Compassion

When I was 22 years of age I was in a relationship with a girl named Jessie.  Back then I could honestly say that I was not the best boyfriend a girl could dream of.  In fact back then I could say that my behavior caused the downfall of all my relationships.  It wasn’t that I was rude and inconsiderate (I was far beyond both rude and considerate.) it was that I was living my life for myself.  Things began to get out of place for Jessie and me.  My affections for her were fading away simply because I didn’t put any effort into the relationship.  Slowly we began to both find other interests.  The path that we created together began to split in two.  She went one way and I, the other.  To tell you the truth I believe that I was the cause of the breakdown in this relationship. I remember one day Jessie came to me and asked a very honest but simple question.  (This was during the meltdown of our relationship.)  She said; “Steli, do you love me?”  Of course out of my mouth came the word yes... I thought to myself that wasn’t very enthusiastic, but hey, at least I said yes… The problem was that the word yes came only from my mouth and not from my heart or my affections for her.   After I responded with my simple yes she asked a second question.  She said; “Steli do you know what hurts me?”  I still remember the look on her face when she asked me this question.  Without thinking I quickly responded; “How should I know what hurts you?!”  She then said; “How can you love me if you don’t know what hurts me?”  

What made Jesus Christ the greatest lover in human history is that he really knew and really knows what hurts his people.   I often think of the story of Lazarus’ death.  I love this story because it really shows the compassion of Jesus towards his children.  After Martha the sister of Lazarus heard that Jesus was coming, she quickly went out to meet him.  They had a short conversation and after they had finished she ran off to tell her sister Mary that Jesus had arrived.  When Mary heard this, she got up in a hurry to go and meet him.  Now Jesus had not yet entered the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him earlier.  When Mary reached the place where Jesus was she fell at his feet and began to weep. Seeing that those who came with Mary also began to weep, Jesus was moved with compassion and wept. 

I want to take a few minutes to look at this passage.  It is so difficult to try and translate word for word from the original text to our current language.  In fact we can only get a diminutive idea of what was actually written.  Before Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus, while he was still with Mary the Bible says that he was moved with compassion and wept with those around him.  The word compassion comes from the Greek word “Splagxnizomai” which is derived from the word “Splanxna.”  “Splanxna” is the Greek word for our inner parts such as the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys.  In Hebrew the word“Splanxna” is translated to “Rachamim” which means; the womb of God. Where I am trying to get with this is that the word compassion when used in the Bible for Jesus is so deep that it literally touches his innermost being. Compassion is such a deep word that when it refers to Jesus, it can only accurately be described as the movement of Gods core, where all the divine tenderness and gentleness lie hidden... When Jesus is moved with compassion for you and I, what the Bible actually means is that the ground of all beings shook, the source of all life trembled, the heart of all love burst opened and the unfathomable depths of the relentless tenderness was laid bare.  The true meaning of this word when used by Jesus gives us only a little hint of the love, passion and the desire that God has for humanity.  When we weep, God is so in love with us that his heart literally bursts with love towards us.  Jesus response to us is, “come to me, come to me not to your pastors, not to church, not to a Bible study, not to revivals, but come to me… come now the way you are, nervous, wounded, terrified, angry, abandoned, bare, depressed, worried, come to me and I will meet you where you are!  Because I love you and I Am for you!!  Jesus loves you beyond worthy or unworthiness; beyond loyalty or disloyalty… he loves you when you are at your best and even the same when you are beyond your worst, when all that surrounds you are thick clouds and heavy storms.  He loves you without limit, without regret, he loves you so much that there aren’t existing words in all humanity to explain just a hint of a fraction for the love that he has for you...  No matter what point of your life you are in Jesus can’t stop loving you... He is desperate for you.  This is not something that I have heard from my parents, friends, or pastors but this is the Jesus that I met on my journey. His compassion is never based on our performance… In John 15:14 Jesus says; “You are my friends.  I no longer call you servant because a servant does not know his masters business. Instead I have called you friends.  Remain in me and I will remain in you.”

I wish that I had never hurt any of Gods precious children.   I wish that since the beginning of my days I learned to love as deep as God loves us.  I hate the fact that I hurt so many people throughout my life especially my close family and friends.  But through those days of hurting people, God began to work on my heart to teach me how to love.  There are so many people that were once or still are damaged by others.  My heart goes out to each one of them.  But when you are in your deepest hurts, when you are in your nightmare of pains, remember that there is a God who is so in love with you that he literally comes down in your actual presence to suffer alongside his beloved child.  Everything you feel, he feels with you.

 I leave you with a promise from our Lord.  This is what our Lord says- He who created you and formed you.  “Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name and you are mine.  When you pass through the waters I will be with you and when you pass through rivers they will not sweep over you.  When you are in the fiery flames you will not be burned.  I am the LORD your GOD, the HOLY ONE, your SAVIOR.  You are precious and honored in My sight and I love you!”