What did Jesus demonstrate through his compassion toward the crowd that had remained with him for three days without food?
Jesus’ compassion is stressed throughout the Gospels (Matthew 9:36, Matthew 14:14,Matthew 20:34; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13). His love for people and concern for even their physical needs characterized his entire life on earth. The words I have compassion on them
could describe every day of his life. This episode also shows his preventive care: not waiting until the people are about to collapse, but acting before it is too late. After giving complete healing, now he will again feed them, giving mercy and help even to those who may have been guilty of negligence: perhaps forgetting to bring bread along due to being so absorbed in Jesus’ teaching (see Matthew 16:5), or maybe just having eaten all they had without thinking ahead. Still, he helps. As the One who saves from sin despite man’s apostasy from God, he also here does his saving work
The compassion of Jesus is emphasized repeatedly throughout the Gospels—see Matthew 9:36, Matthew 14:14, Matthew 20:34; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13. His love for people and his concern for them, even for their physical needs, characterized his entire life on earth. The words I have compassion on them
could have served as a description of every day of his life. Here we also see an example of Jesus’ preventive care: He does not wait until the people are on the verge of collapse, but acts before it is too late.1
Jesus’ compassion goes even further. He gives to the people everything that he could possibly give them in the natural sense—and now once again he will feed them. As before, the disciples are called to serve and be instrumental in this work. We observe here that Jesus shows mercy and gives help even when the crowd may in some sense be guilty of negligence. They may have forgotten to bring bread along because they are so absorbed in Jesus’ teaching (see Matthew 16:5), or they may simply have eaten all they had without thinking further ahead. Still, Jesus helps. He is the One who saves from sin despite humanity’s apostasy from God; what he does here is therefore a reflection of that saving work.
32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”