Compassion (Walking on Water, Part 1)

I remember when I first heard of this message of the account of Jesus walking on water, it was a sermon that really spoke deeply to me. Subsequently, I found a book by John Ortberg with the title, "If you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat". It is a fun reading book with many spiritual principles to draw from. I will share this in another blog post.

Matthew 14:22 began with the word 'Immediately'. Something happened before Jesus made His disciples go into the boat and get before Him to the other side of the lake. Before the account of Jesus walking on water was the account of Jesus feeding the five thousand. And before these two miracles happened, Jesus had a very distressing start of the day.

Matthew 14:13 -- Jesus heard that his cousin John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod the tetrarch, and he was very sad. He departed from that place by boat to a deserted place by Himself. He wanted some quiet time with the Lord, He wanted to lift up His soul to God the Father. But alas, when the multitudes heard that He went to that directed, they followed Him on foot from the cities.

Just imagine, these people followed Him on foot! And it's not like they were all healthy and in comfort. Each of them were carrying their burdens, their sorrows, their sicknesses, their problems, and despite knowing that Jesus withdrew Himself from the crowds, they still followed Him. Why? Perhaps they wanted to console Jesus about John, but I think they secretly or subconsciously knew that Jesus would have compassion on them.

v14 -- When Jesus saw the great multitude, He was moved with compassion for them, and started healing their sick and preaching to them. And boy was the sermon long! Because He preached until evening, and His disciples came to Him to tell Him it's getting late, better send the people into the villages and let them buy themselves food. They were signally Jesus that they were hungry. (v15)

Instead, Jesus made a great miracle of multiplying five loaves and two fishes in the disciples' hands as they distributed it to the multitude. Notice the Lord did not break the loaves and fishes Himself, but instead gave it to the disciples and the food multiplied as they gave it to the people. He wanted them to know that He is in control, for them to see that as they put their trust and faith on Him, there will always be more than enough, because He is the one who supplies, He is Jehovah-Jireh!

Now, try to picture Jesus, who has just lost a close family member who is also supposed to be His forerunner. When a forerunner has died, that means He would be next to go soon. He was in grief, but He was still in control. I believe this is recorded because God wants us to know that He truly can understand our feelings. Jesus is setting the example to us that even though we may be going through challenging times, it doesn't mean that we then switch off our compassion.

I believe it is entirely normal and human when a person goes through grief that he needs time to regain focus and strength, to let the wounds heal. I'm not saying that when we go through rough times we just numb it and tough on the journey. God understands our feelings that we need to draw ourselves away from the crowd and just be in His presence, but He also wants us not to lose the compassion in our hearts. Because deep down inside, we will still have it and find it if we do not just focus on our distress. If we don't ignore the compassion in our hearts, the Lord can use us for miracles. However, if we choose to be drowned in sadness and never rise up, we choose to let God pass us by.

Believe me, I have been through times of great grief and I know what it means to lose someone dear. And during those times, I felt like I had all the right to be emotional about anything and everything and at everyone, even though deep down I knew that I shouldn't continue to be like that. I felt like just giving up everything that I know of the Lord, because for once, it actually seemed like the Lord has failed to show up for me, but then again I also know that it is not like that. I thank God that I never gave up going to church and worship Him, be in His presence. Though at that time I didn't understand many things, and I was desperately searching for answers, but looking back, I thank God that I did not give up the softness in my heart, the part of me that responds to God time and time again. I did not give up being compassionate.

Sometimes we lose someone and people tell us, "from here on, many will come to know Christ!" It's very hard to buy that when you're in that situation, because if many are going to believe in the Lord, why not the one who has passed away? Why some have to die while others get to live eternally? Where is the fairness to that? But friends, if a farmer were to sow seeds, will every seed become a tree? Or can he guarantee the exact number of fruits the tree would yield to every seed sown? Yet, does he say then that he will not go out to reap the harvest because it is too little?

Gal 6:9 Let us do not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Don't lose heart. Don't lose your compassion. You'll never know how miracles will come. Jesus is the supplier of miracles.