We’ve recently looked at the face and hands of Jesus; last night, Dave preached on the heart of Jesus, looking at the feeding of the five thousand in Matt 14:13-21.
Jesus, at this point in His ministry, wanted to be alone. He had just learnt of the death of His cousin, John the Baptist. He was sorrowful and grieving and wanted time out to pray. But the crowds followed Him and His response to their need was that His heart was moved with compassion for them.
So often when we are interrupted or our plans are changed, we become bitter or resentful towards those who crowd in on us. But Jesus, even in His own grief, had compassion for others.
The heart of Jesus was:
(1) compassionate
(2) practical
(3) obedient
(4) loving
Being moved with compassion led Jesus to action – He set about inviting His disciples to meet the practical needs of the crowd and organised the feeding of the five thousand with just five loaves and two fish. He was obedient to the Father’s will, always choosing to do what He saw His Father doing. He acted always from love.
The heart of Jesus is always to involve others in meeting needs. He involved His disciples in this great miracle: everyone was involved in distributing the bread and the fish. He supplied the miracle, but He gave others the opportunity to serve. Similarly, today, He gives us the opportunity of serving Him. We don’t do this on our own and we don’t have to meet every need that exists, but for those who would have hearts like Jesus, there will always be the opportunity to serve others, for that kind of services lies at the heart of Jesus.
We also had a birthday to celebrate!