Compassion

We all know the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. Actually, it was likely more than double that number, because the Bible says it was 5,000 men, besides women and children. Taking five loaves and two fish, which must have been small because John 6:9 describes them as the meal of a boy who'd come to hear Jesus, Jesus prayed over them and told the disciples to pass out the food. Not only did everyone there eat their fill, the disciples took up a dozen baskets with the remaining food.

It is indeed a great miracle, and those who read Matthew's account know that Jesus had healed the sick among them before doing this. But let's back up a few verses in Matthew's account and examine the context. Why was Jesus out in the middle of nowhere anyway?

The answer is that John the Baptist, who was related to Jesus and had prepared the way for Him, had just been beheaded. The Bible doesn't explicitly say that Jesus mourned and wept, but I have to imagine the sadness Jesus felt. He wasn't some stoic who was unaffected by people's lives. He wept for Lazarus, even though He knew He'd bring him back to life. How much more would he weep for someone He cared for whom He wouldn't see again until Heaven? And why would He retreat to a deserted spot alone if not to mourn?

Jesus was not in his happiest state when the people came out to Him. It would have been easy for Him to tell the disciples to send the people away, that He'd rather be alone right now, that they should come back in a couple days when He felt like talking to them. But He didn't. He saw the needs of others, even during his own time of loss, and put aside His feelings to help them.

In my own life, I've often done the opposite. I've focused on my own problems when others have tried to get my help. Even in helping them, I've been guilty at times of trying to steer the conversation back toward me. I've done much better at this the last few years, but am by no means perfect. It's just been so much easier to focus on me than on others because, like all of us, I am inherently selfish.

I heard someone say once, "If you want to be happy, make others happy." There have been times when I've been down and actually remembered this quote. I didn't want to put it into practice, but I forced myself to. I always felt at least a little better. More importantly, though, I helped someone who needed it. When we're in pain and hurting, that's the perfect time to help others, rather than wait for them to help us. We can get at least some of our healing by coming to their rescue, rather than both of us staying away from each other and wondering why the other is not coming to our aid.

We were created to be communal creatures. We weren't meant to live alone. And part of life includes pain. So in your pain, remember that others around you are hurting, too, and need you just as you need them. As Luke 6:31 says, "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."