Jesus was never short on compassion. Several places in scripture talk of Jesus arriving somewhere, and crowds of people would be waiting for Him there, or had followed Him there. And He would have great compassion for them, for they were often like sheep without a shepherd — lost, tormented, and (spiritually) hungry. So even if He had somewhere to go, or a previous agenda, out of His compassion for them, He would delay everything and teach the people about the Kingdom of God.
When Jesus Allowed Compassion to Delay His Agenda
In Mark 1:21-39 (this post is actually part 2 of Mark 1:21-28), we read of another time that Jesus allowed His compassion to delay His agenda, maybe even wore Him out and kept Him from doing something more important.
Mark 1:21-39 starts off telling us about a demon-possessed guy who was comfortably hanging out in the synagogue. When people began responding to Jesus’ message, it called Him out. But when Jesus silenced it and cast it out of the man, everybody was amazed. Verses 27-28 say, “When people saw this, news about Jesus spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.”
Ancient Supply & Demand
Understand, these people were spiritually dead–darkened. Suddenly, Jesus introduces them to life…light. Nobody else could give off such light before, not even the teachers of the Law. And once everybody saw it, they all wanted to know and tell about Him.
Notice that when a cure is discovered, everybody with the disease wants the cure, and everybody who knows somebody with the disease will tell those friends and help them to it. In the eyes of these people, Jesus was the cure for those demon-possessed and ill.
Jesus Takes a Short Break
This was definitely a good thing, but such wasn’t what Jesus came to do. He didn’t come only to heal and exorcise, but to recruit, save, and fulfill the Law. So early the next morning, He escaped the crowds, so to say, and went off to pray. Before long though, Simon and company went searching for Him. When they found Jesus, they said, “Everyone’s looking for you!”
I can imagine hearing a sigh from Jesus when they said this, for He then replied, “Let’s go somewhere else…to a nearby village (or something?), so I can preach there, also. Because THAT is why I have come.” See, even Jesus’ disciples were confused about why He was there. He’s good at this healing and exorcising, it works, so it must be what He’s here to do. But they didn’t understand that there was SO much more!
Such Busyness Wasn’t Jesus’ Mission
Like I said, it was definitely a good thing that people were bringing their sick and possessed to Jesus, but such was not the main reason why He had come. So even though the demon was cast out of the man, he/it still partially accomplished its mission, which was to take the people’s focus off of Jesus’ teaching (Truth), to distort the people’s views of Him, and to keep Him busy.
Jesus’ compassion alone was enough for the enemy to work off from. I mean, what a great way for the enemy to interfere. If Satan could keep Jesus there, healing and exorcising everybody, then couldn’t you see Satan sending more of his demons into people to be brought to Him? Because the more time that Jesus spends there busy with this menial stuff, the less time Jesus would have to get away and fulfill His mission. And even though His great compassion for the people burned from within, Jesus recognized this tactic of busyness and delay from the enemy. He suggested leaving so that He could get back to His real mission.
When Busyness Delays Your Purpose
It’s easy to get off track when your compassion for others steps in and takes over. Don’t get me wrong, compassion is a very good thing, and it’s also a huge theme in Mark’s gospel. Compassion is only bad when it gets in the way of your mission, and/or clouds your judgment about God, His love for creation, and His mission for you.
Escaping To Pray
Jesus had the authority and power to heal and exorcise, but that wasn’t why He was here. However, out of His compassion for the people, He didn’t turn them away, either. However, His compassion also kept Him busy, too busy, even to take out time to pray. This is easy to do for us, also, when things become busy, even when we’re enjoying what we’re doing. But we need to remember that even Jesus had to escape to pray. His doing so helped Him to recollect His thoughts, remember what His mission was, and go off to accomplish it.
Reflection Questions:
- Try to remember some times when compassion, though a good thing, got in the way. On the job? At school? In a relationship? etc.
- When the people focused on Jesus’ compassion and the things He was able to do, they lost sight of His teachings. They also misunderstood who He really was. How does your understanding of God’s compassion take part in defining who Jesus is/was and His mission?
- Everybody in Christ has a mission for the Kingdom of God. When was the last time you got away and really prayed about His mission for you…the purpose for why you’re here?
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