The Compassionate Christ
Scripture Reading: Mark 6:30-44
Meditation
The apostles have just returned from an extended preaching tour. Jesus had sent them out two by two. He had given them authority over evil spirits, instructed them to preach, cast out demons, and heal the sick.
Mission accomplished.
As they return, they’re exhilarated but they’re also exhausted. After their tour of duty, they’re depleted. Spent, with nothing left to give.
They have ministry fatigue.
“Please, no more preaching.”
“No more people.”
“No more problems.”
But once you help one, five more follow you home.
In a broken world, there seems to be no end to hurting people.
Jesus sees the circles under their eyes. He hears the growl in their stomachs. More importantly, he notices that their hearts are getting cold. The crowds have overwhelmed them—so many people, with so many problems, and there are so few to help.
They’ve had enough.
Jesus senses this and so he offers them an invitation.
“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ ”
They try to sneak away by boat but a few eyes in the crowd spy them out. These few each tell ten others, those ten inform hundreds, until thousands run along the shore and reach the other side of the lake ahead of the boat. The disciples see the multitude, they look at each other, raise their hands, shrug their shoulders, and say,
“So much for the quiet place.”
Even though the plan involved getting away from the crowd, Jesus doesn’t see those who follow as an inconvenience or an interruption or even an irritation. They aren’t spiritual stalkers who won’t leave him alone. They’re sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless, looking for someone who cares.
Jesus gets out of the boat and walks slowly through the crowd. Along the way, he stops and shows an interest in their lives. He listens to their questions and he gives answers. He touches them and he allows them to touch him. Halfway up the mountainside, he sits down and he begins to teach.
He doesn’t say it directly but the crowd knows from the tone in his voice that he is intimately aware of each of their needs. Not only is he aware, he is willing to share in their sufferings. He is only one individual in the midst of the many, but the miracle of his compassion is that when he ministers to the masses, his little does much.
His few words give many blessings.
By the time Jesus finishes teaching, it’s late in the day. His disciples come to him worried and upset,
“ ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’
But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’ ”
Jesus asks his disciples to become instruments of his compassion. But they look at the many and then they count their money and the two don’t add up. Jesus sees them shaking their heads and so he asks them,
“How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
They go on a search and report back,
“Five and two fish.”
He directs them to have all the people sit down on the grass. He takes the five loaves and the two fish, gives thanks, divides them among the disciples, and then tells them to give them to the people.
“They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.”
The crowd is satisfied. There’s plenty left over.
The Compassionate Christ has taken little and done much.
Prayer
Father,
When your Son ministered to the needs of the many, he realized that there would always be too few hours in the day, too few hands to help, and too few resources to give.
Those who came always asked him to do much with little. And when they kept coming, he looked on them with compassion.
He didn’t see them as an inconvenience or an interruption or even an irritation. Rather, he was intimately aware of their needs. He cared deeply about their distress and he was willing to share and walk with them in their pain.
In their suffering, he was a companion—a man of compassion.
During this day, I ask that the Compassionate Christ walk with me through the sufferings of my life. When I am used up, worn down, overwhelmed, and under stress, may he extend his hand and say to me,
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
And when I am refreshed, may I return to the crowds as an agent of his compassion—aware of the needs around me, caring deeply about those in pain, and becoming one who is willing to share in their suffering.
In the Compassionate Christ’s name I pray. Amen.
Reflection
What is compassion? In what way do you need Christ to display his compassion in your life?
Describe some of the moments in your life when you felt like a lamb without a shepherd—harassed and helpless?
Describe the seasons of your life when you viewed the needs of people as an inconvenience, irritation, or interruption. In what part of your world is the Compassionate Christ calling you to be an agent of his compassion?
What is your “little” that Christ wants to do “much” with?
All Scripture references in the meditation are marked by italics and are taken from the Gospel reading for the day (Mark 6:30-44). Those verses quoted outside of the chosen reading for the day are noted in parenthesis. All Scripture quoted on this site is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.