Compassion and Miracles

Jesus was the Son of God. He performed many miracles during his ministry, healing people and driving out demons, even raising the dead on several occasions. Some analyze these stories to discover the kind of faith that was needed, or how well people knew who he was. The detail that strikes me about all of Jesus' miracles is
his compassion on the people he touched. 

Jesus had just heard about John the Baptist being executed by Herod. He wanted to get away to grieve for his cousin, and I believe, for the evil in the world that caused his death. So he took the disciples and went in a boat to a remote area to be alone (Mat. 14:13). The people followed him -- so much for any peace and quiet -- and Jesus "had compassion on them and healed their sick." That same emotion and action, of identifying with the sick or demonized person and then taking action to relieve their suffering, was at the heart of Jesus' many miracles. 

By contrast, the disciples wanted to send the people away (v. 15). They didn't seem to have any compassion for them, and didn't imagine Jesus had a way to feed the people -- even after seeing him do so many miracles that day. But Jesus, having compassion on the disciples also, let them be part of the miracle of feeding 5,000 men, plus women and children, with a handful of food.

Is Jesus still doing miracles?  Well, miracles are still happening, and Jesus is still touching and changing peoples' hearts through those miracles, all over the world. I believe he wants back up the message of the Good News through miracles, just as the early church saw and as is happening in various parts of the world.  But I also believe that if we're going to ask for and expect miracles, we need to have Jesus' compassion toward the people we're praying for.

To identify with needy humanity, and to be willing to do something about it, was the core of Jesus' life, ministry, death and resurrection for us. Isn't he asking the same of us, his disciples in the world today?