Epic Challenge Day 9

Read Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus is teaching and healing, He is preaching in the synagogues and He is looking out at the people of the crowds, and He feels compassion for them. He has seen their situation and He feels compassion for them.

To understand what is going on here we must understand what this "compassion" means.

Dictionary.com defines compassion as:
    a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.

This is one definition, but this word that Matthew is using is so much deeper than this. 

Matthew Barkley in his commentary says this, “σπλαγχνίζομαι (spla-gis-o-my) is the strongest word for pity in the Greek language. It is formed from the word splagchna, which means, in the bowels, and it describes the compassion which moves people to the deepest depths of their being. In the gospels, apart from its use in some of the parables, it is used only of Jesus"

This word is not just feeling sorry for someone cause they are hungry, this is much, much deeper.

This word is basically like a mothers compassion for a child. 

My wife, understands this much better then I do, almost every time one my daughters is close to falling, or something bad happening, she comments to me how she has chills, and the stress almost is uncontrollable.

This is that pain on the insides that a parent feels for her child. The litteral meaning of the root greek word, is compassion turning in the bowels.

This is a compassion that is so deep so real, it is like stomach pain.

Wow!

Lets read the vs again. 

Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus looks out on the people and he is moved on the insides with compassion for them.

Jesus looks upon fallen humanity, with so much compassion that he hurts on the inside for us. He hurts on the inside for you.