When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. (Mat 14:14 NASB)

One of the keys to activating the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to feel the compassion of the Lord.

Last session we looked at God’s Glory which was revealed to Moses:

And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."(Exo 33:19 NASB).

This is a fourfold revelation:

1. Goodness

2. Proclaiming the Name, which expresses the character and reputation

3. Grace

4. Compassion

We saw that Yeshua prayed for this revelation of God’s Glory through becoming “one” with His people. John 17 reveals this and I encourage you to go back and relisten to last session.

Today, I want to look at a training given by Yeshua which could fit many things, but I want to look at it through the lens of activating compassion.

Compassion is racham in ancient Hebrew. This is the same root as rechem which means literally, the uterus. What is the uterus? It is where the seeds of life, the sperm and the egg unite to become basar echad, one flesh, a new life. Covenant is the context for the expression of new life. Compassion is the spiritual and emotional state that is essential for new life to be birthed.

Compassion is defined as: Suffering together with another, participation in suffering; fellow-feeling, sympathy. The experience is a complete transparency to one another.

The Apostle Paul in sharing the nature of the spirit realm as it is reflected in the natural, said:

However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. (1Co 15:46 NASB)

This tells us that God has revealed Himself in the natural order. The uterus, rechem reflects the birthing process of spiritual life which is activated by racham, compassion.

In this parallel, compassion is the emotional environment of the spirit where seed can be activated to birth destiny. Let me show you what I mean by that statement. When we look at anointed ministry of Yeshua, we see compassion being present when miracles happen.

The first example of this is when Yeshua is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew of eating with the tax collectors and the sinners and is criticized for this by the Pharisees. His response frames His ministry:

But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. "But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mat 9:12-13 NASB)

This is a powerful comparison. Even today in the last days outpouring of the Holy Spirit many focus on the sacrifice of Yeshua as the price paid for sin. It is true that He sacrificed Himself, but He wants us to move beyond the legal exchange into the mercy and compassion that motivated Him. This is important for the fulfilling of the great commission. If our salvation is primarily focused on our being saved from the penalty of sin, then we can become very sin and self-focused. If however, we can feel the compassion that motivated not only the cross but all of the ministry of Yeshua then we can truly be testimonies of His love. We are called not just to mentally understand the Gospel but to engage with Him who is love that gave Himself for us through His compassion.

There is a critical place of birthing that is compassion, racham. Let’s turn to the parable of the sower and the seed as training by Yeshua in looking at developing compassion:

And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the Sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. "And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. "He who has ears, let him hear." (Mat 13:3-9 NASB)

Yeshua ends the parable with an instruction about listening. This is clue that He is speaking to the condition of the heart which reveals compassion by the way we listen, how we receive one another.  He continues:

And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. "Therefore, I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.' "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. "For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Mat 13:10-17 NASB)

Dullness of heart is a heart that has lost compassion. It is dull reflecting the loss of shine.

Yeshua is quoting Isaiah 6:9-10:

He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.' "Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed." (Isa 6:9-10 NASB)

This is a hardness of heart that shuts down healing and miracles. So, what do we do? This is the point of the whole parable:

"Hear then the parable of the sower. "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." (Mat 13:18-23 NASB)

The emphasis on the parable is understanding or “knowing” in Hebrew. In order to truly understand and bear the fruit of the Spirit in an impactful way, described as the 30-60-100fold we need to have a heart that is touched by compassion. We can look at this fourfold description as the reclaiming of our heart to walk in the miraculous healing ministry of Yeshua.

I believe the “secret” is given in the middle before He interprets it for the disciples, and I think this is the place where we can see compassion being activated.

"For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. What is it that they have that is increased? Well, whatever it is, the result is having to speak in parables. Why parables? Parables require the listener to ponder, what is the underlying message? This is contrasted with the disciples to whom He says He can disclose mysteries of the Kingdom. Why can He disclose it to them? Because they have been with Him and seen His compassion. Intimacy with compassion brings compassion! Also, compassion increases as we use it. This is why He said that to whom compassion has been given more will be activated. It is activated by knowing the heart of the Lord and by acting in concert with Him.

Referencing last session again, the “glory of the Lord” that Yeshua prayed for His disciples to receive and for us, The point in a oneness of heart that produces the 30-60-100 fold increase.

Looking at Matthew 14:14-21 we see the operation of compassion:

When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!" They *said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." And He said, "Bring them here to Me." Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children. (Mat 14:14-21 NASB)

Both provision for healing and the multiplication of the loaves and fish were motivated and activated by compassion. This is an example of the heart that is activated by compassion, racham, which is the womb of the possibilities of miracles.

Activation: Since there are 4 heart conditions given here in this parable and only 1 produces multiplication, let’s use repentance as a tool to draw us to the glory of God which is His goodness.

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Rom 2:4 NKJV)

The three heart conditions that limit His compassion are: 1. Lack of understanding of His goodness;2. No rootedness, which is another way of saying no commitment 3. Trust in mammon and worries of life. Allow His Spirit to heal these and release compassion! Repentance isn’t just turning away from something but also turning towards His light and love!