Matthew the apostle shared how Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist and, “he departed there by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities”, and in chapter fourteen and verse fourteen of his book, Matthew wrote how Jesus saw the multitudes, “and was moved with compassion toward them” where we read:
And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude,
and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
The verse reads, “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, ...” Matthew began with the words, “and Jesus” which means “and Jesus whose name means Jehovah is Salvation and is the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “went forth” which means “proceeded”, “and saw” or “and looked upon and noticed” “a great multitude” which means “a large group of people”. Matthew shared how Jesus noticed the large group of people who followed Him on foot.
The verse goes on to say, “and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.” Matthew continued with the words, “and was moved with compassion” or “yearned, felt sympathy and pity” “toward them” which means “for the crowd of people”, “and he healed” or “and Jesus served, healed, cured and restored to health” “their sick” which refers to “the people in the crowd who were ill, weak, with infirmity and without strength”. Matthew shared how Jesus “felt sympathy” for the people within the crowd and “cured” their weaknesses and ills.
When we consider Matthew's words in this verse, we see the fortitude and compassion of Jesus as the Messiah. Although His cousin John the Baptist, His fore-runner, was just killed, and He desired to be in solitude, when Jesus saw the people He was moved with “pity and sympathy” toward them. The result was Jesus putting aside His own desires and healing the people who were ill among them. God desires for people to know that He is a loving and compassionate God who cares deeply for people, and when a person observes the life of Jesus, they see the example of the manner in which God operates and feels. May all who read these words know that God looks upon them with “compassion” and desires to “cure” their physical and spiritual needs.
Next time we see Matthew shares how Jesus' disciples tell Jesus to, “send the multitude away”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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