Moved With Compassion

Matthew 9:36 (KJV) “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

Jesus went on to say that the harvest is plenteous and to pray that laborers would go into the harvest field. There is a multitude today of those who are not born again—right in our own backyard here in the USA.

When Jesus saw the multitudes face to face, something happened to Him in His Spirit and in His soul. He was moved with compassion.

What is compassion? It is the desire to give aid and show mercy. It is not feeling sorry for someone! When you feel sorry for someone and do nothing about their condition, that is just a human emotion to make you feel better. Compassion—especially godly compassion—causes us to spring into action. Compassion always has a corresponding action, or it is not truly godly compassion but only a human emotion.

One of the things Jesus said about the harvest is that they “fainted.” What happens when someone faints? They lose all the strength in their body, and they collapse. All those who have no Savior have no hope, and without hope, they are spiritually and emotionally fainting.

Jesus also said they were scattered and didn’t have a shepherd. We know that Jesus is the Great Shepherd of the sheep. Humanity needed a Shepherd, and Jesus came to be their Chief Shepherd. As sheep, we all need a shepherd, and Jesus has appointed under-shepherds for the sheep. God never promised you a prophet or an evangelist, but He did promise you a shepherd after His own heart to watch over you and give an account of your soul.

We need to be moved with compassion so we can bring people into the body of Christ because they are fainting. We need to get them to an under-shepherd so they can be watched over and discipled. There are no sheep who are okay on their own—all sheep need an under-shepherd.

Jesus was moved with compassion, and we too should be moved with compassion when we see people spiritually fainting, scattered, and without a shepherd. We can fix this. We can get them to Jesus and get them into a church with a true under-shepherd.