compassion

as far as i can tell, i think compassion is a gut reaction to do something out of love.

something caught my eye as i was reading matthew 23 in regards to this.

so, this is what Jesus has to say about the Pharisees;

"They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them"

gotta love a bit of expository bible =)
as i saw this, i thought to myself 'wow', thats a bit harsh on the pharisees. without fail Jesus is able to outanswer or outquestion whenever he gets questioned by a Pharisee, but here, without looking first for a question from them (in fact, it looks like the Ph's themselves aren't even present!), he goes straight for the jugular and gives them a piece of his mind, of God's mind. Jesus has sympathy for their utter bondage to their ways, knowing once that these were from a generation of people that looked to follow His Father, but are lost in what they have created for themselves. but, no sympathy is spared for the ways themselves, that lead others astray along with them.

so, to start with, think about what kind of teachers the Pharisees would have made. follow them, and you follow rules, rules you that can't possibly keep all of - a destiny doomed to failure. to carry on trying is drudgery, for every blemish is a mark of how much you cannot win. and would you receive help from these teachers? in short, no. confessing to particular breaches of the law will even find yourself at risk of your own life. truth be told, even if the Pharisees were desirous in lifting us of our burdens, they would find themselves vastly unequipped to do so.

unfortunately, there are many within Christian circles who will live out their faith in God feeling like this, under the oppression of a faith that seemingly gives no hope, only reproach, and set automatically to pick on all their faults. its a an easy lie to believe, ill admit to being duped by it more than a couple of times in my lifetime.

however, the good news is that we do not follow Pharisees, who are "not willing to lift a finger" to relieve burdens.
no, we follow Jesus, the champion of compassion - love that springs into action. Jesus, one of holiness, and so equipped to be a sacrifice for us. so lets view the matthew 23 verse differently, by replacing the pharisees with Jesus, as our Teacher and see what He does for us;

"He ties up heavy loads and puts them on His own shoulders, that we may fly on the wings of eagles."

Jesus had every right to expose the shallow behaviour of the Pharisees, knowing that soon he would give up his own life for us, and in doing so, give everyone a bit of a wake up call as to what real love looks like.

It hit home to me once again that what was done on the cross is a fixed event in time and so cannot be undone, that it was "the will of the Lord to bruise him". if, as Christians we feel burdened, then we are harbouring something that Jesus has already died for - these burdens are not for us to hold and lug around anymore. as with our lives, they belong to Him.

it is folly to think that any sadness is worth keeping, just for the sake of that it remains ours to bear. letting go of our own burdens and giving them to him is putting what we cannot bear, onto the back of one who can not only bear but conquer, therefore allowing life in its fullness to dwell in us.

He has given his back over to be broken by the shame and guilt of the multitudes - that our brokenness will one day be made new, just as Christ was made alive again in resurrection -- a cause for celebration if ever i saw one!