Jesus, our Compassionate Friend

 I know some Christian women who regularly visit brothels, not to preach, but to offer friendship and help to the prostitutes. They have rescued some from human trafficking and others have come to faith in Jesus.

Some Christians disapprove of visiting sinful places, but Jesus himself mixed with the outcasts of society

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’;

the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” Mt 11:18–19 NRSV

Some Christians look at the lives of unbelievers, and focus on their sins. Jesus wanted to save sinners from their sins, but he did not just look upon them as sinners, but as people who were struggling with the challenges and disappointments of life.

Jesus really was a friend to sinners. What does true friendship mean? A true friend empathises and tries to understand how you feel.

When Jesus saw severely sick people, he was moved with compassion and healed them.

But he did not only feel compassion for physical suffering, but also the mental and emotional suffering of people living in darkness.

Life is full of struggles and disappointments, for Christians as well as unbelievers. If you put your trust in Jesus, you have eternal life, but that does not make you immune to grief and heartache.

Jesus himself knew what sorrow and grief meant.

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. Is 53:3–4 NRSV

This translation correctly shows how Jesus, as our healer, bore our physical pains and sicknesses on the cross.

Some other translations emphasise the mental grief and sorrow, that Jesus endured, and how he identified himself with our emotional struggles.

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. Is 53:4 NKJV

God looks at your sins, and he wants to forgive you, but he does not just look upon you as a judge, but as one who loves you and identifies with your emotional struggles.

After Jesus returned to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to be our comforter. The Holy Spirit in NT Greek is the PARAKLETOS. One who is called alongside.

God is closer than breathing. He feels your heartaches, and he wants to touch you with his compassionate love.