Compassion, Forgiveness, and Priorities

Introduction

Well, it’s a joy to be with you this morning, speaking for my wife, Linda, and myself. Been looking forward to this ever since it was scheduled. We did this a few years ago for a two-day meeting leading into the lectureship. I forget if that was 08 or 09, but it’s been a few years. So for many of you this morning, it was good to meet you. For others, I remembered a little bit, and so it was good to see you again. But I’m Linda and I are looking forward, of course, to the entire week. It’s a wonderful thing when you have truth in common. And that’s the most important thing in the world to have right relationship with God because of his word. And what that does is to bring people together that also are right with God.

And it’s a wonderful thing to invite others to join us and to share in the good things of the gospel. And I understand a lot of inviting has been done for this effort, and I’m glad of that. It’s always good to be with the Harkrhers, and looking forward again to being with Greg and with Adam and their families and with all of you. So it’s um I consider it such a wonderful privilege and opportunity to preach the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. And to have the topic of Jesus becoming more like Jesus. That’s a great topic. It’s difficult to do justice to that. I often say that the Great Commission has two parts. When Jesus said, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.

That’s part one. That’s my that’s Mark’s account. In Matthew, when Jesus said in Matthew 28, beginning at verse 19, to teach the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That’s part one. And you can learn what you need to do to become a Christian in a relatively short time. In the book of Acts, oftentimes it will say straightway, immediately. In that day, or in the case of Acts 16, at the same hour of the night. And so God has made the profound message of the gospel so simple that in a short time one can learn what he needs to know and to do in order to be saved. But that’s part one. When Jesus said, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I’ve commanded you, how long does that take?

And the answer is that’s the rest of our lives. And I’m not going to leave out from time to time our talking about what we need to do to become a Christian, but the focus on this lesson is really part two, or this series, becoming more like Jesus. What does that God want us to do when we come to know him? And so many passages answer that question. We’re going to be looking especially at Luke 6 and verse 40 in the course of the week. But in Matthew chapter 10, Jesus said in verse 24, a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. And so there’s a principle here. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master.

If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household? And that tells you something else about Jesus, and that is, he did not shrink back from talking about all that’s involved if we’re truly his disciple. This business about if they call me Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies. A name, a name referring to Satan, then if you’re like me, what are they going to do with you? And so the point of it is being like the Lord is not just receiving blessings, and it’s not just the concept of conforming to his traits and his characteristics, but it’s it’s a total package, and that means we’re willing to suffer shame for his name as well. That’s part of discipleship that’s just mentioned in that passage in terms of being like the Lord.

But as I say, another text in Luke chapter 6 and verse 40 a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. If you’re reading the King James Version, it’s it’s everyone who is perfect will be like his teacher. And we see that word perfect, and we think, well, nobody’s perfect. That that should be our standard, but we can’t be perfect. But it’s not talking here about sinless perfection, which it is true, no one is sinlessly perfect, but the word is used uh in the sense of fully trained, perfect in the sense of having something having all of its parts. When a Greek physician, when a physician in the Greek speaking world was attending the birth of a child, and the child was born, and it’s normal, it’s whole, it has all its parts, he would say teleos.

And that’s important to us when a child is born. I I remember uh coincidentally when when our youngest Seth was born, and I got to hold him first in that uh in that uh labor room, and they were still working with my wife at that point, and I she couldn’t see him as well. Uh and so she says, Does he have all his parts? And the answer is yes. That’s what you want. Something to be complete. And what the Lord wants is for us to have all of our parts, for us to be fully trained to be like him. The American standard, instead of using the word disciple, interestingly, it says a pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone after he has been fully trained will be like his teacher.

You know, if you’re a student in school, you may not be able to wait till you get out. You know, I’ll be so glad to be done with this. And if you’re in college, you know, it’s like I just can’t wait to get my degree. I don’t I’ll never take another course. I’m just so tired of that. And so we may we may look at something as a terminal degree or the end of a study, end of a course when it comes to other topics, but when it comes to discipleship, you never graduate from this school. You’re you continue to be pupils. If you understand our purpose, we we are saying, yes, I’m a student. I’m I’m wanting to be more and more like Jesus. I’m studying him.

I’m wanting to know him, I’m wanting to see him through the eyes of inspired men. I want to be like Jesus. And so what we’re talking about here, really, as I say, is is an ongoing thing. Now, so many traits Jesus has. When we talk about being like Jesus, we’re not talking about our having the traits of deity. Deity is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. And so it’s not like we’re going to have those qualities that pertain only to deity. But the traits, the characteristics, the qualities that Jesus has. These are, these are we are to become like him in all those ways that indeed are attainable and must be our goal. Too many have the idea, well, I’ve been baptized. What more did what more do you want?

1. The Compassion of Jesus

I’m a member of the church of Christ. What’s all this fuss about? And yet we’re going to look at passages that show us how in so many ways we need to be like Jesus. I don’t know that there’s a particular rank order, you know, and I don’t know how you could make an order from least to the greatest if there was such a thing. But where I want to start as my beginning point is on the compassion of Jesus. There’s a text over in the in the gospel of Luke, in Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7 is telling us about a widow that not only is a widow, but she also apparently is childless. The text tells us that the man that dies, let’s just read the text in Luke chapter 7.

Jesus went into a city called Nain, and many of his disciples went with him, and a large crowd. And when he came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. So she’s a widow. She’s lost her only son, and most who are that I’ve read studying this particular expression doesn’t mean she had a lot of daughters, but this is it. Her only child, the only son of her mother.

And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, Do not weep. And he came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still, and he said, Young man, I say unto you, arise. So he that was dead sat up and began to speak, and he presented him to his mother. And so in our minds we go back, we go back to that city of Nain in Galilee. Nain is not one of the more important cities.

And here’s what it looks like today, by the way.

In Judges chapter 7, this is where the Midianites were encamped in the days of Gideon, where that hill is right there. So that’s in the background to give you some orientation. And so Jesus came to this village. And the sight that he saw was a sight of mourning.

And I know that when we think in terms of what happens here, that Jesus’ purpose in all the miraculous was to show who he is. The miracles confirmed the word. The miracles confirmed his claims. The miracles show that he was indeed the Son of God. So I know that’s the purpose, and it’s not just to heal the sick or just to raise the dead. If it were, Jesus could have healed all the sick. And if it were, he could have raised all the dead. But there are very few times he does that. In fact, in all the in all of the gospels combined, there are only three recorded cases where Jesus raised someone from the dead during his ministry. This is one of those three right here.

The other’s Jairus’ daughter, and the last one was raising Lazarus from the dead. And so I know that there’s specificity in his purpose, and this was done on a limited basis. But what I’m seeing, though, that I don’t want to leave out is how that when Jesus saw her, he had compassion on her.

And he identifies with people. And if we are to be like Jesus, we must be people that are that are compassionate. Jesus compassion is seen in other instances. In Matthew the 20th chapter, the amazing thing to me about this, among other things, is that Jesus is passing through Jericho, and he is on his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. When you are here in Matthew 20, this is the transition into the final week of our Lord’s ministry. And so what do you think is on the Lord’s mind as he is just literally days away from his crucifixion? All the sins of the world he would bear on the cross, that crushing weight, and that’s on his mind.

And verse 29 says, as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed him, and behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, said, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David. I don’t know how you are. I know how I am. I think I know how most people are. If you are really preoccupied with something that is really important, just really pressing on you, something that is just occupying all of your energy and your thoughts. And then somebody says, Uh, could I talk to you for just a minute? Uh just a uh something here I need you to do. You might say, Well, this is really not the best time. And from that standpoint, this was not really the best time to be talking to Jesus.

And who were these people anyway? They weren’t very important, were they? What does it say? It doesn’t give their names. Two blind men sitting by the road. Do you know what blind people had to do in the days of Jesus? What else you’d put with a description besides they were blind? They were beggars. And in the parallel text, it points that out as well. And so these are people not even named in society. They would not have been considered important. And yet they refer to Jesus as son of David. And that expression, son of David, does not simply mean that one is a descendant of David physically. It does mean that. But the expression, son of David, came to be a messianic title. It was a phrase that denoted the coming Christ.

And that’s what they are calling Jesus. They’re not just saying you’re a descendant of David. But when they say, Have mercy on us, O Lord, son of David, they are thereby stating their faith in him as the Messiah. I don’t know where that faith came from. I know there were a lot of other people that were not calling Jesus the Messiah. The high priest was not calling him the Messiah. The Sanhedrin was not acknowledging him as the Messiah. A lot of people were not saying that he is the Christ. And many were trying to test him and tempt him, tempt him and trip him up if possible and get him in trouble with the authorities. But these men simply acknowledge he is the Messiah. And Jesus is walking.

But these men had a faith that made Jesus stand still on the road that day.

Verse 32 says, Jesus stood still and called them and said, What do you want me to do for you? So here they are, blind beggars. What do you think a blind man would want? And do you suppose Jesus knew what their needs were? When Jesus taught the model prayer in Matthew chapter 6, beginning at verse 9, the verse prefacing that, verse 8, Jesus said, For your heavenly Father knows the things you have need of before you ask him. But we still need to ask. For in asking we are acknowledging our dependence upon him, the one who is the giver of every good and perfect gift. And in the articulation of our needs and making our wants and petitions known, we also should do a check in terms of God’s word that we’re trying not to ask amiss, but asking in keeping with his will.

We still need to ask, but he knows our needs first. But he Jesus asked. And they said, Lord, that our eyes may be open. Now here again, I stated the purpose because the Bible states the purpose of Jesus’ miracles to confirm the word, to show the authenticity of his message, to show who he is. And yet don’t overlook the other elements that are included. It says, So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight. Now Matthew just says, and they followed him. In the parallel passages that describe this same event, Jesus said, Go your way. Your faith has made you whole. When he says, Go your way, it’s like it’s the equivalent of saying, you’re dismissed. You can go now. You can go anywhere you want to go.

Because now you don’t have to have somebody to lead you. Now you don’t have to have somebody, watch out, there’s a hole there, watch out, there’s a log there. Go your way. You’re free to go. And the text says they followed Jesus. They decided to follow Jesus. That means they’re walking with him on the road to Jerusalem. So we can look at passages like this that our Lord has compassion when there’s death. Our Lord has compassion when blind men ask that they might receive their sight. But it’s more than those kinds of physical needs.

In Matthew chapter 9, the text tells us in verse 36, when Jesus saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Then Jesus said to his disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into the harvest. Jesus saw the multitudes, and he was moved with compassion. He saw souls that were lost. You know, if I see multitudes, I have to remind myself that I need to be like Jesus. When I see multitudes, I’m thinking, what are all these people doing here? They’re all in my way. I wish they would move. You know? What are they doing here? And so large crowds, if we’re not careful, can be a source of irritation.

They can annoy us. And what we need to remind ourselves of, these are people. We’re looking at large crowds. These are people that don’t know the Lord. These are people that when Sunday comes might not even think about worshiping. This morning I’m in the elevator, there’s this nice little. When I say nice little man, he was little. And older, an older gentleman with his daughter. And very friendly, you know, how are you doing? And so forth. And so he said, Well, you look like you’re ready to go to work. And I said, To church. Oh, I forgot this was Sunday. And his daughter, you know, spoke up. Yeah, you know, we’ve been here since Thursday, just kind of lost track of what day days it is.

And day it is. And there’s just a world of people. They got up today and they forgot it was Sunday. It’s not anything special to them. If it’s a day off, they’re not forgetting it’s a day off. I don’t mean that. But otherwise, they’re not mindful of the Lord. And they need the gospel. They need to know Jesus. And we need to have compassion. And we need to be patient toward them and do all that we can to teach the lost. And so that was true even when there was a Samaritan village that refused to receive Jesus. And the disciples were willing to call down fire like Elijah did and show these people. And Jesus said, the Son of Man, man did not come to destroy, but to save lives.

2. As His Custom Was

And so even when people were mistreating the Lord, his compassion was still there. He was concerned about them. These people at Samaria, the Samaritan village that rejected him, what did he want? He wanted their salvation. And so our prayer needs to be help me to be more like Jesus. Help me to have a heart of compassion. Let me suggest to you something else, though, about Jesus. Turn with me to Luke chapter 4. In Luke chapter 4 in verse 16, we have just a glimpse into Jesus early on here in his ministry. This is up in Nazareth. Luke 4.16 says, so he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.

And to me that’s fascinating to think about our Lord doing that and reading here from the passage Isaiah and a Messianic passage and closing the scroll, giving it to the attendant, sitting down, the eyes of all that are there are upon him. And for him to say, This day, this scripture is fulfilled in your eyes. You’re looking at the fulfillment of this passage. I mean, that’s just a wonderful text. But I’m interested in that part that describes what Jesus is doing there in verse 16. It says, as his custom was. Now, we know that we’re talking here about the Old Testament dispensation. The law was operative until Jesus died on the cross. And so, therefore, we’re reading about a synagogue setting. We’re reading about Sabbath observance.

And we so we understand there that context. But this expression as his custom was. As each Sabbath rolled around, as each Saturday came around, uh he he knew that people would be meeting for prayer. They would be meeting in the synagogue to read God’s word. They would be meeting in the synagogue for teaching to to take place, and Jesus would be present. He didn’t forget what day it was. As his custom was.

Schedule, and you know very well that that’s the way we need to be when it comes to our living under the New Testament dispensation. It just needs to be just as habitual, just as regular. And I’m thankful for so many homes that don’t have conversations like, are we going to church tonight? Uh, Daddy, are we going this morning? No, I I don’t feel like it. Something else has come up. Maybe maybe next week. We went last week, you know. And so I’m thankful for homes that it’s it’s just we know we know. We know that that’s woven into our schedule, that we’re going to be present to worship, we’re going to be present for Bible studies, and I hope that you have that kind of home and you’re that kind of person, and of course, you are the ones who are here, and that speaks well of you.

Jesus was that way. He it was regular, it was habitual, and that’s the way it needs to be with us, because we need that. We need to glorify God, we need to worship, we need to be encouraged. Have you not ever been to a service when you were just worn out or something happened, you were you were discouraged, or you were upset, and yet you find yourself being lifted up by the songs. You find yourself being lifted up by the reading and the exposition of Scripture and your opportunity to praise God and to be with your brethren. And so God is wise in telling us that we ought not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

3. Jesus Was Attentive to the Little Children

Let me suggest to you something else. You can tell we’re looking this morning at different traits that Jesus had. And as I say, I’m I’m not really trying to say there’s some logical order. We’re just looking at Jesus. We want to see him. We want to know him. And in the Gospel of Mark, when you come to this part of the Lord’s ministry, if I were to say it is the Perean ministry, you’d be on the same page with me. This is that period of ministry about six months before he goes to Jerusalem to die. But he’s on the other side of the Jordan. And so he is there, as is pointed out in Mark chapter 10 and verse 1. But he’s not just waiting for Passover to get here.

He is waiting for that Passover where he would be crucified, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, it would be on the Father’s timetable. So he is waiting for that, but he’s not just waiting. He’s filling his time with teaching. There are a lot of teaching takes place during this time, like the discussion about God’s marriage law in the first part of Mark 10. Well, that’s in the Perean ministry. But I’m moving on down, though, right after that discussion to verse 13. It says, Then they brought little children to him that he might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased and said to them, Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them.

For of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. And now, verse 16. And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. I treasure that passage. I can envision that. I can see parents bringing their little kids in tow. Some may have had an only child, but some may have had two, some may have had large families. They may have had three or four or five. They’re bringing their children to Jesus, and the disciples are saying, He doesn’t have time for that. Get those kids out of here. They’re rebuking them. And when Jesus saw what was going on, he said, Don’t do that.

Let the children come to me. And did you notice the part? He took them in his arms. And I don’t think that means he just, you know, with a big grasp, just takes up the whole, you know, a whole gang of them. I take that to be an individualized thing where he’s picking them up one at a time. And it says he blessed them, perhaps in the form of a prayer, invoking God’s blessings on them. Isn’t that a beautiful picture? Now, some of those kids would remember that all their lives. Some of them may have been too little, you know, depending on the age. But a wise parent would never forget that. And they would say, You know, you remember that time that Jesus picked you up and he prayed for you.

Remember that? That was just a few months before his crucifixion. And you need to live for him. You need to be faithful to him. Because he cared enough about you. He told the disciples to back off and insisted that you be brought to him, and he picked you up. He held you in his arms and he prayed for you. See, children are important to Jesus. And he understands that you don’t wait till one is 15 or 16 or 18 years old and then say, I believe I’ll talk to them about spiritual matters. What Jesus saw is that here they were, the text says, little children. These are small children. Some of them may have been babes, and Jesus is picking them up and invoking God’s blessings on them.

Now, if we’re like Jesus, children are important to us. And that doesn’t mean the church having all kinds of programs that are unscriptural and really have an emphasis on entertainment and recreation and that kind of thing. Say, yeah, you know, we really care about our young people here. I’m talking about like Jesus did, with a spiritual emphasis, with concern for souls, with seeing the potential that is there, with being a source of blessing to them and praying God’s blessings on them. One of the things that we have done at Hansville now for Hansville, Alabama, where I’m from, uh, for 25 years. We’ve been blessed to have a young people’s class regularly, year-round, on Sunday afternoon. And it’s about a 45 minute class. And I encourage the mothers to bring their kids to that class as soon as they are out of the hospital.

And they do. So if the baby is two years old, he will, two weeks old, I mean to say, he will get to be held by me. And he will get used to me. And he will be singing, Jesus loves me with our class. And as they grow up into months and years, there’s never a time that they’re not used to that kind of setting. And of course, I have a lot of support in that. Because the parents reinforce that. The classroom teachers reinforce that. But I think it’s so important to start early. And uh, and we do that. And to God be the glory for any good that is done, but I can tell you, we have lost almost none of our young people. And again, to God be the glory.

4. His Willingness to Forgive

But when you realize how important this is, and how children need to be taught to memorize. And if they’re two years old, they’re old enough to say all their judges. And um, one thing we did uh sometime back is to have them memorize the Sermon on the Mount, the older ones in the class, memorize Matthew 5, 6, and 7. And that’s so important. To seize that, to seize that time when they’re young and to bond with them and teach them God’s word. Jesus was attentive to the little children. Well, let me suggest to you, you can’t talk about Jesus without talking about his willingness to forgive. In fact, his first recorded words on the cross, when they’re gambling for his garments, when he’s being reviled, his first recorded words on the cross were, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

An outstanding trait of Jesus. The sinless Son of God, his willingness to forgive, his praying that they would be forgiven. Isaiah 53, the 8th century B.C. prophet had foretold that Jesus would make intercession for the transgression. Now we need to remind ourselves when Jesus prayed that they might be forgiven, that that cost him a lot for them to be forgiven. For them to be forgiven, Jesus had to die. For them to be forgiven, for that prayer he was praying to be answered, he had to become our propitiation. And yet he uses the analogy of how we have been forgiven and how we must forgive others in Matthew chapter 18, when he tells about two servants, one owed the king 10,000 talents, a debt he could never pay.

5. Jesus’ Priorities

And yet the text says the king forgave him all. But then he sees a fellow servant that owed him a hundred denarii. He wouldn’t not forgive him. Took him by the throat and began to choke him and had him cast into prison. And then what happened is the king revoked, rescinded that earlier forgiveness that had been extended to that unjust servant. And Jesus said, So will my Father do to you if each one of you from his heart does not forgive his brother. So if we want to be like Jesus, we must be a forgiving people. We must pray for the forgiveness of others. We must stand willing to forgive. Well, let me suggest to you one final point, and that is Jesus’ priorities. He never lost sight of them.

Matters of the kingdom, matters of righteousness, that’s that’s it, even more important than eating. He’s hungry and he’s tired when he sits by the well. The disciples go in to buy food. But he got so animated as he’s talking with a woman from Samaria that came to draw water, that when the disciples came with the food, he wasn’t even hungry anymore. And he said, My food is to do the will of him that sent me and to accomplish his work.

I came from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of my father who sent me, John 6 38. I always do the things that are pleasing in his sight. John 8 and verse 29. And even in the shadow of the cross, Jesus prayed that the cup might pass. But he said, Nevertheless, not my will be done, but your will be done. The most important thing for Jesus was doing the Father’s will. When he cleansed the temple at the beginning of his ministry, the disciples would remember the passage that says, Zeal for thy house hath eaten me up. Jesus was consumed with zeal for his father’s house. And I know, again, context, that’s the temple. And the house of God today is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Conclusion

But I’m asking, when people see you and me, do they see someone that is consumed with zeal for the Father’s house? Jesus died that he might make us a people, a zealous people, a people for his own possession, zealous of good works. Jesus commended Mary to Martha. When he said, Martha, you’re anxious in trouble about many things, but one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good part which shall not be taken away from her. See, there’s one thing that’s needful, and that’s doing the will of our Father in heaven. May God help us to have the same priorities in our lives that the Lord had. Would you bow with me, please, at this time? Holy Father, we have been able this morning just to get a glimpse into a few passages.

But we come before you with hearts hungering and thirsting for righteousness. We want to know you. We want to know your Son. We’re so thankful for your Holy Spirit. Help us to know Jesus and to be more like him. May your word have free course in our lives. Bless each one here. Bless each one who’s been invited. And bless us during this week with a scheduled meetings. May your blessings be on us for good. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.