Interrupted By Compassion

“When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick”
Matthew 14:13-14

In my line of work it would be really easy to close my office door and keep my head down working on the various things required to keep a church operating smoothly and be ready for Sunday, but I don’t. I have not once failed to get my “work” done because of interruptions. By allowing my work day and life to be interrupted by the people I’ve been called to work with and care for – lots of things happen – all of them good.

If Jesus minded having His plans interrupted, it’s not recorded in scripture – so personally I think He was ok with people interrupting him, after all He came to care for people, to build relationships with them, to draw them into His family. In this week’s passage we see Jesus’ plan to get way for some downtime interrupted. You see He had just learned of the death of John the Baptist. Jesus and John had known each other since before they were born, they were related – most likely cousins and they clearly understood one another’s place in God’s divine plan to save mankind. This no doubt would have been a troubling loss and Jesus’ friends would certainly have understood the need to get away. Anyone who has dealt with the loss of a loved one understands. The crowds perhaps didn’t know what had happen or were just insensitive to His needs because their needs were so great – so they interrupted His day.

Jesus could have gotten back in the boat and crossed back over to the other side of the lake, but He didn’t. Instead because He was filled with compassion for them He allowed them to interrupt. The result? People were healed, eventually they would be fed as well (Matthew 14:15-21) and some would recognize who Jesus really was and He would add children to His Kingdom. Real compassion demands action, sometimes immediate action so it’s going to interrupt your plans.

So this week, just be open to allowing compassion to interrupt your plans. Your willingness may just change someone’s life and you will be blessed in ways you can’t imagine.

A Prayer
Father – You know how busy we get and how we tend to put blinders on so our busy lives won’t be interrupted by someone else’s need. Help us today and everyday going forward to take the blinders off. Fill our hearts with the compassion of your Son, so that we are open to divine interruptions and moved to action. Remind us often that to change a life can be as simple as spending a little time really listening to someone’s story – someone who like us has been made in Your image and who needs You as much as we do. In the name of Jesus, who is our example of a life interrupted by compassion, we pray – Amen.