Compassion as a Precursor to Teaching Truth

We often believe that if we could just convince our friends and co-workers that Jesus really is the Son of God, they would then turn to him and be saved.  After all, we have come to believe that the Bible is true and that Jesus died for us.  We have accepted the gospel of grace as truth and have staked our lives on the forgiveness of Jesus offered to us in the cross.  So, if we could just convince them of the truth, all would be well in the world.  This week as I am working on Luke 6:17-26.   In this passage Jesus describes both the person who is blessed and the one is under God’s judgment.  The difference between the tow is a humble response to the grace of God.  However, I was struck as much by what Jesus did before he preached his sermon as I was about what he actually preached.  In Luke 6:17-19 we are told that Jesus met multitudes of people who came to hear him and to be healed.  We are even told that many in the crowd tried to touch him since “power was coming out from him and healing them all”  Simply being in the presence of Jesus caused many to be healed.   Jesus wanted to speak truth to them.  But before he offered a sermon, he offered compassion.   In meeting their needs, he prepared their hearts to hear the truth of the gospel.  As a church we preach truth.  We are committed to the scriptures as the inerrant word of God.  I pray that we are just as committed to meeting the needs of those around us.