Go, See, Feel, Do

A progression of Jesus' movement.

Programming Note: I am in the middle of a vacation. (Hence some delayed entries. Forgive me!) But I want to invite you to something I’ve decided to do next week. I am going to read through the gospels over the course of 4-5 days. Beginning Monday, I will work through Mark, Luke, Matthew, & John, one each day. I’ll leave Friday for catchup. Let me know if this is something in which you’ll join me.

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We’ve just worked our way through some specific anecdotes and accounts wherein Jesus healed specific individuals. But we know from passages like today’s that there were many more.

I could spend a while on this passage, despite its general terms. For today, the progression of Jesus’ movement is jumping out.

Jesus traveled.
Jesus noticed.
Jesus felt.
Jesus taught, announced, healed.

Going - Jesus went and met the crowds. He didn’t fret over them because of what he heard from a distance (or on a screen). But he traveled to people, sought them out and spent the time, energy, and resources to do so. The ministry of Jesus is one of presence.

Awareness - Jesus took note of how things were for people. Matthew says, When he saw… This seems to involve being intentional concerning context and situation. You’d think—because he was Jesus and all—he could have discerned such things from a distance, with some kind of omniscient divine power. But even Jesus relied on proximity. He was present in their situation, observing firsthand, letting reality speak.

Compassion - Remember, compassion boils down to entering the situation of suffering and choosing to bear it alongside those who are affected. This surely goes beyond charitable giving. At the heart of the incarnation is Jesus’ movement from divine privilege to suffering servant. Jesus felt the situation of those in the cities and villages.

Action - Jesus responded to the situations he found by teaching and announcing and healing. He spoke, he declared, and he changed the realities of the people he found.

When we see this progression of Jesus’ movement throughout his ministry - going, noticing, feeling, acting - it is a challenge to us to actualize it in our own lives. As individuals, families, congregations, and as the Church, we are called to embody this same movement. It’s not necessarily complicated—but it is costly. It takes significant intentionality and the willingness.

But the good news is this: Jesus has already gone before us in this way. And by his Spirit, he goes with us still.

Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus traveled among all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, announcing the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were troubled and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The size of the harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers for his harvest.”

Psalm 146:5-9

The person whose help is the God of Jacob—the person whose hope rests on the Lord their God—is truly happy!
God: the maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
God: who is faithful forever, who gives justice to people who are oppressed, who gives bread to people who are starving!
The Lord: who frees prisoners.
The Lord: who makes the blind see.
The Lord: who straightens up those who are bent low.
The Lord: who loves the righteous.
The Lord: who protects immigrants, who helps orphans and widows, but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!

Prayer

God,

Make me a servant like Jesus.

Help me to move, to see, to be moved, and to act.

By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.