Jesus was:
In a very early poem about Jesus we have these words:
Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
While there are many people who would seek power, fame and riches, Jesus, even though He was entitled to those things chose to live humbly, brought up by a carpenter, lived in obscurity for 30 years before He started His public ministry. He shows us that what many see as a grand life style is not what life is about and, in fact, can be a hindrance.
During His ministry, He worked as an itinerant Rabbi and had no fixed abode. As He said to some who aspired to be His disciples: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man (Jesus) has nowhere to lay his head.”
He mixed with ordinary people and also those who were considered disreputable such as those who worked for the Roman authorities.
The religious leaders of the day, who would shun such people, did not like that:
And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
An amazing story which illustrates the compassion of Jesus is here:
And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
The original Greek word for “moved with pity” indicates a gut-
Other demonstrations of Jesus’ compassion are:
When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”
And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
In the place and time when Jesus lived on Earth, society was anything but equal. As well as women and children being considered as inferior, people with illnesses or afflictions were viewed as being under God’s curse. Jesus flew in the face of that attitude and cared for and befriended the marginalised.
While His followers were trying to keep the local children, who would be considered as not worthy of attention, from disturbing Him, Jesus welcomed them and valued them.
In a culture where women were not considered as credible witnesses, it was the women who first met Him after His resurrection and took the news to His disciples thus validating them.
In a world where “justice” often means revenge, and where wars escalate because each side wants to get their own back, Jesus fought violence, not with more violence, but with goodness. The outstanding example of this being when the Romans crucified Him. With His power He could have stopped them, but by not doing so, He won.
While others wanted Him to be a king and lead them against the occupying Romans, Jesus plan was different.
Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
When one of His followers wanted to defend Jesus against the Romans who were planning to arrest Him and take Him to His death, Jesus stopped Him.
And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
One of the few things which made Jesus angry was when those in power oppressed those who were not. Some of the religious leaders of the day were not averse to insisting on strict obedience to the observances while trying to avoid doing it themselves. Jesus had His strongest words to say to them: