“At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Matthew 9:36 (NAB)
This scripture reveals the passionate heart of God the Father, through the words of Jesus, His son. Jesus was moved with a heart full of pity as He looked at the crowd in front of Him. He saw individuals, looked at their faces, and into their eyes, and knew who is troubled, misguided, or abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.
I wish I had the capacity to see crowds the way Jesus did. I tend to see a crowd at first as either being an obstacle in my way, or ready to cause trouble, but Jesus looked at a crowd and saw every individual in it, because God always looks at hearts. Samuel the prophet said, ‘Man looks at appearances but God looks at the heart’. (1 Samuel 16:7)
It’s so easy to forget to see people as individuals, and not view them as part of a group with a label. Jesus was moved with pity for individual troubled hearts and every lost sheep in the crowd that day. It’s a potent reminder that God is filled with unconditional love and pity towards all people, not just those who align with His ways.
I will never forget the words of my friend, Helene, who passed away. She always stressed not putting labels on people or groups. It’s hard to do sometimes, but her words still remain in my mind, because they are true.
Since Jesus didn’t do it, we shouldn’t categorize people either. There’s a tendency to label people in groups, based on their political or religious ideologies. There’s many troubled hearts in every crowd, and that’s what Jesus sees. He doesn’t care if they are at the far left or the far right of politics or religion. They are His sheep, and whoever is lost, He is determined to seek them out. He sees the crowd through the eyes of a very Good Shepherd.
I was once one of those lost sheep, whose way of thinking was far from God, but He saw me in the crowd and pitied me. I was rebellious but also clueless of who or what God is all about. In His pity, He reached out to me and by His grace, I am still following Him today.
The same pity that He showed me, He expects me to show toward others in the crowd. If we want to follow Jesus, we must look at the crowd differently, to see individuals through His eyes, because there are troubled hearts in each crowd.
He replaces our anger or indifference with pity and compassion. He takes us forward one step at a time. Once we are able to see a person without labeling them, then we know we’re doing what Jesus expects of His church.
Lord, help us to see individuals in the crowd with the grace as you see them, and give us your heart of pity and compassion for those who are not easy for us to understand. Amen
