Gut-wrenching Compassion

by Pat Lee

(Based on Mark 6:30-34, 53-56; Jer 23:1-6; Eph 2:11-22)

The Gospel reading set down for today is two smaller texts put together. The first one comes after Herod’s promise to Herodias resulting in the beheading of John the Baptist, and the second one follows ‘the feeding of the five thousand’, and is immediately before the text on Jesus walking on the water, when they eventually arrived at Gennesaret.

Reading the other texts for today, and researching on the internet, I found a connection between the two ‘smaller texts’ that I had previously missed. God is always so patient with us when we fail to see what he is wanting us to see! Today, that connection is compassion.
The (unnamed) author of one sermon I read says, “On most occasions, the texts for today are seen as an introduction and an afterthought. But today’s lectionary calls them into focus, and for good reason, as they reveal to us in an intimate way a Jesus who is compassionate and overflowing with power.”

“As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without  a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things”.

There are many references in the Bible to our being like sheep. Some of them say that we are like sheep without a shepherd or that we have been scattered by those who were meant to be our shepherds. There are a lot of people who don’t like being compared with sheep, but I’m sure that God knew exactly what he was doing by making the comparison.
I decided to look up the traits of sheep and this what I found …
Sheep are intelligent, with impressive memory and recognition skills. They build friendships, stick up for one another in fights, and feel sad when their friends are sent to slaughter. Sheep are able to feel emotions such as fear, anger, rage, despair, boredom, disgust and happiness.  How like us! I thought.

However, sometimes sheep are quite obstinate and stupid. If you have ever been on a muster, you will know that they will try to run all over the place instead of getting into a group and going where the musterer wants them; hence the need to use plenty of good dogs who will bring them under control. And, sometimes they will also turn and stamp in defiance. Don’t these things sound much like us? And just like sheep, we need a good shepherd too.

When Michael and I were on our honeymoon in the South Island in 1964, we went on the Earnslaw on Lake Wakatipu. It didn’t go just to Walter Peak Station in those days, but went right down the lake delivering mail, groceries and – as on the day we went – sheep. We stopped at several private piers along the way, eventually coming to the one where the sheep were to get off.
All the passengers stood along the deck watching the procedure. I think the crew thought it was going to be an easy exercise, but the sheep had a different idea. There seemed to be no way that they were going down that gangway. As they got close, looking as if they would go, they would turn, jumping over each other and going back as far as they could. However, eventually one brave sheep decided to go, and then the rest followed, and two or three went into the lake in their haste to get back on dry land.

Isn’t that a just like humans? Have you ever been to a function when food is offered and everyone hangs back waiting for some brave soul to make the first move.

The prophet Jeremiah lived about six hundred years before the birth of Christ, but we hear him (in today’s reading) talking about shepherds who have scattered the sheep and that the Lord will gather the remnant of his flock and bring them back into the fold. That shepherd was Jesus. He would not only bring back the ones who had been scattered, but also bring others into the fold, those who were once strangers and aliens (as the writer to the Ephesians puts it).

Returning to the Gospel, let’s take a closer look at the disciples. They have just returned from their ‘sending out’. In fact, the word used to describe them, apostles, means ‘the ones sent’, and this is the first time they were given that title. They were telling Jesus all about the things they had been doing and teaching, but Jesus saw immediately that they were weary and worn out, needing time away from the hustle and bustle, as they had had no leisure or even time to eat. So Jesus suggested they get into the boat and go to a deserted place where they could rest. (A reminder to us we still need today.)

However, people in the crowd had recognized them and saw them going, so they hurried on foot and arrived ahead of them. If you’d been one of the weary disciples, seeing this assembled crowd, how would you have felt? Disappointed? Probably a little angry and upset.

Another unnamed author asks, “What would you have done? Would you have turned the boat around and looked for anther quiet place to be alone with your friends? Would you have told the crowds to go away and let you have some time for yourself? Or would you have laid down in the boat and hidden your head under a blanket until everyone had gone away?”
All very human responses, I think.

But Jesus saw the crowd too and instead of anger, he had compassion. This word compassion is not a word synonymous with pity, as it is sometimes used in our language. The word for compassion in this text means that Jesus felt it, literally translated, in his bowels, or, as we might say, gut-wrenching. This is the kind of compassion that suffers alongside those who are tired and worn down by oppression, sin and illness. Jesus sacrifices his own need for rest, for the sake of others finding rest. The passage forces us to believe simultaneously in a God who calls us to rest, yet willingly gives up his own rest for others.

The unnamed author adds, “What surprises me about this story is what Jesus did to help the people he saw. When people are moved by compassion, we might expect them to cook someone a meal, make a donation to a charity or something else just as practical. Jesus didn’t do any of these. Instead, moved with compassion towards this crowd of people, he began to teach them.”

We are not told what he taught them, but we are told that he healed many of them as well, even when they only touched the fringe of his garment.

Whatever is happening in our lives, this story tells us that Jesus looks at each of us with gut-wrenching compassion, and teaches us a better way of life. Maybe we need to stop for a bit, recognize that despite our best efforts, we’re all a little lost, and listen with fresh ears to the teachings of Jesus.