Weeping is often compassion’s signature. Find compassion in Jesus’s response to a hard-hearted Jerusalem: “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it” (Luke 19:41). Paul responds in a similar way to the Corinthians: “For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you” (2 Cor. 2:4). Paul also writes to us all when he said, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15).

Kindness, Mercy, Compassion

Paul knew of the love of God before he encountered the risen Jesus, as did anyone who read the Old Testament. The earliest and most complete words about God are, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, . . . ” (Ex. 34:6–7). But when this divine self-revelation stood firm through the Hebrews’ interminable spiritual adulteries and was then condensed into the person of Jesus, God’s love became the organizing center of life, and our imitation of that love became thick and rich. Paul’s list in Colossians 3 captures much of it: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

I will look at compassion. Yet compassion’s close neighbors—kindness and mercy—deserve mention. Kindness is our active response to God’s kindness and can appear apart from any particular occasion. The one who receives kindness may have been kind or unkind, problem-free or suffering. Kindness is first thoughtful and then acts. I immediately think of a couple from our church who came over for dinner on a December evening, carrying a large, wrapped box, which turned out to be a new coat for my wife. They knew she had a coat hanging in the closet that would keep her warm enough. They also knew it was showing its age, and we were not in a position to replace it. We are still inspired by their expression of love.

Mercy, too, is our response to God. He shows you mercy, then you show mercy. If we have been sinned against, we treat people in a way that their sins do not deserve. “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). When we see misery around us, it catches our attention, and we act to relieve it. In the Old Testament, mercy is almost exclusively about God’s ways toward his people. When the Spirit is given, mercy identifies God’s people.

Compassion shares features with mercy and kindness. It is a response to God’s compassion, and it prefers to act. God’s compassion sees human infirmity, physical needs (Matt. 15:32), and oppression (Matt. 9:36). It is most glorious when he responds with compassion to those who have turned away from him and are being overtaken by the resulting darkness. What distinguishes compassion is its intensity. It is a heart moved to the very depths, and it is on a mission. It is the heart of a mother for her nursing child, the heart of a good father who watches over his children (1 Thess. 2:7, 11). God’s words in the book of Hosea convey this intensity. Do the rebellious people think he will treat them like he did Sodom and rain fire on them? An ordinary god would, but not the Holy One.

How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.

Read More