Show compassion to everyone (1)

“When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.” Luke 14:13 NKJV

Luke wrote, “Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely” (v. 1 NKJV). That day He turned one of their most prized religious traditions on its ear by saying, “When you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (vv. 13-14 NKJV). Anything defective was considered by the Pharisees as unsuitable to reflect the perfect holiness of God. Consequently, they allowed nothing malformed within the boundaries of the temple. Furthermore, since they believed the temple had been degraded by Rome, they believed they could honour God by treating their homes as small temples. For Jesus to tell this well-known Pharisee to intentionally invite malformed, defective human beings into his holy little temple was a deliberate slap in the face. Jesus was instructing him to place on his guest list people whose defects offended him. Jesus’ compassion came from His love for all individuals and His pain when anyone is devalued. In scripture, we are never told that Jesus had compassion for someone because they deserved it but because they were in need. Don’t miss the point Jesus made. He promised that you will be blessed in this life and rewarded in the next one when you show kindness and compassion to those who “cannot repay you.” Keep this in mind when you’re tempted to overlook someone because they have a particular problem you don’t like.

The Word for You Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from Celebration Enterprises, Inc. Copyright © 2024