Man of Sorrows and Compassion

GETTING STARTED

For Jesus, compassion was a multifaceted character trait. He displayed it by healing, reclining with those in need of being heard, and even by rebuking. He healed affection-starved lepers with a touch, and he dignified women by seeing and acknowledging their presence. He wept over the loss of friends and for broken communities. And he rebuked wind and waves and the Sabbath-day salesmen because they threatened to engulf and devour his beloved.

  • How has Jesus uniquely showered his compassion on you?

READ THE WORD: LUKE 19:41-46 (ESV)

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” 45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. What, specifically, made Jesus weep in this passage?
  2. What was about to happen to Jerusalem as a result of their rejection of the Messiah?
  3. Jesus was mourning the coming fate of Jerusalem, and from that state of mind went to cleanse the Temple. How is your perspective of this account affected by gaining insight into the heart of Jesus? What was his motivation?
  4. Have you received a hard word from the Lord lately? If so, would your response change if you remembered that it came from the One who is deeply compassionate toward you and fully aware of all that awaits you in the future?
  5. How are you demonstrating compassion to those in your life who have rejected the Messiah?

RESPOND TO GOD

When the Savior weeps, we should take note. He weeps here for what is coming to this city he loves, and to all those who reject his grand gestures of compassion. He weeps for the blind eyes that though they see, they have not seen. He weeps for those who desire peace, yet peace is what they forfeit. He is the only way, he is the absolute truth, he is the life we seek.

  • Pray for the eyes of your heart to be enlightened, and for compassion to transform the way you live.
  • The world will receive judgment in due time; pray for the ability to show compassion wherever you can today.