Miracles and Mysteries: Matthew 8-13Sample

Who’s the most compassionate person you know? I have a friend who immediately comes to my mind (and many others!). He is the type of person who is consistently the same with everyone he meets; just as kind, generous, and gracious to a stranger as he would to his best mate.The wonderful thing is, he lives this way not because it was who he is naturally, but because he wants to model Jesus.

Jesus was the most compassionate person in history. In His ministry, He met the needs of countless people in extraordinary ways. We read how Jesus had healed outcasts, helped the poor, assisted the powerful, reached out to the hated, welcomed the stranger, and challenged the opposed. He did all this because He could see the state of all men and women; that we are like sheep without a shepherd who are walking in darkness and need the light.

Thankfully, Jesus is that shepherd that the lost sheep so desperately need. He protects, leads, and guides the flock and extraordinarily did what some shepherds would do for their sheep in ancient times: sacrificing their life to save them all.

This is the kind of shepherd we have. The most compassionate one who sees all the scattered, lost sheep and wants them to know of His saving love.

Today, ponder this: How does the compassion of Jesus spur you on in your own compassion of others? How might you help other lost sheep see and know the wonderful, great shepherd who loves them?