0777. The Passion of Christ, Our Promptings

The Passion of Christ, Our Promptings

"The zeal of Thine House hath eaten Me up" (John 2-17).

No one would deny that our Lord Jesus carried in His bosom a burning and a yearning after the sons of men. He was consumed with a passion for souls that ate into His very heart. He loved even unto the death. His passion for the lost and His compassion for His own, told on His physical frame. Even those who had known Him in the village where He had been brought up, mistook His age. They said: "Thou art not fifty years old," when, in fact, He was not more than thirty and three.

How many of us appear far beyond our natural years because of our "burning out" for God? Not very many, to be sure.

It will pay us to stop long enough to mark some of the scenes which describe the compassionate Christ.

1. His compassion, on the multitude. Mat_14:14 : "And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick."

"Compassion" is a strong word. It carries with it the thought of "a yearning in the bowels." That is, our Lord was stirred within, until something akin to nausea caught hold upon Him.

Herein lies, perhaps, the greatest need of the orthodox. To preach the Person of Christ is right, but to preach the Person of Christ in a doctrinally precise way is not enough. We must preach with all the tender mercies of Christ, with all His "bowels of mercy."

The multitudes are lying everywhere around us. Do we send them away that they may get victuals for themselves; or do we bid them to sit down on the ground that we may feed them?

The angel with the inkhorn was commanded to place a mark on every one who sighed and upon every one who cried for the abominations done in the midst of Jerusalem. Another angel was to slay utterly those who bore not the mark, and he was to begin at the House of God (see Ezekiel 9).

What would happen should such a course be pursued to-day? Where is our old-time passion and compassion for the lost? Where are those who weep and wail over the sad estate of the lost?

2. His compassion over the leper. Mar_1:41 : "And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean."

The leper was accursed in Israel. His place was outside the camp. None should touch him. He continually had to cry, "Unclean! unclean!" Jesus Christ came along the way, and met a leper. He had compassion on him. He put forth His hand and touched him, and said, "I will; be thou clean."

Here again is the need of the church. We must not enter into tirades of abuse against the morally corrupt, we must not isolate them from our place of preaching, we must not damn them to utter neglect. We must have pity, we must open unto them our hearts, and yearningly carry to them the story of the power of Christ to save.

We must love them as Christ loved Mary Magdalene. We must stand ready to forgive as Christ forgave the repentant woman who had been taken in sin. We must reach out our hand, and touch them, we must give rein to our affections and love them.

3. His compassion on the assaulted Jew. Luk_10:33 : "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him."

Only a parable, you say. Indeed! Yet a parable with a message of love and compassion that must not be overlooked. What a picture! A poor fellow, a despised Jew, robbed and beaten and left in the depth of despair.

What is the common attitude in such a case? It is that of the priest who merely "saw, and passed by on the other side." It is that of the Levite who "came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side."

What was and is the attitude of Christ? He is the "Good Samaritan" in this parable. He saw him, and had compassion and went to him, and bound up his wounds, and poured in oil and wine, and set him on his beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Let not the social worker arise and claim himself as the one who fulfils the need of this stricken Jew. Far from it. Americanization, social work and general physical and mental help is not enough to meet this need.

What is the real message of this parable? First, it is a revelation of the heart of Christ toward the bruised and fallen. Secondly, it is a rebuke at the cold formalism of a heartless orthodoxy.

But that is not all. The method of help is also set forth. What does the wounded Jew need? Roses and poses? No. A new and better system of policing the roads? No. Such methods are covers too short and beds too narrow with which a man may cover himself and upon which a man may stretch himself.

What is needed? (1) A heart burning with the "bowels of mercies," like that which consumed the Lord. (2) The binding up of the wounds through the message of atoning Blood and abounding grace. (3) The pouring in of the oil and the wine of the Holy Ghost. (4) The personal leadership and mighty shoulders of the risen Christ. (5) The care and succor of His Father’s House. Nothing less than this will meet His need.

4. His compassion on the prodigal son. Luk_15:20 : "And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."

Until the church has learned what it is to watch with longings for the prodigal’s return and what it is to "run" with God to meet him, and to fall on his neck and kiss him, it will never be in condition to preach the glories of the Person of Christ.

To stay at home, and to live separated from harlots and from the far country is not enough. The elder son did that. The elder son had a good dose of religion, but he knew nothing of the Father’s heart. He had no passion and no compassion. He had no desire to run out to meet the returning and repentant younger brother; he would not fall on his neck and kiss him.

What the church needs, what you need, what I need, is the spirit that consumed the Lord Jesus Christ when He stood over Jerusalem and wept. Preach on hell? Certainly. Never were such woes preached as our Lord Himself preached in Matthew 23. But preach on hell with the same broken spirit that was in Christ when He said: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Mat_23:37).

What the church needs is a love that will not let her go. A passion for souls that robs her of "ease" and pulls her to her knees. Then and only then can the church be fully blessed in holding forth the Word of Light and of Life.

Should we not watch our doctrine? To be sure. Should we not contend for the faith? Indeed. But that is not all, by any means. When Paul said to Timothy: "Take heed to thyself and to the doctrine," he put "thyself" first. How we need to adorn the doctrine! How we need to live it out!

It is not holding the Truth, but the Truth holding us, that will spell victory. It is not possessing the Truth but being possessed by the Truth that will make us great in the service of the Lord. It is not setting hold on the blessed hope but the hope setting hold on us, that will purify us, and prepare us for service.

Christ was not only the Truth, but He was the Truth pleading, "Come unto Me and rest;" He was the Truth pointing to the promise of another day, and saying: "Enter into the joy of thy Lord."

May God grant unto us the intensive yearning and burnings of the compassionate Son of God.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR