MATTHEW 9:36 – When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
THEME OF THE DAY. HAVING THE HEART OF JESUS. Do you see them? Do I? They are not hard to observe, if we are looking with more than our eyes. They are everywhere. In our homes, living right beside us in our neighborhoods, in the grocery check-out line, at the drive-thru windows of food places and banks, even in our churches. The “they” is defined by our Lord in today’s scripture as the “harassed and helpless.”
We live in a hurting and suffering world. It even hits home in our own hearts. We, too, hurt and suffer. We, too, are “harassed and helpless.” And what are the causes of this harassment and helplessness gripping people? Ultimately, all the problems in the world go back to the Garden of Eden. The devil, in the serpent, and the sin of our first parents brought all misery into the human experience. Someday all the pain, suffering, helplessness, and harassment by Satan and sin will be gone, but that someday is not today. So, how do we handle this suffering existence this side of heaven? Now before we answer the question, I want to provide a little direction here. I am not asking how we handle this painful life under the sun for ourselves. No, I am directing us away from ourselves. Notice the focus of our Lord Jesus in today’s scripture. It was on others, not Himself. Remember, He walked upon the earth as “the Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus didn’t seek self-comfort or self-deliverance. He came to embrace and relieve human sufferings caused by the devil and sin. He came to minister, not to be ministered to. So, what we are not going to do in today’s nugget is talk to ourselves about our own suffering and how to deal with it. We actually want to do what God commands us and deny ourselves for the sake of others. Ironically, the way to healing and overcoming suffering in this life is to not focus on ourselves, but like Christ, focus away from ourselves. Something wonderful happens in the heart and life of a Christian who refuses to think of themselves and gives themselves over to serving and encouraging others.
As God’s people living in a fallen world, we are left on earth to do two things. First, proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). It is the Gospel, and only the Gospel, that provides any hope, any power, and any means of being able to handle life this side of heaven. As God’s people, we must be convinced this is our high calling in our homes, neighborhoods, churches, and communities. The other thing we are to do as God’s people is to be Christ’s hands and feet in a hurting world. We are called to go to the hurting; go to the suffering; go to the despondent, go to the harassed, and go to the helpless. Such a command and privilege for us as ambassadors for the Lord Jesus demands we ask the soul-penetrating questions, “Are we going?”, “Are the sheep without a shepherd in our spheres of influence hearing and seeing from us that there is a shepherd?”
In order for us to consistently, even daily, fulfill the roles God has given us – Gospel proclaimers and serving people – we must have the heart of God for His Gospel and people. By nature, we don’t love people as God does. By nature, we don’t desire to put the interests of others ahead of our own. That is why we need not only new birth in Christ, but the heart of Christ. I, we, will simply not be what God commands of us; a loving and sacrificing people unless we have the heart of Christ for people. Make this our daily hunger and pursuit; to get so close to the heart of Jesus that our hearts become like His.
Our world is a hurting world of people. Do we see them? Jesus did and actively went to them with words and actions of hope and healing. May we do likewise as His called people.
PRAYER: “Father, create in me the heart of Your Son that I might love You and people as He does.”
QUOTE: “In order to love like Jesus, we must be close to Jesus. Having a heart for people comes from having the heart of Jesus”