Matthew 9:35-38
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Reflection
Jesus sets an example of the kind of compassionate attitude Christians should have toward those who have not yet decided to trust and follow him. When Jesus sees these spiritually “harassed and helpless” crowds of people, he feels compassion for them (Matt. 9:36) and invites his disciples to do something about it (vv. 37–38). Even though these crowds consist of sinful people who don’t love God, Jesus does not want them to remain unprotected and alone for eternity. He intends to gather a “harvest” of such people into God’s kingdom, and he has called all of his followers to take part in the work (vv. 37–38).
Romans 8:1-11
8: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Reflection
The verdict is in. There is “now no condemnation” for those who are “in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1)! Because of the perfect life of Jesus, we no longer need to fear God’s coming judgment. Additionally, now that the Judge has decided the case, he has begun a transformation in our lives. Previously we were enslaved to our sinful desires (6:20), but now that we are no longer condemned, true believers have started to act differently. We have been “set free” from sin’s power by the work of the Holy Spirit, who gives us new spiritual life (8:2). Neither the law nor human obedience could give this new life. It could be granted to us only by the perfectly righteous Son of God (v. 3), and those who now live by God’s Spirit can rest assured that the law’s demands are satisfied (v. 4).
As those who are no longer condemned, we are now commanded to embrace our new life of freedom by living “according to the Spirit” (v. 5). The presence of the Spirit in our lives is what allows us to live as transformed people. In fact, without the Spirit, we “cannot please God” (vv. 7–8). The Spirit is the one who raised Jesus from the dead, and he provides us this very same resurrection power to renew our everyday lives (v. 11).
Psalm 103:13-14
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
Compassion for others is not something that Christians can muster up in their own strength. Spend some time considering Christ’s compassion for you and ask him to grow your compassion for others.