August 2, 2026
Isaiah 55:1-5
Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-22
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:13-21
I have a question.
What comes to mind when you hear the word compassion?
We use that word all the time.
“She’s so compassionate.”
“I’m passionate about this.”
“My passion is…”
But have you ever stopped to ask what those words actually mean?
Our English word compassion literally means “to suffer with.” It comes from two Latin words: com, meaning “with,” and passio, meaning “suffering.” Compassion is more than caring about someone. It is entering into another person’s suffering.
That matters today because Matthew tells us that Jesus had compassion on the crowd.
Jesus didn’t simply hand out food because people were hungry. He entered into their hunger. Their need became his concern.
Notice when this happens.
Just before this story, Matthew tells us about another banquet—a lavish feast hosted by King Herod. That banquet ends with the execution of John the Baptist.
Then Jesus withdraws to a deserted place to grieve. But the crowds follow him.
Imagine that. Jesus is carrying his own sorrow, seeking a moment of solitude, when thousands of people interrupt him.
Most of us would probably say, “Not today.”
Jesus responds differently.
Matthew says he was moved with compassion.
What a striking contrast.
Herod’s banquet protects power and ends in death.
Jesus’ banquet is held in the wilderness, welcomes everyone, and gives life.
The disciples, meanwhile, are trying to help. They’re not being heartless. They know Jesus is exhausted. They know it’s getting late. They know they only have five loaves and two fish.
Their solution is practical:
“Send the crowds away.”
Jesus’ response changes everything:
“They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”
The disciples begin with scarcity.
Jesus begins with compassion.
We often hear the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
That’s wise advice in many situations, but not today.
Hungry people don’t first need a lesson in fishing.
They need someone willing to feed them.
Before Jesus teaches anyone, he first refuses to let them go hungry.
Then he invites the disciples to participate.
“You give them something to eat.”
Jesus isn’t simply feeding a crowd.
He’s teaching his disciples what compassion looks like.
Christian faith has never been about radical self-sufficiency.
It has always been about relationships grounded in God’s grace, mercy, and love—people willing to suffer with one another.
When I think about compassion, I think about what this church has done since 2020.
We didn’t solve every problem.
We simply refused to let hungry neighbors suffer alone.
More than 200,000 donated items later, we have learned that compassion is not a feeling. It is a way of life.
And perhaps that is why suffering changes us.
Had I never encountered some of the lowest moments of my own life, I don’t know that I could have begun to understand the compassion of Christ.
Sometimes our deepest wounds become the place where we finally learn how to suffer with another—and in doing so, discover the very heart of Jesus.
