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Jesus was patient with a religious man like Nicodemus[1] who needed, not more education, but spiritual illumination. Jesus was longsuffering toward an often ambitious yet stiff-necked Peter.[2] Jesus extended forgiveness to a guilty woman taken in adultery.[3] He was merciful to a thief on the cross dying beside Him.[4] He longed to show the way to God to a worldly-minded young man who found sufficiency in himself but was clearly missing the mark.[5] He oftentimes stretched out His arms toward a religious and rebellious nation that should have realized that He was the Son of Man sent to reconcile man back to God.[6] He gave opportunities to follow Him, learn from Him, and serve Him to the likes of James and Judas. He answered the questions of Thomas[7] and sought to ground his faith with assurance.[8] Jesus stood still for Bartimaeus[9] and He stopped because of the faith of the woman with the issue of blood.[10] He crossed a lake for a maniac[11] and He took time out of His day to visit the home of Jairus and restore life and hope to a family.[12] Matthew 9:36 reveals the heart of Jesus for others. “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.” Acts 10:38 summarizes the fact that Jesus “went about doing good.” There is no way of knowing just how many lives Jesus touched and changed through His earthly ministry. John confirms this when he writes, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”[13] No wonder the apostle Paul teaches the Christian to put on the mind of Christ.[14] Christ lived a life of service to others. For the Christian, living for Christ is living for others.
Living for Christ produces a life that seeks to love and serve others for Jesus’ sake.[15] When the Holy Spirit is granted control of a life, He delights to guide the believer into Christlikeness.[16] The believer is in Christ[17] and Christ is in the believer.[18] Therefore, the believer represents Christ to fallen man.[19] Isaiah teaches that God’s servants are to be ministers and priests: “But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of your God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.”[20] J. Oswald Sanders notes that “the priests ministered to the Lord. The Levites ministered to their brethren. We are privileged to minister to both. We are to offer spiritual sacrifices in the sanctuary and to engage in the manual duties o the house of God as well.”[21] There must be a balance between our worship and service to God, and service toward others. A primary responsibility of the believer is to bring the light of the Word of God to bear upon his brethren. We serve to help others see the light of God’s truth and glory. We have a treasure in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:1-18) that must be used to glorify God.
J. Oswald Sanders suggests that the ideal disciple will have four active social characteristics: (1) Compassionate in Spirit, (2) Pure in Heart, (3) Conciliatory in Spirit, and (4) Unswerving in Loyalty. The national Israel as a servant, Jesus as The Servant, the Church is a collective servant, and the Christian is an individual servant, all for the purposes of God. “The Servant is responsible to mediate the light of the gospel, as a light to the nations, and to rescue the captives from the prison house of sin (Isaiah 42:6-7). But His supreme responsibility is to glorify God,” explains J. Oswald Sanders.[22] Developing the mind and heart of Christ enables me as a Christian servant to model Christ’s methods of service to people all around me. Service toward others helps me to put on the mind of Christ. Service toward others that is done with a heart for God leads me to look at them through the lens of Calvary’s love. When I serve, in any capacity, I can ask myself, “Can my motives and methods be measured against Christ’s motives and methods? Do they align with His?” Living for others develops my Christlike compassion.
When I look at someone, can I see them through the eyes of Christ? When I meet an individual, do I stop and consider, “This is someone that Jesus gave His life to save”? When I am mistreated but choose to yield to the Spirit, I can learn how to respond like Jesus.[23] J. Oswald Sanders writes of three essential qualities the disciple must have in the work of the Master. Using famous poet and art critic John Ruskin as an example to make this point, Sanders points out that “a good artist must possess three qualities: (1) an eye to see and appreciate the beauty of the scene he desires to catch on canvas; (2) a heart to feel and register the beauty and atmosphere of the scene; (3) a hand to perform – to transfer to canvas what the eye has seen and the heart has felt.”[24] Personal, spiritual formation – being conformed to the image of Christ – gives me the eye of Christ for sinners. Initially I may see physical needs, but the Spirit will guide me to see the important spiritual need of their life. How did Jesus see the world? How do I see the world? What does the world see in me? Not only do I need to see like Jesus sees, I need a heart like Jesus. A heart that loves the hopeless, helpless, and heartless.
The compassion Jesus showed was a compassion that flowed ultimately at the Cross. He wasn’t merely empathetic, He was sympathetic. He suffered with humanity.[25] “A.W. Tozer once said that there was abroad an irresponsible pursuit of happiness and that most people would rather be happy than feel the wounds of other people’s sorrows. That is borne out by the almost pathological pursuit of happiness by the crowds. But they miss the true Source of joy and satisfaction.”[26] Is this not what Jesus was teaching in John 13?[27] Spiritual formation gives me His eyes and His heart. Lastly, spiritual formation gives me the strength of His hand. The life of Jesus is illustrative of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). Jesus acted. What must I do? Obey Him as He says, “Go, and do thou likewise.”[28] Jesus looked upon the hopeless with compassion. He lifted the helpless through care. He lived among the hardhearted with concern. He honored the Father at the Cross by providing a way for the hell-deserving sinner to be made a child of Heaven. May I practice His kind of love and live His kind of life.
[1] John 3:1-21.
[2] Acts 10:14.
[3] John 8:1-11.
[4] Luke 23:41-43.
[5] Matthew 19:22.
[6] Matthew 23:37.
[7] John 14:4-6.
[8] John 20:27-28.
[9] Mark 10:46-52.
[10] Mark 5:25-34.
[11] Mark 5:1-20.
[12] Mark 5:35-43.
[13] John 21:25.
[14] Philippians 2:1-8.
[15] Ephesians 4:32.
[16] Romans 8:29.
[17] 1 Corinthians 1:30.
[18] 2 Corinthians 13:5.
[19] 2 Corinthians 5:20-21.
[20] Isaiah 61:6.
[21] J. Oswald Sanders, Cultivation of Christian Character (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1965), 25.
[22] J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Discipleship: Principles of Following Christ for Every Believer (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1994), 75.
[23] 1 Peter 2:23.
[24] Sanders, Spiritual Discipleship, 117.
[25] Hebrews 4:15.
[26] Sanders, Spiritual Discipleship, 119.
[27] John 13:17.
[28] Luke 10:37.
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