But when He saw the multitudes.
Christ’s look of sympathy
I. What he saw.
1. Not reasons for admiration.
2. Not grounds for discouragement.
3. But a call for pity.
II. The condition of the people.
1. Faint.
2. Scattered.
3. Shepherdless.
III. His compassion enlisted for their succour.
1. The grace of the Father.
2. His own prevailing intercession.
3. The gifts of the Spirit.
4. The service of His messengers. (H. A. Cornell.)
Compassion for souls
I. The sight which presented itself to our Lord. Christ was moved with the sight of physical suffering; here it was spiritual disease.
1. The number of the sheep.
2. The condition of the sheep.
3. The reason of their condition-their having no shepherd.
II. The effect which this sight had upon our Lord. The fact that our Lord felt compassion when He saw the fearful sight. Unless there is a feeling of compassion there will be no spiritual effort. (E. Bayley, M. A.)
Partied views of humanity
There are men who take partial views and come to partial and, therefore, erroneous conclusions about everything. There are those who seat themselves within some vernal enclosure or summer paradise, and say, with a foolish chuckle, that the earth is not so bad a place after all. They see a bed of blooming flowers, fiery-hued or gentle-tinted, and they hear birds in the branches twittering, trilling, singing, and making melody in their hearts, and they say the earth is a very lovely place, notwithstanding all the croakers say to the contrary. Now observe how they confound the partial term with the larger word. They see a garden and then speak of the earth, they see a bed of geraniums and then speak of the globe; there is no balance in their sentences, their words do not correspond with one another at both ends of their declarations. The garden is beautiful, the flowers are lovely beyond all that it is possible for the colouring of human heart fully to represent. The painter paints the form, but he cannot touch the fragrance. We admire their poetical sympathy within given limits, but go beyond the garden wall, go into the rough streets, go into the desolate places, take in the wilderness, throw the line around the entirety, bring the whole elements within your purview, and then say what it is. The angel sees it, and says, “Mourning and lamentation and woe.” Jesus sees it, and cannot cease His prayer; Jesus looks upon it, and is moved with compassion. (Dr. Parker.)
A Christ-like judgment of men
I. Christ teaching us how to look at men.
II. Christ teaching us how to peel at such a sight.
III. Christ teaching us what to do with the emotion.
1. Personal work.
2. Prayer.
3. Help. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
A portrait of Jesus
His compassion manifested in-
I. The great transactions of His life.
II. The foresights of compassion.
1. The Bible for our guidance.
2. The minister to speak to man.
3. The Holy Spirit to comfort.
4. The mercy-seat as our resort.
5. The promises as our food.
6. The ordinances.
III. Our personal recollections prove this compassion.
1. He tempered our convictions with intervals of hope.
2. He has moderated our afflictions.
3. He has put us to graduated tasks. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Emotion leading to action
You cannot indulge in the luxury of feeling (if you will excuse a Lancashire metaphor), that you do not use to drive your spindles, without doing yourselves harm; it is never intended to be blown off as waste steam and allowed to vanish into the air. It is meant to be conserved and guided, and to have something done with it. Therefore, do not get into the habit of indulging in that sentimental contemplation of the missionaries and heathenism. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Compassion sustains service
Nothing but compassion will carry you through any tragedy in life; you cannot go through it merely for its own sake. The hireling will fall asleep over the sick child, but the mother will drive sleep away from her dwelling-place till she has rescued her little one from the power of the enemy, if it be within the scope of her endurance and skill to win so great a triumph. Her compassion keeps her awake, her love makes the night as the day, her pity stops the clock, so that she takes no note of time. Every other emotion grows dumb; wonder must sometimes close its eyes, admiration palls upon itself, sates its appetite and dies of the satiety, but compassion grows by what it feeds on, and is of the very nature of the love of God. He grows in the development of his compassion; he will-succeed yet. (J. Parker, D. D.)