Surprising Compassion instead of Anger

Scripture Passage that caught my attention today: Matthew 14:13-14 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.

Observation: Jesus had just learned of the death of John the Baptist and wanted to be alone. The only alone time he had, however, was his time in the boat. The crowd was clearly determined to meet him as soon as he arrived on shore. Apparently he was deeply moved by them.

Application: I suppose most of us just want to be alone at one time or another. We long for a break—a time-out from the regular and routine or what some people call the ‘rat race.’ Grief can do that to a person and Jesus was no exception. He wanted to be alone, to draw back. Nothin’ doing; the crowd wouldn’t let it happen. One can almost imagine the situation—lone boat on a relatively small body of water (Sea of Galilee) with crowd following on foot.

In a way I’m surprised he didn’t get angry when he came ashore. He could have said, “Look, can’t you see I want to be alone?” Instead he was somehow touched by them and responded with compassion instead of anger.

That’s a good lesson for all of us, yet another reason for which we can be thankful.

Prayer: Lord, thanks for your compassion. Help us to be of similar nature. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: Matthew 14-16)