In the Bible we see God is “a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15). Since God is the same yesterday today and forever, his compassion will never fail - it is new every morning, as Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us. The Hebrew word used in Psalm 86:15 to describe God’s compassion is rakhum or as a noun rakhamim. The ‘Bible Project’ website has an excellent 5 minute word study on ‘Compassion’ which is worth viewing. It notes those two words come from the Hebrew root word for womb, rekhem. This would indicate that compassion is an inborn characteristic of the living God, and human , who are created as God’s image bearers, are also imbued with the capacity for compassion.
In Isaiah 49:15 God’s compassion for humanity is likened to the love of a nursing mother who feeds, nurtures and cares for her baby’s every need. This deep compassion for humanity’s plight leads God to physically enter our suffering world, and it is no coincidence that he is birthed via Mary’s womb, such is God’s compassion. God sends his son Jesus to become our Saviour, and to fully understand our human situation. In Jesus, God shows us how to live a just, right and compassionate life, caring for one another as his image bearers.
The Greek word for compassion is oiktirmos. Jesus compares himself to a mother hen, who gathers, shelters and protects her young under her wings as an example of his oiktirmos (compassion). Jesus models compassionate care throughout his ministry on earth, even to his death on the cross (1 Peter 2:24, Ephesians 2:13, Colossians 1:19-20). He instructs, in fact commands us, to go and do likewise (Luke 10:37). We must allow ourselves to be moved by the suffering of others as Jesus did. We must seek to protect, nurture and enable those who are suffering, and in so doing we are able to participate in God’s redemptive plan to heal and save people from their suffering, now and for eternity. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to “be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” (Luke 6:36, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Ephesians 4:32).
Biblical scholars of the Hebrew and Greek words that are translated as ‘compassion’, say it means that we are to feel a deep embodied sympathy and pity for another person’s situation, and this must move us to a merciful response. The Greek word used in scripture is splagchnizomai, which comes from the word splagchna meaning the internal organs of our body. Therefore splagchnizomai means to be physically moved to a deep, visceral, emotional response by the situation of another person’s suffering. We express it in our common language with sayings such as, “What I heard made me sick to the pit of my stomach…”, “My heart aches for you…”, “It took my breath away…”, “I had a gut feeling things weren’t going well…”, and so we see that all humans can experience a visceral response to human suffering.
Splagchnizomai is the word used by Jesus in his story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). The story is of a son who asks his father for his inheritance which his father gives him. He wastes the money on wild lifestyles and loses the inheritance leaving him broke, homeless and unable to feed and clothe himself. In desperation the son returns to his father’s home ready to ask his father to let him work for him so that he might eat. When his father sees his son coming from afar, he is filled with splagchnizomai, that feeling of compassion, gut-wrenching pity, open-handed mercy, and heart-felt love. The father is compelled to respond with open arms and an open heart to meet his son’s needs, which he does with joy and without judgement or retribution. This highlights that splagchnizomai is a strong physical response to human need which moves us to decisive action. It is a ‘muscular’ compassion that calls us to engage and take deliberate action to remedy the situation for the betterment of the other!
We are living in challenging times. Human suffering surrounds us in our homes, our communities, and our nations. There is violence, war, famine, deprivation, sickness and distress all around us. We cannot ignore it if we profess to love God. “If anyone boasts, ‘I love God,’ and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both” (1 John 4:20, Msg). Additionally, “If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?” (1 John 3:17, NLT). Who we are and how we live matters. It can change the world!
One of God’s foremost characteristics is compassion. As his image bearers, it must also be one of our core characteristics. Our ways of doing and our ways of being must reflect compassion. It is the best and perhaps the only way to bring God’s kingdom to earth to transform hurt lives now and forever. As Jesus said in John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” The Bible is clear that compassion is a core attribute of the LORD God and his followers - you and me!
Reflect and act:
Look up the Bible verses Luke 6:35-36; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4; Colossians 3:12-13 and ponder on them.
- 1. How are you as a follower of Jesus living selfless compassion?
- 2. What is one specific way you can ‘clothe yourself with compassion’ today?
- 3. What specific situation makes you experience splagchnizomai? What decisive compassionate action can you take this week to work toward remedying this suffering?
- Dr Antonia van Loon RN, PHD
- Chairperson AFCNA 2024
Bible project 2020, Word Studies Compassion . https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/character-of-god-compassion/
.png){kind=logo}