Gospel Compassion – Part One

Have you ever read a portion of the Bible and felt absolutely captivated by it to the point where it feels like it cannot leave you alone? The words you read enthrall your every waking moment. It’s as if the Holy Spirit is drawing you into an encounter where He is longing to reveal new facets of revelation and love through those verses.

Well, I have recently revisited a passage that has done that very thing to me. You could say it’s been messing me up real good. Over the next few weeks, I want to press into God and share what He shows me. All I really know so far is that it’s going to be about what I call “Gospel Compassion.”

To start I want you to read the same verses that have so captured my heart.

Matthew 9:35–10:8 reads, “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease…These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”

Starting in Matthew 9:35 we see the everyday actions of Jesus. He “went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”

From this, we can gather that Jesus taught the religious, preached the good news of the Kingdom to all who would hear, and healed every sickness and disease on a regular circuit. This was His everyday life.

Everywhere He went he demonstrated the Kingdom in both speech and action.

Sickness could not stay when Jesus was in town.

Even the foulest of cancers had to flee when Jesus spoke.

When Jesus preached the gospel, the impossible became possible.

When I read this I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 15:19 — “Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God…I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”

Paul recognized the importance of demonstrations of power to follow the gospel. That’s how Jesus did it. He gave the good news, and then demonstrated the good news. He showed the present reality of the Kingdom and how Heaven could truly break into our circumstances and change everything.

Think about it, people can hear about Jesus all day long, but when they encounter Him everything changes. The word becomes actualized when the supernatural breaks out. His love is manifested through those moments where the laws of nature are suspended and God shows off.

The more I spend time with God through His word I see the connection between the preaching of the gospel and the outbreak of signs, miracles, and wonders. I find that His word always carries the promises and power of God into any situation into which it is spoken.

The question then stands, what does this have to do with us?

Spoiler alert: It has everything to do with us.

In John 20:21 Jesus says “As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you.”

Jesus Himself has said that He is sending us to live a Spirit-filled life that declares the fullness of the Father’s love. If you don’t believe me look it up. It’ll be in red letters.

I don’t know about you, but I want to live a life that mirrors Jesus’ — wherein everywhere I go God is glorified and people encounter Him through the good news of the gospel and demonstrations of power.

This is easier said than done, but I believe that this passage of Scripture contains keys that will unlock and demystify how the normal Christian life should be lived.

Thank you for reading

If you like what you read, it would mean a lot to me if you’d share this with others. My vision for this blog is to equip, empower, and encourage believers to walk out in the fullness of what Jesus has for them.

Did you know that you are a huge part of making that happen? Even by simply sharing this on Facebook or Twitter, you are sowing into the Kingdom purpose that God has spoken to me.