A reflection

In light of the many charged opinions about race, gender, religion, etc., the only loving response, I believe, to anyone who is suffering, is compassion.

Recently, I was reflecting on the story of Martha and Mary and Lazarus. I always stop when I get to the part where it says that Jesus cried with Martha and Mary over the death of their brother. I always wondered why He did that. What reason did He have to feel sad?  He knew what He was about to do. I came to realize, Jesus did not cry about Lazarus's death because He felt sadness for Himself...no, He cried because He allowed Himself to feel what Martha and Mary were feeling. He could have come to them saying, No no no! Look what I am about to do here. I am about to raise your brother from the dead! Or, He could have been very logical and practical about it, since He knows death is not the end. Instead of trivializing their sorrow, or trying to help them reason it out, He allowed Himself to mourn with them; to meet them in their sorrow; to have compassion.

Compassion and mercy are facets of love. And love is not blind. On the contrary, love sees everything. And in the face of this, love chooses to look beyond; it sees beyond skin color, nationality, profession, health, gender, age, wealth; even sin... it looks directly at the person, and sees not just one part of him, but all of him.
Compassion helps us to love others even when we do not agree with them; even when we do not understand them. I am not suggesting we throw logic and reason out the window, or that there is no right and wrong to be considered. Only that the first thought we should have is: how can I show love to this person? That is at the heart of the message of the Gospel. That is what Christ does again and again throughout Scripture. He eats with the sinners, befriends the lowly, accepts the rejected, mourns with the broken hearted. The only One righteous enough to hold judgement or condemnation over anyone is God, who intimately knows our hearts. And yet, He does not. He teaches us another way; the way of compassion and mercy.


8 Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. 1Peter 4:8