important thing in life.

And then there’s this third group. 

They’re distracted.  Internally or externally.

This group is distracted internally.

They can’t see God.  They have this book that’s very old that tells them how to live and what God’s like. 

And then there’s real life that hits them, and they become afraid.  Their fears of things that could happen, might happen, is happening paralyzes them, and their walk with God goes nowhere.

The people in the parable never fully become followers of Christ, but the problem happens to believers as well. 

They still have this issue of real life seeming more real than God and their spiritual lives. 

In the Old Testament, this was often seen in armies coming against the people of God.  Can or will God really protect them from enormous armies?

But I think this is directed more toward the thinking of the age.  There are at least 3 ways that the thinking of our age can choke the Word of God in our lives.

The big idol, if I may use the word here, would be science.  Like, science has all the answers.  Or, science is the storehouse of truth. 

But science does not admit the possibility of anything outside of natural causes.  So the world came into being on its own.  It was not created by a supernatural power.  Life, human life, came into being on its own.  That too did not require a supernatural Being.  That’s why they say the world is billions of years old and that humans came from lower animals and life came by accident.  Like I often say, science can’t even tell you what a human being is.

Christians can accept the settled science, for example, of evolution and the extremely long age of the world over against the Bible, and their confidence in the Bible is shattered.

For example, Jesus said in Mark 10: 6 that ⁶ “from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.”  The world did not exist for billions of years before the existence of human beings.  They existed from the beginning of creation.  So where the Bible and science differ, many Christians today might accept the dictates of science over the clear teaching of the Bible.  And the Bible is no longer their ultimate source for truth about life and the world.

Another way thar the thinking of the age can choke the Word of God is to disparage the account of the events of the Bible, because they are often miraculous.  Were Adam and Eve really the first human beings in the world?  Genesis 2:7-25  Did Balaam’s donkey really speak?  Numbers 22:22-34  Did the sun really stand still in the heavens?  Joshua 10:12-14

Christians can doubt the Bible and the ability or willingness of God to act in history.  The Bible no longer is a record of God’s dealings with humans, but just a book of good stories.

A third way the world’s thinking can choke the Word of God in our lives is when the Bible challenges the world’s value system.

We want to be loving to other people, but the thinking of this age often wants us to accept things that the Bible says we shouldn’t and can’t.  Romans 1:18-28   It is not unloving to tell people that they are mistaken in their thinking.  Isn’t this what the very idea of repentance is?  A changing of our minds about our thinking about God, life, and our place in it?  But our society wants to normalize rebellion against God.  And we appear as unloving if we resist.

Two verses earlier in Jesus’ explanation of the parable, He talks about tribulation or persecution that happen “because of the Word.” 

And why would that happen?

Because the thinking and teaching of the Bible is very different from the thinking and teaching of the world.  And they often don’t like it when you disagree.  So it’s easier to just go along with it.

 

 

 

Acts 24:27 Felix left Paul imprisoned

Paul, of course, is one of the heroes of the Christian faith, and in the verse cited, he spent two years in jail for no real reason, and with no record of any fruitful activity while he was there. 

Acts 24:27 (NASB95)  ²⁷ But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned.

I’m sure Paul shared his faith with all the guards, but that’s a long way from starting churches and seeing God do miracles through him beyond the ordinary miracles. 

Acts 19:11 (NASB95) ¹¹ God was performing extraordinary [Lit. not the ordinary] miracles by the hands of Paul,

This reminded me of Joseph who also spent two years in prison with no record of anything happening in that time.  He did have a position of responsibility there, but he was in prison under false pretenses.  Like Paul.

Genesis 41:1 (NASB95)  ¹ Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream,

I went to Bible school after high school to prepare for the ministry.  If anything, I learned the value and importance of working for Christ. 

Passages like these are making me stop and think for a bit.

Paul was in prison, because he decided to go back to Jerusalem after Jesus had told him years earlier to leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not receive his testimony concerning Him. 

Acts 22:18 (NASB95) ¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’

Did Paul really think that the Jews and Jesus had changed their minds, so that it was safe to go back and that Jesus wanted him to do that?

Joseph had been sold into slavery years previously and was now in prison with no hope of ever getting out, except for several dreams he had before all this happened that seemed to indicate a bright future.  There was nothing in his real life that would suggest anything different from what he was experiencing now.

So here are two of the major characters in the Bible who, we could say, their lives were put on hold for a couple years.  At least that would be how we would look at that.  The Bible covers those two years in each case with less than a sentence.  I suspect that God saw that differently.

In our world today, I can make a long list of really serious needs that need help, yet I’m getting the strongest impression that God is not as concerned about our activity as He is about something else. 

What would that be?

I have talked in several recent articles about joy.  I’m seeing that joy is a lot more than just feeling happy.  It involves seeing God delighting in you like you would delight in your grandchildren and delighting in God even in the face of all kinds of circumstances that you might wish were different.  Your joy in the face of these circumstances is a show of trust that God is not only able to change them as He wants but that you are safe in His care in the meantime, and that you don’t doubt His faithfulness and love.  Your joy is an act of faith, faith in a God who created you in His image so that you could have fellowship with Him.

What does that fellowship look like?  There’s a lot of thanksgiving in it, like for all the things that are going right today, your car’s working fine, you’re still working, prayers about all the circumstances of your life, prayers for all the people you meet or see, the things in the news. 

I’m becoming more convinced that God would rather you did nothing for Him but rather you learned how to enjoy being in His presence.  God is able to do more in a short time than you could do in a lifetime.  But we were created in His image that we might commune with Him. 

I remember knowing or being around Christians who I thought were so focused on God that they were oblivious to what I saw as needs around them.  I think this fellowship with God would make us more attuned to other people and the needs around us.

I don’t think God wants us to build a hut in the woods to get away from ordinary life so we can spend more time alone with Him.  It’s in the circumstances of life that we learn faith and joy, and it’s in real life that we are able to bless others with the life of God.

 

I Samuel 12:23 A Sin Against the Lord

I don’t know about you, but I have things that I have prayed about for years, decades, with no seeming answer to my prayers.  The thing they all have in common is that they are prayers for other people. 

Sometimes I have asked God if it makes any difference whether I pray for them. 

It seems it does, though not in the way I was thinking.

1 Samuel 12:23 (NASB95)  ²³ “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.

These are the words of Samuel, a prophet and judge of Israel.  They didn’t have kings in those days, so you could say that he was the leader for the whole nation.

And that was not a particularly bright time in the history of the nation. 

At this moment, Samuel was about to anoint a king over Israel, their first one.

It wasn’t God’s idea or Samuel’s.  The people wanted their nation to be like all the other nations, and so they wanted a king too.  Samuel had told them that they were rejecting God when they did that, but they didn’t care.

How do you pray for people who openly just reject God? 

It seems that the need is what determines whether we should pray for things, not the likelihood that the prayers will be answered.   Just like how God wants us to stop and help a person in need, like the Good Samaritan, so God wants us to offer prayers for everything that is a need, because 1) we don’t know whether our prayer will make the difference, and 2) the possibility that it might means that that is the right thing to do. 

Frankly, I am learning to pray about and for more and more things, even the simple things that we take for granted.  And for more and more people, even strangers I see on the street or pass in the car.  Not only do I think this pleases God, I think it also changes and affects things far more than we know.   

 

Matthew 14:31 Why did you doubt?

Five times in the book of Matthew, Jesus tells people they had little faith.  Meaning, they are either worrying about things they shouldn’t, or powerless to change things they should, but God is more than willing to meet their needs in these areas.  If we see ourselves having small faith in these matters, the answer is not to try to work up more faith, but to focus on God’s desire to act in these matters.

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said that it’s not possible to serve God and mammon.  Mammon means wealth or property.  If you pursue one or the other, the things you do for the one will seem to go against the demands of the other.  For example, a person who pursues wealth will tend to consider giving to others as contrary to the goal of gaining wealth.  How can you give and still gain?   where God wants us to always be considerate of the needs of others.

So Jesus said, BECAUSE OF THIS, stop worrying about your life, what you’re going to eat, drink, or wear.  The lilies of the field are adorned more than King Solomon in all his glory.  If God takes care of them, will He not much more so do for you, ye of little faith?

Our problem is that we see this all as dependent on our labors, on things that we do.  Ultimately, apparently it is not.

The second time, the disciples were in a boat during a very severe storm, and they were afraid of dying.  Jesus calmed the storm, but He asked them why there were timid, ye of little faith.  (Matthew 8:26)  If they were supposed to be brave because Jesus was in the boat, it seems though that Jesus expected them to be brave without having to wake Him up.  That was what made Him ask them why they were timid in the first place.

There is nothing in the text to suggest that the disciples were fearful.  They have a problem, and they ask Jesus to help them out.  What’s wrong with that?  It seems that that revealed that they were afraid.  And He asked them why they were.

In Matthew 14, the disciples were again in a boat crossing the lake.  This time they see Jesus walking on the water.  At first, they’re afraid, thinking they’re seeing a ghost or an apparition.  Nope, it’s Jesus.  So Peter says: If that’s really you, tell me to come out there with you, and Jesus says: Come.

So Peter gets out of the boat and finds that he wasn’t sinking.  He starts walking toward Jesus, but he looks around and sees the storm and becomes afraid.  And suddenly he is about to drown and cries out for help.

Jesus immediately takes hold of him but then asks him: You of little faith, why did you doubt? 

Why?  Because I’m walking on water, and nobody walks on water.  But Jesus asks him: WHY did you doubt?

In Matthew 16, the disciples had forgotten to bring food.  Humans aren’t perfect.  We forget things, we make mistakes.  Jesus asks them why they are even thinking about that, ye of little faith.  (Matthew 16:8)  He then reminds them of the times he fed thousands of people with only a few loaves and fishes.

The fact that they had forgotten something so essential shouldn’t have given them cause to worry.   

The question, of course, is whether this is because Jesus was physically present, or because they were children of God, and when Jesus is gone, they should have responded in the same way. 

In John 16:7, Jesus tells them that it is better that He goes away, because then He will send the Holy Spirit to be with them and be with them forever.  (John 14:16)

In the last passage, Matthew 17, a man brings his son to Jesus who had been (we learn from Mark 9:21) possessed of an evil spirit from childhood.  So, a very long time.

He asked the disciples first if they could cast the spirit out, but they were unable.  Jesus was not there, but now He is. 

Jesus’ answer seems strange: Matthew 17:17 (NASB95) “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”

Jesus spares nobody here.  The whole generation was unbelieving and perverted.  The word ‘perverted’ may mean more today than Jesus did.  It’s like a tool that is bent out of shape.  The whole society has gotten away from a norm established in God.

Jesus rebukes the spirit, and the child is delivered. 

Later the disciples asked Him privately:  So why couldn’t we do that?  In Matthew 10:1. Jesus had given them authority to cast out unclean spirits, but now they failed.

His answer:  Matthew 17:20 (NASB95) “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

The five circumstances run the gamut from the day-to-day (food) to the life-threatening (danger at sea), from things that can involve our failures to things that seem impossible, and then to the needs of our neighbors who may need a miracle themselves.

In each circumstance, Jesus expected them to be brave and confident of God’s help.

Please note, I wouldn’t say that Jesus was condemning anyone, even in his harshest statements.  These were all far above normal, common responses to these situations, but God wants us to see things, life, everything differently than we were used to. 

It may take time, but we first need to see where we need to go.

 

 

Mark 4:40 Why are you timid?

Mark 4:40  And He [Jesus] said to them: Why are you timid? Don’t you have faith yet?

The idea of timidity is not a common theme in the Bible, but it is certainly one of the more important ones.

Most English Bibles translate that word in this verse as ‘afraid,’ why are you afraid; and when they do that, I think they are missing something really big. 

This is a question that Jesus asked His disciples: why are you timid?  And the question is emphatic, why TIMID are you?  The Greek often uses word order to emphasize the words.  Or why are you TIMID?  Like that’s the last thing you should be.

Well, they were in a boat during a very severe storm, and the boat was filling up with water and in danger of sinking.  They had no life preservers, and it’s hard to swim to shore when the sea is absolutely wild. 

OK, but why are you timid? 

One of the most basic themes in the Bible is that of the Promised Land.  God delivers His people out of bondage in Egypt and brings them to a Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey.

The land is a picture of life in the Kingdom of God, our lives, today. 

The surprising thing about the whole matter was that the land was already occupied.  And by giants.  The land had to be conquered.  And over and over, the people were told that they had to be strong and courageous.  And they were not to be afraid or TIMID.  God had so much that He wanted to give them, but they had to believe that God was going to do that, in spite of circumstances that said that that was not going to happen.

It takes courage to be a good Christian.  Because it takes courage to believe in God’s goodness and His promises in the face of circumstances that seemingly deny it. 

Consider some of the things told to God’s people just before they were about to enter this Promised Land.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble [do not fear nor be timid or tremble] at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed [timid].”
Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble [be timid] or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

[The Greek word for ‘timid’ in Jesus’ question is δειλός day - los´.  What we have done here is to trace its use in the Greek Old Testament, which was the Bible commonly in use by the early Christians.]

I have no doubt that, when Jesus asked His disciples in that boat during that storm why they were timid, He had these passages in mind, and the disciples would have caught the reference.  If I caught the reference, they would have caught it.

 

Before Jesus had asked them that question, He was sleeping.  When they had wakened Him, that was when He asked them why they were timid.  Meaning, if they had not been timid, He would not have expected them to waken Him.  If they had had faith, they would have let Him sleep. 

A storm is obviously not something that mere mortals normally control, so having faith here or not being timid in the midst of the storm suggests that when things happen to God’s people far above what we are capable of managing, that we should be able to rest in God’s care and protection to keep us safe through it and bring us out the other end all in one piece.

Yes, the common reaction is to go crazy in fear and panic that we are about to die tragically, but it seems quite clear to me here that God wants His people to rise about common mortal fears and believe in a God who is bigger than all this, who cares for His people, and who will deliver them from all their fears.  (Psalm 34:4)

 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 1:21 ‘See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed [timid].’
Deuteronomy 20:8 “Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted (LXX timid in heart)? Let him depart and return to his house, so that he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.’
Joshua 8:1 Now the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed [timid]. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
Joshua 10:25 Joshua then said to them, “Do not fear or be dismayed [timid]! Be strong and courageous,

Judges 7:3 “Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling [timid], let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’ ” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.

Psalm 27:1 A Psalm of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense (or, refuge) of my life; Whom shall I dread [be cowardly of, fearful of, timid before]?
Psalm 78:53 He led them safely, so that they did not fear [were not timid]; but the sea engulfed their enemies.
Sirach 2:12   Woe to timid hearts and to slack hands, and to the sinner who walks along two ways! 

Sirach 34:14 He that feareth the Lord is afraid of nothing, and doth not lose courage [is not timid]—for He is his hope.

Matthew 8:26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid [timid], you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 

Mark 4:40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid [timid]? How is it that you have no faith?” (Lit. Don’t you have faith yet?)

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful [timid].       

II Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.  

Revelation 21:8 “But for the cowardly [timid] and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”  

 

 

 

 

Zechariah 14:6

People who teach will tell you that they are learning more by teaching than the people they are teaching.  Teaching forces you to think about things you wouldn’t if you weren’t the one doing the teaching.  Like how to answer certain questions.

On the other hand, sometimes you might find yourself teaching things that you don’t know anything about.   For example, you might learn and believe that the Bible says you shouldn’t worry. but you might still have a problem with worry in your own life.

Zechariah 4:6 is one such passage.  Many of us know it by heart. “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.”

The word translated ‘might’ is חַ֫יִל, chayil.  Oh, it can mean might or strength, but it also means ‘ability, efficiency, or valor.  

The other word כֹּחַ, ko-ach, also means strength and power, but also ‘ability, efficiency.’

These words were spoken to a man named Zerubbabel, who had the task of rebuilding the temple after years it had been destroyed.  Their work was being opposed by people who brought legal and physical pressure and threats against them.  They were discouraged and had quit.

I think we can paraphrase this verse like this: 

Not by your personal abilities and capabilities, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.

We tend to judge what we think we can or will do in life by what we see in the physical, our natural abilities, our limitations, what we think we are good at or not good at.

I am well aware of mine.  

I also see a world in great need, and I have long thought that I might be able to do something about at least some of that need.  

Then I am reminded about my abilities and capabilities, and I think, what the bleep can I do?  

This verse reminds me that whatever I do in life that makes a difference is more dependent on God than on those natural abilities.  

Now I still haven’t done anything with my life, but if the results depend on God more than me, then this changes everything.  And things are changing.  Stay tuned.