Words of Grace

By Rev. Mahlon Nevel

Teacher. Preacher, Healer. These three words describe what Jesus was during his earthly ministry.
He went about all of Galilee teaching the Word of God, preaching the gospel, and healing all kinds of sickness and disease. (Matthew 4:23)

As he became more and more famous, a great multitude of people followed him. (VS. 24,25) The multitudes continued to follow him as he taught, preached and healed in all the cities and villages. (Matthew 9:35)
When Jesus saw the multitudes seeking him, “he was moved with compassion on them.” (VS.36) What was it about them that caused Jesus to be compassionate toward the people?

It was because he saw them as scattered sheep who had no Shepherd. Three other times in the Gospel of Matthew we read about Jesus having compassion on the people. (14:14; 15:32; 20:34)

The Lord Jesus has that same compassion for us today. All of us, just like sheep, have gone astray. (Isaiah 53:6) We are like David, who confessed: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep.” (Psalm 119:176)

Jesus told a parable about a man who had one hundred sheep. When one of those sheep got lost, he left the ninety-nine sheep to look for that one sheep. When he found it, he rejoiced. (Luke 15:3-7)

“Out on the hillside, out in the cold, It was a sheep the Good Shepherd sought;
And back to the flock, safe in the fold, It was a sheep the Good Shepherd brought.”