Matthew 9:35-38
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus, fully God and fully man, walked the dusty roads of Israel, encountering multitudes of people with a multitude of needs. Going forth in the Father’s authority and ever mindful of His mission, He preaches, teaches, and heals everywhere He goes. He spends time up close and personally with the weak and desperate people of that generation. It was love that brought Him to this earth in the first place, and it was love that was always at the forefront in His interactions with other people. As the crowds throng and push and beg and cry out, He is moved with compassion to intervene.

Jesus has compassion because He knows how much we need Him. That crowd to Him is a group of sheep, aimless and shepherdless and so left to fend for themselves, struggling and hurting, desperate for a shepherd to care for them, protect them, provide for them, help them, and guide them. He refers to Himself in John 10 as the Good Shepherd, the one willing to provide all of that and so much more, because He is the Shepherd who will give His very life for those sheep, enabling them to have the abundant life only He can give. Elsewhere, Jesus talks about wanting to gather up the people like a hen would pull her chicks under her wings, to shelter and shield and draw them near. It is always Jesus’ desire to draw us close to Him and fulfill that needed role in our lives.

Imagine what Jesus saw when He looked upon the multitudes. A world of broken people, lost sinners, weary and run ragged by life in this sinful world. And there we are, too, clamoring in desperation for one touch of His garment to ease the painful ache in our soul. And there is Jesus reaching out to us, moved with compassion to be our Savior, to give us life and light and hope and so much more than we could have ever imagined. There is Jesus to meet us where we are and give to us exactly what we need that only He can provide.