In the Middle East where the traffic halts more than it weaves, where the markets remind me of O’ Hare’s peak hours, and where men have no qualms about cutting in front of me, I often react, but not like Jesus:  

“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36 

Jesus, in the midst of many people in cities and villages, didn’t just react to the masses, He truly saw them. MacLauren’s online exposition commentary says Jesus saw “the poor, wearied creature, after all its struggles and wanderings, utterly beaten and dejected, having lost its way, at its wits’ end and resourceless, flinging itself down there in despair, and panting its timid life out anywhere where it finds itself.” He understood everything about them and knew that their deepest need was, well, for Himself! 

My reaction as I get pushed to the side in the market isn’t compassion. In fact, I rarely think of the people at all. I simply get offended. It’s rather ironic: my deepest need in the midst of the masses is exactly the same as each person in that mass. Just as they need Jesus to give them sight to see Him, I need Jesus to give me His eyes to see others.  

Realizing that need, the rest of the above passage gives me hope. Because of what Jesus saw and His compassion, “He said to His disciples ‘the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” (Matthew 9:37-38) You and I are an answer to the prayers the disciples were commanded to pray. We are doing what we are doing because of His great compassion. That compassion isn’t only for the masses, however; it’s for us, too. As we pray for His love for others, He works for our change as much as He works for the change of them.