Pastor Claude Thomas Blog

Author: Pastor Claude Thomas

For a few moments let’s go on an imaginary journey with Jesus. Stay close and don’t miss anything. It’s going to be quick. In this journey we are going to find one word again and again. It is used more than any other in the Bible to portray the heart of Jesus.
First, from Matthew 9:36; “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them…”

In Matthew 14:14; Jesus saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion. What did He do to show it? He healed their sick.

In Matthew 15:32; a multitude had been with Him for 3 days and had no food. How did Jesus feel toward them? He was moved with compassion. What did He do? He fed them!
In Matthew 18:27; Jesus told the parable of the forgiving and the unforgiving men. One had compassion and one did not. What did the person with compassion do? He forgave. Jesus has compassion. What does He do? He forgives! If we are connected to His heart, we also forgive!

In Matthew 20:34; Jesus encounters two blind men along the road outside of Jericho. He was moved with compassion as they cried for mercy. What did He do? He gave them sight!

In Mark 1:41; Jesus encounters a leper. He is moved with compassion for him. What does Jesus do in response to His compassion? He cleanses the leper!

In Mark 5:19; a Gaderene man was possessed with demons. Jesus was moved with compassion toward him. What did Jesus do in response to His compassion? He delivered the demon-possessed man.

In Luke 7:13; Jesus and His followers are entering the little city of Nain. They encounter a funeral procession going outside the city to bury the body. The body was that of a widow woman. Jesus had compassion toward her. What did His compassion move Him to do? He comforted her with words. And He gave her son life.

In Luke 15:20; parable of a lost son returning home to his father. The heart of the father in the parable is a picture of the heart of God. When the son was still a long way down the road, the father saw the son coming toward home and had compassion toward him. What did his compassion cause him to do? Forgive the son and restore the son!

Notice in each instance, Jesus had compassion for them. And what He felt toward them forced Him to do something for them! He ministered to them!

Hearts closely connected to the heart of Jesus will be moved with compassion and help others! And across America and around the world, there are people in need. They are alone. They are lost. They are defeated. They are hungry. They are sick. They are oppressed. They are naked. And the list goes on.

Who are they? They are children. And we can help change a child’s life today and tomorrow by showing the heart of Jesus and uniting with Feed The Children, Inc. For more information about this international Christian relief ministry go to www.feedthechildren.org

Author: Pastor Claude Thomas

The shouts could be heard outside the city walls.  No alarms were sounded, though, because these were cries of joy, of celebration.

A stream of people danced and sang as they waited for their king.  He was coming, perhaps on the back of one of the finest horses in the region.  His eyes would be on fire, his hair flowing in the wind, his face like flint as he absorbed the praises of a people in search of independence from the iron fist of oppression.

The palm branches were waving in the air and set on the ground as the would-be Messiah made his triumphant entry into the city of his homeland – Jerusalem.
The sea of people parted, and the future king appeared and proceeded through the celebration.  His face was like flint, but his eyes were not red-hot with aggression.  Rather, they were a deep sea of tearful compassion.  Something in his eyes rendered you speechless.  Had the masses stopped to consider his gaze, they would have fallen silent – but they didn’t, and the celebration continued.

Jesus knew he looked into the eyes of people who would change. The same voices that cried out: Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord  would one day yell for his death.

Fickle, sinful people. Clothes were spread on the road for him, yet he would soon be naked and beaten, publicly humiliated before them. He rode on, even though he knew it meant death. (Luke 19)

Why? Why did He do it? He did it for you and me Yes, he did it with you and me in mind. Even though he knows we’re not perfect. Even though he knows the many times we fail.

He did it because he loves you and provides for our forgiveness and a pathway to relationship with Him.