Daily Lesson for Tuesday 21st of January 2025

In the New Testament, the same kind of imagery as in the Old is used to depict God’s compassion. Paul refers to the Father as the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3, NKJV). Further, Paul explains in Ephesians 2:4 that God is “rich in mercy” and redeems humans “because of His great love with which He loved us” (NKJV).

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

In various parables, Christ Himself repeatedly uses terms of visceral, gut-wrenching emotion to depict the Father’s compassion (Matthew 18:27, Luke 10:33, Luke 15:20). And the same language that depicts divine compassion in the Old Testament and New Testament also is used in the Gospels to depict Jesus’ compassionate responses to those in distress.

Again and again in the Gospels, Christ was said to be moved to compas­sion by people in distress or in need. And He not only felt compas­sion, He addressed the people’s needs, as well.

And yes, Jesus also lamented over His people. One might imagine the tears in Christ’s eyes as He looks out over the city—“ ‘How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!’ ” (Matthew 23:37, NKJV). Here, we see that the lament of Christ matches closely with that depicted of God throughout the Old Testament. In fact, many biblical scholars note that the imagery of a bird taking care of her young is imagery only used of divinity in the ancient Near East. Here, many see an allusion to the imagery in Deuteronomy 32:11, of God as a bird hovering over, protecting, and taking care of its young.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

(0)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-04-the-compassion-of-jesus/