What comes to mind when you hear the word compassion? For most of us, it brings up feelings like care, concern, or sympathy. We picture people going through hard times, and we feel sorry for them. But feeling sorry is not the same as compassion.
I was reminded of this by a friend of mine, Pastor Emilia, who leads a small church in Madrid. She is a missionary from Bulgaria with a warm, motherly presence, and her whole congregation meets in a room about the size of a bedroom. When Emilia saw families in her community struggling to put food on the table, she couldn’t just watch. Every month, with the help of her church and a partnering grocery store, she goes shopping for more than 50 families. The bags hold meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, snacks, and milk, enough to last a typical Spanish family about two weeks. She even makes sure there are treats and sugary cereal for the kids.
A few weeks ago, I was visiting her church with my son Sammy. Before she even greeted me, she ran over to him, gave him a huge hug, and handed him a snack and a juice box. While we talked, I mentioned that our community’s food assistance program had been cut and that it was hurting a family friend. She asked, “Do they have kids?” When I said yes, she called over one of her helpers, whispered to him, and a few minutes later I was holding a big, heavy bag of groceries for that family.
That is the heart of Christ in action: seeing a need and responding with compassion to meet it.
The Story: Jesus at Nain (Luke 7:11-17)
Jesus and his disciples, followed by a large crowd, arrived at the village of Nain just as a funeral procession was coming out of the gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son. Her husband was already gone, and now her son, the one who was supposed to care for her, was gone too. In that culture, she would have had no one to provide for her and might eventually have been reduced to begging.
Luke tells us that when the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. He told her, “Don’t cry,” walked over, and touched the coffin, which stopped the procession. Under the Law (Numbers 19:11-22), touching a coffin would have made him ceremonially unclean. But for Jesus, helping this widow mattered more, and because he is the author of life, he is immune to defilement. Then he said, “Young man, I tell you, get up,” and the dead boy sat up and began to talk. Jesus gave him back to his mother.
The crowd was gripped with awe and praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” The news spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.
Five Takeaways About Compassion
1. Compassion leads to action. Pity recognizes suffering and hurts for the person in need, but it falls short if it stops at feeling sorry. James 2:15-16 asks, if you tell a hungry brother or sister to “stay warm and eat well” but give them nothing, what good does that do? Compassion is the deep stirring that moves us to act, without wondering whose job it is. Jesus felt compassion for the widow, and he gave her son back to her.
2. Compassion is sometimes spontaneous. Jesus met the funeral procession on the road and responded on the spot. We see the same in Matthew 14:14, where he saw a great crowd and healed their sick, and in the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10.
3. Compassion is sometimes planned. God commanded his people to share freely with the poor (Deuteronomy 15:11) and to leave the edges of their fields unharvested so those in need could gather food (Leviticus 19). Even Israel’s festivals included care for the marginalized. Planned compassion is essential for showing God’s love in our communities.
4. Compassion helps those in need. Jesus knew what lay ahead for this widow if he did nothing. He also teaches that when we feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, and care for the sick, we are serving him directly (Matthew 25:35-40). Proverbs 19:17 says that whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and Isaiah 58:10 promises that when we feed the hungry, our light will shine in the darkness.
5. Compassion leads people to glorify God. At Nain, the people praised God. The same thing happened when Jesus healed the paralytic, the crowds, and the woman with the disabling spirit, and when Peter and John healed the lame beggar in Acts 3. That beggar was only expecting a few coins, and what he received was far better. Not everyone will welcome compassion, as the Pharisees showed in Luke 6, but those who experience it firsthand give glory to God. And compassion doesn’t always cost money. It can be a prayer, a visit, or a friendship.
Reflect and Respond
Each of us will live this out differently. Some are part of a compassion ministry, and others are not, but we can all grow here. Take a few minutes to pray through these questions:
What does true compassion look like in your daily life? Does it lead to action?
Have you ever felt pity but didn’t act? What held you back?
How does Jesus’ compassion challenge the way you respond to others?
How can you be more intentional in showing compassion?
How does compassion reveal God’s love and glorify him?
God uses ordinary people, like Emilia, to show his extraordinary love. As we show compassion to those around us, people will see his love and glorify God.
