Understanding Compassion in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 14:13–21)

Introduction

Compassion is a highly esteemed virtue. It is the quality of having a deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune. Compassion is a very important virtue in the mission-mandate of the church and in the social relationships of Christians. The activities of Jesus’ ministry were characterized by genuine compassion. His thoughts, deeds, and sayings were motivated by selfless attempts to restore human beings to their lost relationship with God. The gospels show the ways in which genuine compassion characterized Jesus’ earthly ministry and his motivation to share in the suffering state of humankind. Consequently, showing true compassion he took practical steps to alleviate the pains of the suffering. As preserved in the gospels, Jesus demonstrated genuine compassion by preaching the good news of the kingdom, forgiving sins, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, casting out demons, raising the dead, and giving his life as a ransom for the remission of the sins of others.

Matthew 14:14 recounts the narrative of how Jesus reacted when he saw the multitude that left their cities and followed him with their diverse ailments. Noting on the kind of motivation that prompted Jesus’ reaction towards the multitude, Baker writes that “There was one leading motive—a kind human compassion, a condescending memory of the bodily want of the multitude of people, and a gentle consideration of the same.” ¹ In this pericope, Jesus was moved with compassion by their terrible plights and he healed them of their sicknesses. The New Testament Greek word that was used to describe the kind of compassion which Jesus felt towards the crowd is “splanchnizomai.” ² It means to feel moved in the internal parts, to be moved in relation to one’s bowels, hence, to be moved with compassion, to have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity). ³ It connotes the expression “pit of the stomach.” Using the term suggests that the “internal parts” are the basis of human heightened feelings. Jesus demonstrated the kind of compassion that propels one to enter into the suffering of another with love and sympathy aiming to render a supportive action that would end or alleviate the pain of the suffering. This kind of compassion is modeled as a virtue that should be learned from Jesus.

In contemporary Nigerian society, churches and individual Christians engage in diverse forms of compassionate activities. Okwueze notes that “The Church has, of course, always been involved in assuaging the physical ills and miseries of mankind through the centuries.” ⁴ Churches as the denominational body of Christ indulge in activities that are showcased as compassionate motivated endeavours. These activities include sponsoring and organizing crusades and conferences, seminars, running motherless and orphanage homes, establishing schools and hospitals, etc. These applauded missionary endeavours may have been motivated by compassion because they are activities carried out with the intention of either directly or indirectly restoring mankind to God. But there is a striking difference between the motive of the kind of compassion that is being practised by some contemporary churches and Christians, when compared with the type of compassion exemplified by Jesus. Jesus, in his compassionate nature, demonstrated selfless love that embraces all, characterized by real sympathy, aimed at sincerely restoring humankind to God.

Many of these applauded compassionate activities do not portray the characteristics of genuine compassion modeled by Jesus, but they are motivated by selfish and ulterior interests. Thus, there is a high rate of church proliferation, crusades, schools, hospitals and so on, which are invested in for selfish purposes. Ituma asserts that “Christians should carry out the social actions and economic rehabilitation because of compassion for the people.” ⁵ Christians should engage in social actions motivated only by genuine compassion but this is not always the case. When the activities of the acclaimed social evangelism engaged in by some contemporary churches and Christians are critically analyzed, one would conclude that they are not being driven by genuine compassion.

This research aims to critically examine the way that Jesus genuinely demonstrated compassion in his ministry in the light of the way that modern Christians demonstrate compassion in their mission-mandate commitments. Loader posits that, “Matthew offers us more than enough to affirm God’s goodness as compassion and to discern the counter-currents present in his apocalyptic pedagogy and alive in our world today.” ⁶ This article therefore considers Matthew’s theological expression of compassion and its value in the process of engaging in the mission-mandate of the church in Nigeria.

Social Context of Compassion in Matthew’s Gospel

Matthew’s underlying emphasis on compassion has a history attached to it. Stott notes that “Christianity is essentially a historical religion… it was not given in a vacuum but in an unfolding historical situation… It must never be divorced from its historical context; it can be understood only within it.” ⁷ There is the need to study the life situations from which Matthew’s conviction was established and from which he responded to his conviction. ⁸ Exploring the Sitz-im-Leben of Matthew’s Christian community from the time he wrote is very important to understanding his gospel’s motif or theology.

According to Kudasiewicz, “This gospel enjoyed great success in the early church; it was cited and commented upon by the Fathers of the Church more often than the rest of the Gospels.” ⁹ Consequently, it was much valued by the early church because of its didactic aspect. It connects the Old and New Testaments by establishing the relation between the promises and fulfillments in Christ. ¹⁰ Matthew contains stories about the life and ministry of Jesus, which he demonstrated with compassion and which the evangelist preserved as the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the New Testament. Brooks notes that Matthew contains “the historical record of Jesus Christ.” ¹¹ It is a guidebook for victorious Christian living.

One of the requirements of Christians who are living in the interim waiting for the second coming of Jesus is participating in the mission-mandate of the church. Matthew therefore wrote his gospel to guide his readers on how to live a quality life as they wait for the Parousia. Onwu explains that “Matthew’s strong interest in the Church implies that his gospel was purposely designed to guide the life of the early Church in its catechesis, discipline, ethical conduct and missionary work.^{” 12} Matthew provides guidelines on how the Church should embark on the mission-mandate of the church: with compassion as demonstrated by the Lord of the church in his teachings, preaching, and miraculous deeds which he expects his followers to learn and practice.

From the earliest times, precisely the second century, the tradition of the church attributed the authorship of this gospel to Matthew who first worked as a tax collector before Jesus called him to be a member of his apostolic group. Brooks notes that, “Matthew was trained as a disciple, could keep meticulous records, and was a potential recorder and author of the Gospel.” ¹³ Matthew was still accepted in that era as the original writer of the first gospel.

Matthew’s gospel was written in a Palestinian environment and the proclamations of the gospel were first intended for the Jews as well as the Gentiles. Matthew wrote his gospel to the people he believed were sitting in darkness—troubled by spiritual blindness, oppression, poverty, and tormented by sickness and disease. Consequently, in making allusion to his people sitting in darkness, he explained the spiritual state of his Jewish contemporaries living in Galilee. ¹⁴ The society then, like contemporary society, was a society that really had the need for compassion from the promised Messiah. Onwu explains Matthew’s social context as a society plagued by ignorance, unbelief, poverty, sickness and disease, economic and political oppression, sin and immorality, social injustice, idolatry and demonic oppression—a society in which people expected divine intervention by a Messiah. ¹⁵

The milieu from which Matthew wrote his gospel explains why he made frequent mention of Jesus being “moved with compassion.” Matthew implied in his gospel that it was out of compassion that Jesus was always propelled to teach, preach, and carry out his miraculous deeds. The essence of Jesus’ ministry could be traced back to the compassionate plans of God to restore humanity to Himself. Thus, during the New Testament era, God, in Jesus, was reconciling humankind back to Himself in compassion. The divine kind of compassion that is backed up with required action for the salvation of the suffering was demonstrated in its highest form in Jesus. Matthew theologically articulated his gospel from the background of the needs and the conditions of his Christian community. It is worthy of mention that the needs and conditions from which Matthew wrote his gospel applies to all ages; this points to the universal focus of his gospel which is of concern to this study. Onwu elucidates that “The Great Commission (28:18–20) expressed so clearly the universal scope and validity of the work of Jesus and gospel preached by the Church.” ¹⁶

In Matthew, “Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which had anticipated the salvation of the Gentiles.” ¹⁷ Though the major purpose of the writer was to prove Jesus to be the Messiah promised by God in the Old Testament, Matthew’s gospel speaks to the church of all ages about the kingdom of God as well as giving direction to the internal life of the church community. Brooks explains that Matthew’s other integral purpose for writing his gospel was “to show that Jesus had the power to command his disciples to spread his gospel throughout all the world.” ¹⁸ The way Matthew presented how Jesus went about his ministry in compassion implies that his command to his followers concerning mission should be done in compassionate love, which he modeled.

The author of Matthew also showed a special interest in eschatology. This evangelist believes that believers should not relax because the time of Christ’s coming was imminent. According to Matthew, the time of the Lord’s Parousia is not known by anyone. The Parousia may be delayed (24:3–8, 26–31, 36–44; 25:1–12). Followers of Christ are to be alert, hence they are not to abandon the idea of preparing and waiting for the Parousia. In the interim they should know that there is still missionary work for the church to do (13:36-43; 24:14; 28:16–20). ¹⁹ They are to go about the mission-mandate as Jesus modeled, being motivated by genuine compassionate love. The writer of Matthew’s gospel teaches later generations of believers about Jesus’ power and compassion for all humankind. Jesus knew that it is not natural for humankind to demonstrate the divine kind of compassion, therefore he modeled it to his followers through his teachings, preaching, and by practical examples (Matt. 14:14). Having modeled compassion, he also expects that his followers should demonstrate compassion in their missionary commitments. Brooks notes that “when Jesus commissioned his disciples to go into the entire world and teach, they were aware that he had already begun the movement by his example in his earthly ministry.” ²⁰ Jesus did not expect or demand from his followers that which he could not do himself, thus he modeled the kind of compassion he expected from those following him. This is evidenced by his demonstration of compassion, long-suffering, and patience in his earthly ministry.

As the early church, to which Matthew originally wrote his gospel, was waiting for the Parousia, so is still the case with the contemporary church. Those who are still living in the interim are to keep engaging in the mission-mandate of the church as Jesus modeled. This is the theological position of Matthew in his practice of compassion, and it still applies to the church today: there is need for genuine compassion in the mission-mandate of the church.

Compassion as an Underlining Theme in Matthew

The need for compassion in the mission-mandate as modeled by Jesus is emphasized in all the gospels. Arthur notes that “many times in the four Gospels one comes across the statement, ‘And Jesus was moved with compassion.’” ²¹ All the gospel writers emphasized the concept of compassion in their gospel, but some gospel writers emphasized it more deeply than others. It is observed that the theme of compassion is chiefly associated with Luke’s gospel. Baxter asserts that “In Luke, Jesus is presented as a Perfect and Compassionate Man.” ²² Many scholars emphasize that, in Luke, Jesus’ compassion extends to all humankind. It is noteworthy that the gospel of Luke is not the only gospel that places a special emphasis on the theme of compassion. By studying Matthew’s gospel, one would see that it also has the theme of compassion imbedded in its theological position. A critical study of all the pericopes where Matthew used the concept of splagchnizomai underlines his theological position on the concept of compassion.

In the pericopes of 9:36, 14:14, 15:32, and 20:34, Matthew emphasized compassion in his gospel. A closer reading of these four pericopes, where ἐσπλαγχνίσθη (had compassion), from σπλαγχνίζομαι (to have compassion) were used, showed that he used them as “verbs,” designating actions by someone, done for the betterment of another. In these texts, Matthew presented Jesus as demonstrating the kind of emotional feeling that is backed up with action for the betterment of another person. ²³ In these pericopes, Jesus modeled compassion in real-life situations while Luke preserved the narrative of Jesus’ compassion in the use of parable (Luke 10:29–37). Matthew structured his gospel to clarify his own perception of Jesus’ person in functional terms. ²⁴ Each of these usages of splagchnizomai is related to divine’s action demonstrated to restore humanity to himself. Splagchnizomai, as demonstrated by Jesus, are backed up with actions that are geared towards the holistic salvation of the lost.

The Exegesis of Matthew 14:13–21

Matthew grounds his understanding of the person of Jesus in words and deeds. In this pericope, Matthew sets up the narrative of Jesus’ compassionate deeds to the crowd that came to him. Ryle notes that “this event in our Lord’s history is intended to receive special attention … it is a striking example of our Lord’s compassion toward men.” ²⁵ The texts under study shall be critically analyzed verse by verse.

In verse 13, Matthew describes Jesus’ reaction to the bad news he has heard, concerning what has befallen John the Baptist. Matthew explains that Jesus, on hearing that John has been beheaded, “departs” alone by boat to a desert place. The cause for the withdrawal of Jesus from the town to a solitary place was not just because his relation John was murdered. The immediate cause of his withdrawal to a quiet place was due to the thoughts Herod had concerning him. Herod, having killed John the Baptist, thought that John the Baptist had come back to life in the person of Jesus, hence he feared and hated Jesus. Therefore Jesus, knowing that Herod does not like his person and ministry, decides to go and stay in another place, beyond the jurisdiction of Herod. When the multitudes heard, that Jesus has gone alone to the mountain side, they followed him on foot from the cities.

Verse 14 describes what Jesus did when he alighted from the boat and saw the crowd coming to him. This crowd Jesus saw constitutes the Jews in large numbers. Matthew used ἐσπλαγχνίσθη to describe what Jesus had for the crowd coming towards him. ἐσπλαγχνίσθη functions as an indicative verb that is in aorist passive third person singular form from splagchnizomai. It means in this context, “he had compassion.” ἐσπλαγχνίσθη describes what may be termed the heart and the hands of compassion. The heart and hands of compassion means the emotion experienced when a person is moved by the suffering of others, and the act of entering into the suffering of another person with the purpose of relieving the pains felt. ²⁶ The people for whom Jesus had compassion were the multitude that came to meet him. Ryle equates the multitude to “an emblem of all mankind.” ²⁷ This multitude refers to a large assembly of perishing sinners, famishing in the midst of a wilderness world of suffering, helplessness, depression, oppression, hopelessness, and on their way to ruin. They were in expectation of the Messiah that would provide salvation from their precarious situations. Jesus, beholding the wretchedness, miserableness and poverty of humankind, was always moved in his innermost being with compassion. Poverty is a ground for compassion and generosity. ²⁸ The sight of human misery or suffering begs for compassion from the one who has what it takes to salvage the situation. Jesus has the power to show compassion to the suffering, for that is one of the main reasons he embarked on his missionary activities to the world. The kind of compassion which Jesus demonstrated was a kind of deep emotional feeling backed up with desired action to alleviate the pain of the suffering.

The fourth phrase in this verse, Matthew used ἐθεράπευσεν to state the action Jesus demonstrated when he showed the crowd that compassion was healing them of their sickness. Kingsbury notes that “the third major facet of Jesus’ public ministry in Israel is that of ‘healing’ (4:23; 9:35; 11:1,5).” ²⁹ Healing is a term that covers several solutions to human suffering, which Jesus has given to the multitude. Merton observes that “illness is more than disease.” ³⁰

Jesus in his earthly ministry did not deliberately perform miracles to attract and gain authority and influence for his divine message. Among the major motivations that give meaning to the miracles of Jesus is compassion. Onwu notes that “firstly, Jesus was supremely compassionate, and thus ‘compassion’ is regarded as one of Jesus’ motives for performing his cures.” ³¹ It was with genuine compassion that Jesus was motivated to do miracles. Matthew and Mark agree in presenting the miraculous performances of Jesus as powerful acts (11:20, 21, 23; 13:54; 14:2). ³² Mark and Matthew also agree that the object of Jesus’ compassion is not only a particular sufferer, but the crowd in general, who are so badly in need of shepherding, guidance and teaching.

Matthew in this context used sickness as a generalizing term to refer to all factors that compel the divine to show compassion for humankind. Sickness, as implied here, refers to all the depravity that presents the human race as deserving of being shown compassion. Kingsbury explains that,

Disease in people and upheaval of nature are symptoms of sin and of bondage of Satan. Hence, through the activity of healing and of exercising dominion over nature, Jesus Son of God is liberating people from the sphere of Satan’s rule and bringing them into the gracious sphere of the rule of God. ³³

The model of compassion which God demonstrated through Jesus in meeting the needs of the people is rendered in Matthew as ἐσπλαγχνίσθη. In the New Testament, the Greek word splagchnizomai to mean compassion occurs seventeen times. When it is not rendered to mean compassion, it would be rendered “moved.” Its usage always describes emotional feeling that produces action. It is this model of compassion that Jesus demonstrated in his earthly ministry. To Josef,

The heart of Jesus must have deeply impressed those who were His eye-witnesses, so much so that all four Gospels record instances of Him being “moved” with compassion and even weeping. He, being God in the flesh, was truly a Man of sorrows, a humble servant of all, a compassionate friend of mankind, and while we read of such numerous instances when He was thus moved with Godly sorrow, we read of no reported instances where He laughed. ³⁵

Compassion in its truest form is needed in the mission-mandate. Compassion demonstrates the power of God. In compassion the reality of the kingdom of God is made manifest. Divine compassion gives humanity access to the kingdom of God. That is why Jesus, in modeling genuine compassion, lived it, taught and expects it from his followers. Splagchnizomai is the kind of feeling for another that is required in the mission-mandate of the church. Onwu notes that, “the Church represented by the disciples is receptive to the ethical and missionary instructions of the Lord.” ³⁶ Jesus gave the church instruction on how to engage in the mission-mandate. Being compassionate, he modeled to his followers that it is in compassionate love that Christians are to engage in the mission-mandate.

In verse 15, Matthew explains how Jesus’ disciples reacted to the issue of the crowd coming to Jesus and staying with him until evening. With this word, the writer of the narrative tries to pin-point the time when the historic event took place. MacDonald suggests that the event happened “after 3:00p.m., his disciples felt that a crisis was brewing. So many people and nothing for them to eat!” ³⁷ The evangelist makes it clear to his readers that the event he was narrating happened in a real-life setting, during the evening of a particular day. This event took place in the same place and with the same multitude whom Jesus had earlier healed of their sicknesses, because he had compassion for them. This indicates that the multitude continued to stay with Jesus after he had healed them of their maladies. Perhaps, after healing them, Jesus took time to teach them things they must know.

The disciples, showing sympathy for the crowd, approached Jesus in a polite manner, and reminded him that the place where they have hosted the people is a desert place; a place where they cannot see food to buy. The disciples felt pity for the multitude because the crowd would not have time to go in search of food. Their own sympathy ends in their suggestion to Jesus that they should send the crowd into the surrounding villages to buy food for themselves. The only help they could offer was dismissing them so that they could go and help themselves. Even those who did not have means of helping themselves were not given any other option. The disciples tended to be less compassionate when it came to handling the multitudes that were following Jesus. This is because they represent natural humankind. Humans in their natural states are always self-centered. They find it naturally difficult to genuinely love and show compassion to another. This context typically shows that, essentially, human beings cannot be as compassionate as Jesus is. They can only be compassionate as Jesus modeled when the Spirit that was at work in Jesus comes upon them.

In verse 16, Jesus responds to the suggestion of his disciples to send the multitude away by commanding them to give the crowd something to eat. Jesus modeled compassion in his earthly ministry so that his followers would come to terms with showing compassion as an inseparable part of the mission-mandate. In commanding them to provide for the multitude, Jesus knew that by his power they could feed the multitude. The disciples cannot comprehend how five loaves and two fishes could feed the multitude.

In verse 18, Jesus reacts in faith to their faithlessness. Jesus requested that they bring the five loaves and two fishes to him. Jesus models that his followers are to consolidate their faith on the sufficiency of the Father. In verse 19, Jesus takes result-oriented action to meet the needs of the multitude. Though Jesus was showing the multitude unmerited compassion, it was still required that the multitude obey Jesus’ instruction. Those who are to be recipients of Jesus’ compassion are required to obey his commands. Jesus, in taking the five loaves and the two fishes which have been assessed by the disciples to be the only edible food they can find in the desert, models how his followers are able to handle any seemingly difficult situation they encounter as they become committed to the mission-mandate. Jesus, by looking up to heaven, teaches his followers to see God as a Father in heaven on whom they must depend for their needs to be met.

Through prayer, Jesus demonstrated his dependence on God. By looking up to heaven, he is connected to God the Father, and as a divine being, who is on earth doing his father’s will: blessed and broke the bread. Ryle says that “this miracle is an unanswerable proof of our Lord’s divine Power … it was a thing that no magician, imposter, or false prophet would ever have attempted.” ³⁸ Through the power of Jesus, the five loaves and the two fishes multiplied.

After looking up and giving thanks, Jesus first served the disciples and the disciples in turn served the multitude. Mission is all about service that should be done with humility. Jesus, having served the disciples, shows that it is also the responsibility of Jesus’ followers to serve others and thereby lead them to repentance. MacDonald says that “the miracle is a Spiritual lesson for disciples of every generation.” ³⁹ It is a lesson because the hungry multitude is always present and needing help. The available resources to meet their needs would always be scarce, hence the need for faith. Jesus expects them to do likewise to those they were sent to evangelize, with compassion and humility of mind.

In verse 20, Matthew reports what happened as a result of this miracle that Jesus performed. Not only that they all ate, and were satisfied, but also that they took up what was left of the broken pieces, “twelve baskets full.” MacDonald notes that “there is always a little band of disciples with seemingly pitiful resources. And always there is the compassionate savior when disciples are willing to give him their little all, he multiplies it to feed thousands.” ⁴⁰ Jesus demonstrated to both his disciples and to the multitude that he was capable of meeting the needs of all those who would come to him. Jesus taught his disciples to have a strong faith in him, while the multitude was made to know that “in Jesus” their spiritual and physical needs can be met. Jesus demonstrates that the mission-mandate is not only to focus on the salvation of the souls of the people. Mission, engaged in genuine compassion, should also be concerned with the bodily needs or physical needs of the people.

Matthew, in verse 21, stated the number of the men that Jesus fed. Jesus fed about five thousand men. From this, it can be deduced that the number of people Jesus fed, with just five loaves of bread and two fishes, could be more than triple the number of the men. Many of the multitude were just following Jesus for the good they could get from him. Not minding the compassion shown to this multitude, they were unconverted. After they had received their expected miracles, many stopped following Jesus. Yet Jesus was not discouraged by this, based on his knowledge about the natural tendencies of humankind. In the mission-mandate, it is always like that. But against all odds, Jesus demonstrates that compassionate love should be shown to all.

The Concept of Compassion and the Mission-mandate of the Church in the Nigerian Compassionless Society

Mission is the heartbeat of God. Fubara-Manuel notes that “the bible and the history of the Church tell the stories of God’s missional engagement with the world.” ⁴¹ The theology of the Bible carefully reveals that God is a missionary or a God with a mission. Ituma, discussing the mission dei, notes that “God was the first missionary.” ⁴² Mission was initiated by God in compassion from the very beginning, was fully manifested by Jesus, continued by the early Christians and it is still happening, in the interim as the church is waiting for the second coming of Christ. Christians’ participation in mission means participating in what God is interested in.

Christians are co-workers with God in his business of mission. According to Ituma, “The Christian is only co-opted to share in the mission dei by God himself.” ⁴³ Participating in mission is a humble self-understanding of the responsibility of the Church that represents the kingdom of God on earth. Agha explains that “Christian mission means sending Christians out to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the unconverted throughout the world, according to the great commission by Christ.” ⁴⁴ Christians as the body of Christ were saved so as to compassionately work towards the salvation of others who are yet to be saved. This is because, even when the already redeemed Christians were yet unconverted, God in his compassionate nature had patience for them, until the day they accepted the illumination of the word of God in their lives. Hence, mission becomes the responsibility of every Christian.

Mission, therefore, is the main task of the church. God is using the church to work out his salvation plans. According to Diara, “Mission is a holistic human and environment-friendly concept meant to touch all of the spiritual, physical and social life of the people.” ⁴⁵ Mission does not speak only about the salvation of the human soul. It aims to recover a holistic faith founded on the platform of compassion. ⁴⁶ It is aimed at extending God’s rulership and kingdom to those who are suffering. Mission-mandate aims to affect the spiritual, physical and social needs of those suffering. Baldwin notes that, “the Church’s raison d’être is to proclaim Christ’s kingdom in word and deed, until that day when the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ.” ⁴⁷ The preaching of the kingdom of God is to be done in both words and actions. The actions required in mission-mandate are to be carried out with compassion and purely driven motivations.

Though the concept of mission has been variously defined, its meanings revolve around bringing back the original plan of God for creation—which was lost at the very beginning, when man sinned. Ituma asserts that “mission is the raison d’être of the Church for the body of Christ was gathered for no other cause.” ⁴⁸ It is for the course of mission that the church was instituted. The members of the body of Christ are not to stay idle while waiting in the interim for the Parousia. In missions, the church reaches out for the salvation of the lost. The church is not to be weary of engaging in missions with genuine compassion. God in all his divine moves to salvage the human race has been motivated by a divine kind of compassion. Genuine compassion was modeled by God in the person of Jesus as an inextricable part of mission.

The Greek word that describes the model of Jesus’ compassion is splanchnizomai. It means the feeling that moves one’s guts or bowels. MacArthur describes how Jesus was being constantly moved by compassion as it churned in his stomach, it hurt him. This is the compassion of God. ⁴⁹ Jesus’ compassion equates to a mother’s deeply hurt feelings for her suffering child. Jesus is always moved into action by human misery and suffering. MacArthur, in listing the factors that evoke divine compassion, notes that “Human ignorance draws the compassion of God. Human weariness draws the compassion of God. Human suffering draws the compassion of God.” ⁵⁰ The nature of Jesus’ compassion presents him as one who cares for human ignorance, physical weariness and suffering, and most importantly—human eternal souls. Jesus did not only care for the spiritual destitution of men, but their physical needs appealed to his compassion as well. Thus, when he heals, feeds and proclaims the divine truth, they were all done in genuine compassion.

Love, humility, patience, grace, and selflessness are the characteristics of Jesus’ compassion. Jesus was never self-centered; Jesus was self-sacrificing. He was always sensitive to other people’s needs and takes result-oriented actions to solve their problems. He understands human sufferings and pains beyond measure. He cares because he understands human suffering. He was able to understand because he identified with human suffering. Having a human body and experiencing all that human beings experience made him understand what it means to suffer. Jesus was consumed with compassion for the souls of men. Hence compassion is an intricate aspect of his mission. He had compassion for all classes of suffering people. He had compassion for the multitude in general and for individuals. In compassion, he demonstrated his divine power over demons, diseases, nature and death. Jesus demonstrated his compassion not in mere feelings or words but in actions, in self-sacrificing and persistent active ministrations to the needs of those that come to him. Jesus’ compassionate mission models the significance of the need for the virtue of compassion in humans’ horizontal relationships. Jesus wants his disciples to be like him. They are to be consumed with compassion; moved by the needs of others. It is required that Christians have their bowels always moved with compassion, at the sight of the suffering of sinners. False forms of compassion include pity, ⁵¹ humanistic compassion, ⁵² deadly compassion, ⁵³ compassion as a principle, ⁵⁴ and self-compassion; ⁵⁵ however, what Jesus models is the splanchnizomai kind of compassion.

The Problem of the Compassionless Church and Individual Christians in Nigeria

In the contemporary Christendom in Nigeria, most churches and Christians have been found to manifest so many dispositions that depict them as compassionless followers of Jesus. In being compassionless, some churches are established for the founders to achieve their ulterior selfish motives. There is the issue of the proliferation of churches, ⁵⁶ church founders, ⁵⁷ and general overseers because many are committed to the mission-mandate of the church for selfish motivations. Being compassionless, many acclaimed church founders and plenipotentiaries of God capitalize on the solution-oriented nature of many gullible Nigerians, manipulating ⁵⁸ them to achieve their selfish aspirations. Being compassionless, they manipulate their audiences to obtain offerings, tithes, seed sowing, ⁵⁹ donations, vows, and the commercialization of the gospel to enrich themselves. Consequently, some churches own nursery, primary and secondary schools, and universities ⁶⁰ which the children of the poor among them cannot attend. Some own hospitals in which the poor cannot access the healthcare services they offer. Some own micro-finance banks, eatery outlets, canteens, book shops, and printing firms.⁶⁵ Some churches and Christians refrain from or are reluctant to help the needy around them. When they help at all, the majority of them engage in helping others to improve their social status. Some Nigerian church leaders secretly indulge in ethical misconducts ⁶¹ while helping the needy around them, to achieve their ends. ⁶² Some churches are overseen in a way that the rich are recognized and respected while the poor are denigrated. In addition, many Christians are suffering from compassion fatigue in their mission commitments.

It is a theological concern that a striking difference is observed when the form of the applauded mission commitments of the church in Nigeria is compared with the model of compassion which Jesus modeled for his followers to learn and practice daily. The disposition of being less compassionate than Jesus modeled for the church has continued to negatively affect the church and individual Christians in their participation in the ongoing mission-mandate in Nigeria. It has greatly affected the quantity and the quality of the output of their mission goals. The identified negative implications of the church and individual Christians being compassionless in their mission commitments are analyzed below.

The Negative Implications of Christians Being Less compassionate as Jesus Modelled

Not being able to win the lost: making disciples of men and women is the priority around which believers’ lives should be oriented. Jesus gave the great commission command, “go and make disciples” (Matt. 28 19–20). Matthew presented Jesus himself as having placed a high priority on his followers going out to make converts. It is important to note that “there has been a mission stated for all the believing Christians.” ⁶³ Saved Christians are great tools for the Lord’s mission by going to the ends of the earth. Jesus modeled the way the mission-mandate is to be embarked on. The model they are to follow in making these converts should be by demonstrating services of love and genuine compassion.

But the church or individual Christians in Nigeria have on a significant level abandoned engaging in the mission-mandate with genuine compassion for the lost souls. The dispositions of many contemporary followers of Christ give them away as not following Jesus’ model by passionately working towards the conversation of the numerous unconverted in the world. Onwu asserts that, “if making disciples of all nations is not a significant aspect of our Christian life something is wrong either with our understanding of Christ’s church or our unwillingness to walk in his way.” ⁶⁴ It is either that the believers in Nigeria are not passionate in missions because they do not understand the essence of the instruction given to the church by Jesus, or they are reluctant to adopt Jesus’ model of converting the lost. In truth, that which is wrong in the way most of contemporary Christians in Nigeria go about mission is unraveled in their lack of honest motivation; clearly manifested in a lack of genuine compassion. This lack of motivation for genuine compassion as demonstrated by Jesus is greatly affecting the ongoing mission-mandate carried out by Christians in Nigeria. Lack of genuine compassion has in negative ways resulted in the under-achievements of the desired mission goals in Nigeria.

Quest for riches and self-glory: In Nigeria, the pursuit of riches and self-glory is one of the corollaries of the church and Christians being less compassionate in their engagements in the ongoing mission-mandate. Ugwu affirms that, “The Church in this age has almost derailed out of the way in fulfilling its obligations that exudes the purpose of establishing it by Jesus Christ.” ⁶⁵ In engaging themselves with selfish ventures due to lack of compassion, a significant number of acclaimed ministers of God and lay Christians in Nigeria have undergone a paradigm shift from the compassionate motivated mission that Jesus modeled. They are more concerned with how to acquire more riches and be accorded glory like the Pharisees of the first century era. In seeking more riches and glory, they have lost their passion for the salvation of the lost. The majority of the Nigerian plenipotentiaries of God are crazy for materialism. This problem of ministers of God being materialistic is unquestionably bringing shame to the church. The needy ones are not cared for; even when it is done, it is done with the ulterior motive of increasing the number of Church members only in quantity with no adequate effort to influence positively the quality in character of the believers.

Producing nominal Christians: In Nigeria many of today’s church converts are half-baked or nominal Christians. Half-baked Christians refer to Christians who are not completely committed to their new faith in Christ Jesus. There are many ambivalent Christians in this era than used to be the case. Onwu explains that “the weakness of Christian evangelism and of the Christian message…has therefore continued to encourage ambivalent spirituality among the people ‘who claim’ to be ‘Christians.’” ⁶⁶ One of the reasons for the production of ambivalent Christians in this contemporary context could be traced to a lack of genuine compassion displayed by those who claim to be participating in Christian missions. Nominal Christians do not have genuine conversion and hence cannot manifest genuine compassion for the mission-mandate. Many church leaders and Christians are not rooted in Christian faith hence cannot bear fruits expected of Christians. Consequently, in Nigeria, morality is very low. ⁶⁷ There is a high rate of immorality, despite an acclaimed high rate of religiosity among the people. Moral decadence is observed in how acclaimed Christians indulge in varying kinds of atrocities. Many Christians are not putting the truth they have learnt from the word of God into practice. But there is no short cut to being a Christian because, according to Onwu, “the truth learned must be practised.” ⁶⁸ For one to be a true child of God, the truth of the word of God must be practiced being helped by the Holy Spirit.

Selfish and indifference among Christians: there is high rate of egocentricity and lack of genuine concern among Christians in Nigeria. Lack of genuine compassion has resulted in problems of self-centeredness and indifference among Nigerian Christians. Cheeseman asserts that “Some people go to the mission field for purely selfish motives and others for motives mixed with self.” ⁶⁹ Selfishness among Nigerian Christians has led to negative implications for the essence of the commissioning of the church. Jesus never thought it to be so for his church. Jesus deems compassion highly; he wants it to operate among his followers and be extended to the yet-to-be converted souls. Jesus did not only teach his followers to be compassionate. Through practical means, he demonstrated compassion. Theologically, it is unnatural for humankind to be compassionate; rather it is more natural for humans to be selfish and indifferent to problems that do not directly concern them. Mckee avers that “to work in the personal service of another human being is, once more, the least coveted role in human society.” ⁷⁰ But the case of Christians being less compassionate like the rest of world is not what Jesus demands from those that he has called to be committed to him through compassionate love. Therefore, the laxity of Christians in Nigeria being less compassionate, contrary to what Jesus modeled, has negatively affected the church and its mission-mandate responsibilities.

Lack of good human relationships: the issue of Nigerian Christians being less compassionate has negatively affected the quality of relationship that should exist between Christians and their unconverted neighbors. Christians do not love as they were taught to love. Rather, wickedness is observed in high and low places. Today Christians can steal, lavishly speak evil and persecute one another, and even kill due to lack of compassion and commitment to the mission-mandate. Brothers take one another to court. Christians betray and dupe one another. Cases between brothers and sisters that are supposed to be settled amicably are allowed to escalate. Due to lack of love, Christians do terrible things that even the unbelievers around them may not do. Also, owing to lack of compassionate love Christians find it difficult to know how to relate in love with the lost around them. They simply wish that the Lord should quickly visit the wicked who are yet to repent, with harsh judgment. They forget that due to the Lord’s compassionate nature, he is slow to anger, patiently giving the unconverted a long time, so that they may repent.

Achieving less of the desired mission-oriented results and making less effective the power of the Holy Spirit in the church: In Nigeria, lack of genuine compassion among Christians has resulted in the church not achieving the desired mission-oriented goals. It negatively results in lessening the power of the Holy Spirit in the church. ⁷¹ The great assurance given to the church by Jesus—“and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Matt. 28.20)”—can only be accessed through works of compassion. It was in compassionate love that Jesus carried out his earthly ministry. And it is only in compassionate works that Jesus can make his power available and effective to do wonders in a world full of suffering. This is because mission work requires the manifestation of the power of God. Jesus knew that his work on earth and that of his followers can never be accomplished by human striving, however determined the effort. The exousia (authority) to be his witnesses, to carry out the great mandate, could only come through the Holy Spirit. Onwu asserts that “one cannot be a witness of Jesus Christ without ‘power’ dunamis referring to a supernatural force or miracle energy.” ⁷² This power for witnessing is energized and motivated by compassionate love through the Holy Spirit. The authority and the power of the church to keep being relevant in a world full of suffering is diminishing due to a lack of genuine compassion. The church can only conquer the world full of suffering with the power embedded in compassionate love.

The Benefits of Developing Genuine Compassion as Jesus Modelled

Fulfilling righteousness: It is only by engaging in mission-mandate in the compassionate way Jesus modeled, as he typically demonstrated in the feeding of the five thousand, that Nigerian churches as groups and individual Christians can fulfill righteousness.

Right motivation for missions: The idea of feeding the multitude by Jesus was motivated by the “splachnizomai” type of compassion. His motivation to initiate moves and actions to teach, feed and heal the diseases of the crowds was not done for selfish reasons. Jesus desires that his followers in Nigeria learn from him the “splachnizomai” kind of compassion he has modeled as a suitable guide for any form of commitment to the mission-mandate of the church.

Compassion is mercy in action: In feeding the crowd, Jesus captured compassion as mercy in action. The church in Nigeria and individual Christians must learn that compassion is not compassion unless solution-oriented actions that are genuinely geared towards alleviating the pains of the suffering are put in place to offer both spiritual and physical solutions.

People who are compassionate spend time with people: Jesus in his earthly ministry did not distance himself from the people he came to save. He identified with the people, displaying compassion. In the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus did not allow his disciples to send the crowd away. His compassionate nature allowed him to be put in close proximity with the needy crowd. Being compassionate helps followers of Jesus to relate well with others. Practicing compassionate love has both spiritual and health benefits. Practicing compassion attracts compassion. Both the one that shows compassion and the one that receives it derive happiness from compassion. Followers of Jesus in Nigeria, by engaging in the mission-mandate, should learn to be passionately driven to achieve close proximity with the needy, just as Jesus modeled.

Compassion takes the initiative: Jesus in feeding the five thousand initiated the plan on how to feed the crowd. The church and individual Christians are to learn from Jesus by passionately taking up genuine evangelistic initiatives that would yield the mission-mandate desired goals of reaching the lost and the unreached, implementing physical and spiritual healings.

Compassion consolidates relationship with the divinity: Being compassionate is inspiring. It is one of the requirements for entering the kingdom of God. Being compassionate allows one to live out the nature of God and it helps Christians to have a consolidated relationship with the trinity. Followers of Jesus in Nigeria are to learn compassionate love from Jesus so that they can have a consolidated relationship with the divinity for their holistic salvation.

Compassion requires love, humility, patience and understanding: Jesus is the love of God made manifest in the world. Through Jesus, God showed humanity the agape kind of love. Jesus understood the physical and spiritual needs of the crowd. It was compassionate love that spurred him to teach, feed and heal their diseases. Demonstrating patience and humility, he discipled his followers and reached out to the crowd. Jesus modeled these virtues for his disciples to learn and practice. Those who are to be compassionate must possess the virtues of love, humility, patience and understanding. Christians in Nigeria who engage in the mission-mandate should learn from Jesus and passionately go about their mission commitments in love, humility, patience and understanding.

Compassion can be learned from the word of God and living the life of prayers: Jesus is no longer physically living in this world. Victoriously, he executed his mission goals and gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide his followers to carry on his mission-mandate in the same compassionate way he modeled. After feeding the crowd, Jesus went up to the mountainside to pray. Jesus prays frequently to maintain his relationship with God his father. This implies that his followers should also live a life of prayer and meditation on his words to have God’s nature in them. Jesus’ compassionate nature can be learned from his words that are documented and preserved in the Bible with help from the Holy Spirit. When the followers of Jesus live a life of prayer they are gradually being transformed by the power of God. Followers of Jesus in Nigeria can learn compassion by nourishing their relationship with the trinity through daily meditating on the word of God and by being prayerful.

Conclusion

In Nigeria, a lack of genuine compassion among Christians has resulted in the church not achieving their desired mission-oriented goals, thus weakening the power of the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ in Nigeria. Jesus modeled the splagchnizomai kind of compassion when he fed the multitude in the context of Matthew 14:14. Jesus models that it is the splagchnizomai kind of compassion that should motivate true followers of Jesus, as they are commanded to be committed to the mission-mandate of the Church in Nigeria. It was in compassionate love that Jesus carried out his earthly ministry. The great assurance given to the church by Jesus—“and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Matt. 28.20)—can only be consolidated through works of compassion. It is only by being compassionate, as Jesus modeled, that the church in Nigeria can effectively commit to the mission-mandate and achieve the desired mission-oriented goals.