The compassion of Jesus and the mission

the compassion of jesus and the mission

The compassion of Jesus and the Mission. Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8 reads as follows: Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness.

At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few, so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”

Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received, without cost you are to give.”

There’s so much here to unpack. I’d like to keep this short, so I’m going to simply outline what stood out to me. I think it’s a little different than what we’re used to hearing about this Gospel.

The harvest

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” For some reason I thought about the opportunities we are given each day to be Christ-like.

“So ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Pray for an increase in compassion and peace in the world.

seize the opportunity

The verses today spoke to me about the necessity of preaching the Gospel through our actions not words. But I think it’s more than just being a good person. I think it’s about seizing opportunities. Opportunities to make people living in the margins feel seen and counted. We can do this by sharing the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

shared grace

“Without cost you have received, without cost you are to give.” – We receive God’s grace everyday, an unmerited gift. We are called to be a conduit of that grace to those around us. That they too may receive God’s grace through us.

We can make a conscious effort to reach out to those in need by simply being present. Does someone seem distant, distracted, depressed or anxious? May we be a conduit of God’s love and compassion. It’s our mission!

God bless you!