He Had Compassion On Them (Matthew 14:14)

 


Friday, 17 October, 2025


Psalm 106:1-24

2 Kings 4:18-37

Matthew 14:1-21


Observance: Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr (d. c. 115)


He Had Compassion On Them (Matthew 14:14)


When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.


John the Baptist, the one whom Jesus described as the greatest human being who ever lived, his own blood relative, had been murdered in a miserable prison by spiteful, wicked people. Jesus suffered a gut punch like few of us ever do. And so he retreats to a desolate place, somewhere he could sit with his heavenly Father, and pray about the great evil of this world he came to save.


But we humans just can’t help ourselves. The crowds followed Jesus even to this desolate place, desolate in his misery. All of us know what this is like: we have had terrible news told to us, and we just want to hide in a dark room and cry it out. But the world keeps on spinning and people keep calling us.


Jesus’ response is beautiful in it’s loving condescension: he has compassion, and heals. His problems became secondary to the problems of the people.


We find solace in our sorrows when we turn it into a way to help others. We need not ignore or hide from our misery; but we can follow our Lord in serving his people, because he does so for us, and we want to do so for him.


When was the last time you found yourself in abject misery? How did you sense Jesus’ compassion and healing towards you? Did you find an opportunity to have compassion on someone else?


God of compassion: you came to us, loving and healing us, even when you had every excuse not to. Continue your work of compassionate healing among us, and give us grace to be agents of your compassionate healing, even when the darkness descends on our lives.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

For The Sake Of Ten (Genesis 18:32)

Image
  Monday, February 3, 2025 Psalm 78:16-38 Genesis 18:22-19:11 Luke 2:1-7 Observance: First Anglican Service at Sydney Cove, Conducted by Richard Johnson, Sydney, 1788 For The Sake Of Ten (Genesis 18:32) From this wonderfully pastoral tableau, of the old man and his wife entertaining three divine guests, comes a dark shadow. Approaching from the valley below them comes the cries of iniquity of the cities of the plain: Sodom and Gomorrah. Rising from their feast, the three men turn from blessing Abraham and Sarah to executing divine judgement. And the story just gets darker from here. But Abraham, in his boldness, has this immortal conversation with God, a conversation that uncovers for us whispers of Jesus’ words about people who are “salt” and “light”. God desires that none should perish, but that all should turn from their sins and live. And for the sake of just ten righteous people, the disaster about to befall Sodom and Gomorrah could be turned away...
Read more

Monday, July 25, 2022

  Monday, July 25, 2022 Psalm 62; 63 Hosea 1 Romans 4:1-12 He only is my rock and my salvation: my strong tower, so that I shall not be moved. The prophecies of Hosea are rich with vivid imagery. Look at these names: firstly, “Hosea” means “salvation”. So too do the names Joshua and Jesus. Then Hosea has three children: “God scatters”, “Not pitied”, and “Not my people”. This is because the children are part of the marriage between Hosea and Gomer, which is an image God is showing to the nation. It is to our profit that God has used real-life events to communicate spiritual imagery and divine truths. We find it very easy to understand our relationship with God as being a faithful wife to a loving husband. We can reconcile this message with what Paul has to teach us today in Romans. He makes the very important observation that Abraham was given God's righteousness as a result of his faith before, not after, his circumcision. Again, this is God using real-life events...
Read more

We are all the work of your hand.

  Tuesday, January 2, 2024 Psalms 5; 6 Isaiah 64 Ephesians 2:1-10 Observances: Basil of Caesarea (d. 379) and Gregory of Nanzianus (d. 389), bishops and teachers; Eliza Hassall (d. 1917), pioneer of missionary training and CMS (Australia) We are all the work of your hand. If you know nothing about statues, you will at least know of Michelangelo's David . It seems strange that a piece could hold public fame for so long, but if we think about it theologically, then it’s endurance makes sense. Consider what the artist intended it to be: a display of pure Renaissance ideology. An era when men began to imagine themselves as artists and engineers, and their own being their life’s work. Anyone could be anything, and this is what Michelangelo is saying with his statue. Behold, the perfect man, formed from rough rock by the hands of a self-driven man. The irony here is the subject. While Michelangelo may have called his statue David simply to ensure prompt payment ...
Read more