Mighty

The Compassion of God

MATT BURST

Another baby is born into a broken family. A new homicide record is shattered in the city. Synthetic drugs creep into classrooms—teens steal from their parents just to prevent the needle ’ s itch. Children ’ s hospitals stand in the crosshairs of international wars, being blown to ruins. The cries of the afflicted oftentimes fall on deaf ears. People walk past injustice with averted eyes.

How, in the bitter darkness of this world, are we supposed to feel the compassion of God?

Suffering is not a new trend exacerbated by the modern age, but rather an issue grappled with by philosophers old and new alike. Although suffering has plagued man since the Fall, God’ s compassion is an integral part of His unchanging, abiding character.

Returning to Mount Sinai after the idolatry of the Israelites, Moses came before God. “And He [the Lord] passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness ’” (Exodus 34:6 NIV). YHWH, the Lord, here reveals His very own character, one attribute being His compassion.

How then has God shown this compassion?

Compassion, in the modern usage, is used interchangeably with empathy—that is, the pity and concern shown to another human suffering misfortune. The word itself stems from the Latin com (with) and passio (suffering). But an understanding of the Jewish sense of “ compassion, ” or the Hebrew rechem (םחר), can deepen our grasp of the Lord’ s character as the Bible describes it. Another Hebrew word, racham, shares the same root of rechem but literally means “ womb. ” A useful figure of compassion emerges—a mother ’ s intimate nurturing of her child in her womb. In the bosom of his or her mother, a child is nourished and shielded from the hardships of the world.

Throughout the entirety of the Old Testament, the Lord— like a nurturing mother—displays His perfect compassion by sustaining His people Israel and shielding them from the external forces of the world. He provides the Israelites with physical nourishment in the wilderness (Exodus 16:1–17:7). In His compassion, the Lord delivers Israel from countless enemies such as the Canaanites, Philistines, Assyrians, and Babylonians. Surrounded by wicked enemies, for instance, the Psalmist remarks, “in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by, ” as a baby bird resides in the safety of its mother ’ s wings (Psalm 57:1). Moreover, many of Israel' s prophets condemn those who, without compassion, neglect the poor, the widowed, and the fatherless, thus accentuating the Lord’ s love of compassion.

But, the most remarkable outworking of God’ s rechem is by the racham—that is, Christ’ s incarnation in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

When faced with the suffering of the world, people may hastily dismiss God’ s loving nature as inconsistent with their worldview. But there exists no greater act of compassion than Jesus taking on human flesh, feeling empathy for us in our suffering, and enduring a shameful death on the Cross. In history ’ s greatest act of compassion, Jesus Christ manifested perfect compassion “[by emptying] Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men ” (Philippians 2:7). No longer can man scoff and say God is distant and knows nothing of our suffering, “for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin ” (Hebrews 4:15).

In His earthly ministry, we can further witness Jesus

’ compassion. Jesus, upon meeting two blind men sitting on the roadside, “in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed Him ” (Matthew 20:34). Seeing a crowd of five thousand sinners, Jesus “had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). Incredibly, Jesus witnessed Martha and Mary ’ s deep grief over their brother Lazarus ’ death—and He, the God of the universe, wept (John 11:35–36). Imagine the tears of the Lord, shed for us.

The Apostle Paul captures again the sheer depths of compassion our God has for us: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Christ embraced suffering so that we may not suffer eternally—what tremendous compassion! Not only did Christ become incarnate and live compassionately, He also died on the Cross for us and then rose from the dead! No greater compassion exists than Christ’ s Passion on the Cross. The cause and effect of our salvation in Christ is therefore His compassion.

We were created in the compassionate God’ s image, yet the Church has a long way to go in the compassion department— one need only look at the hatred lobbed at one another by our congregations. Peter calls us to “have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind, ” yet this can be such a difficult feat when Christ is not our model (1 Peter 3:8). Therefore, let us be reminded—and remind others—of Christ’ s perfect compassion toward us by meditating on the naked, beaten Savior suffering on the Cross.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. — 2 Corinthians 1:3–4

To see His Might

JADE HERMOSILLO

One of the greatest rewards that follows accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior is knowing that wherever we are— mentally or physically—He is always with us. When we feel upset, one of the best feelings is knowing that at any time we can talk to God and ask Him our deepest questions. Even when we feel joy, we can ’t help but thank Him for all He does for us. But what now? Do we just go about our daily lives thinking God is only there for us to speak to?

Growing up, I had very few interactions with the Bible. My family was not very religious, but every time I was going over some rough patch, my mom would simply tell me, “Talk to God, He will always help you… ” and He did. As a child, I had no need for proof that God existed. From five years old, my mom had taken me to church, not consistently, but enough times for me to find God and never let Him go. Three years later, I told my mom I wanted to get baptized, and I felt on top of the world. However, it was that same year when hard times hit my family, and since then, I deeply admit, I have only been to church a handful of times.

Yet, through those difficult days, I always knew God was with me, and I feel so grateful to say that, since arriving at college, He has given me a group of people who have inspired me to strengthen my relationship with Him and to never stop seeking Him.

When we think about the question, “Where is God?” our natural response is to whimsically think,

“Everywhere, He is all around me.

” As beautiful as this thought is, and though it is true, I think we overlook the prevalence of His beauty in our everyday lives through our propensity to overgeneralize His character.

We wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and go throughout the day without ever taking the time to stop along the way to admire His creation. A good verse to begin with that encapsulates this message comes from Psalm 8:3–4:

When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?

This verse not only reflects upon the beauty of God’ s work but also the care that went into His work; the very world and universe we live in.

It wasn

’t until I was about eight years old that I was able to fully take in the charming details of the world created for me. In 2011, I was baptized Christian, a bit informally I might say. It was a hot summer day, and the members of my small church all gathered in my backyard to watch me get baptized in my own pool; it is a day I will never forget. I remember holding my breath as Pastor Peter submerged me under the cool water. The moment I emerged, I knew I would never be the same.

However, the next year would prove to be one of the most grueling periods of my life. I had just gotten baptized, and I knew that God would be holding my hand for the rest of my life, and now I would be gripping His hand back. From that moment, the world seemed like a brighter place; the leaves looked greener and the clouds more radiant. The next thing I knew, though, my family had lost our home, my dad had been sentenced to almost nine years in prison, my mom suffered a miscarriage, and Pastor Peter had been diagnosed with cancer only a few months before he would pass away. Within a year, the foundation for everything I had stood on was swept from beneath my feet. However, I believe that it is in these dark times when God’ s power shines the brightest.

I should have been devastated and hopeless. I could have denounced God as my protector and lost faith in Him. Instead, something amazing happened. Once the short period of sadness and confusion had passed, I realized the leaves on the trees were surprisingly more vivid than ever, the love I had for my family had only grown stronger, and every step I took felt lighter. So much had happened. I used to be angry at my mom from time to time because we had stopped going to church, but even then, I had enough faith to know that God would provide me with the strength to understand that hard times are only temporary and that I would come out vigorous and ready for whatever else life had in store for me. Who else has the power to carry someone out of their darkest times? Who else has the power to completely transform someone ’ s perception of the world other than God?

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