The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them. As he landed he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
- St. Mark 6:30-34
St. Mark describes the scene when our Lord arrived at what was supposed to be a “quiet place apart,” but where He “saw a great throng, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd…”
People often think of compassion as being a kind of sympathy, feeling sorry for someone. But in the original Greek, compassion isn’t so much describing a feeling or an emotion, but rather, it indicates a thought or feeling leading to an action. It is probably best translated as having a love so deep that it is almost like an inner pain – a love which moves a person to actually do something for someone in need.
What was it that caused this compassion – this “painful love” – which Jesus had? He saw the crowds of people, ordinary men and women who had come out to hear what He had to say. Some were looking for comfort in their otherwise difficult lives; many were looking for something to fill the spiritual emptiness they felt. Their own religious leaders should have been giving them spiritual strength to live by, but instead were simply bewildering them with subtle and intricate arguments about the Law – arguments which contained no comfort, no spiritual help. These spiritual leaders should have been helping the people to face the difficulties of their daily lives, but instead they were weighing them down under the intolerable demands of countless man-made laws. They were making religious demands which served as a handicap instead of a support.
At the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry, religious teaching within Judaism had, for the most part, become a discouragement to the people, rather than an inspiration to grow closer to God. The people had become, in the sad words of today’s Gospel, like “sheep without a shepherd.”
Of course, the people in those days were not so different from people throughout the ages, or from us as we are today. People want and need something to live by. We want some authority which can inform us about what is right and what is wrong. We want an authority to help us as we make decisions for the direction of our lives.
But authority can often be twisted. It was twisted by the scribes and pharisees, and it is twisted by those who act like scribes and pharisees in our own day. The result is that authority comes to be viewed by many as being a negative, oppressive thing.
A selfish authority, an authority without compassion, an authority which is coercive, can become an oppressive yoke – a yoke which weighs people down, rather than lifting them up. That kind of authority can become a veil of darkness, rather than a guide to the light of truth. We need only to look at some of the totalitarian governments and political systems, not only in the past, but which we see in the world today. We see individuals who have positions of authority without an accompanying sense of loving responsibility, and it becomes evident just how easily authority can be abused, and so cause terrible suffering to those who labour under it.
But we do not have to look as far as political systems or totalitarian governments to consider the proper use of authority. We should look at the Church and at those who have spiritual authority over others.
Whether it be the authority we are bound to follow, or the authority we might have over others, it is Christ our Shepherd who gives us the model. He had compassion upon the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
And what kind of a shepherd is He? He is one whom we obey because we know He willingly sacrificed himself for us. He is one whom we follow because He gently leads us rather than impatiently shoving us along through life. He is the one we stay close to, because He is generous with His gifts to us, but then allows us to use them, rather than dictating our every thought and action.
Each one of us needs to look to the compassionate Christ for the model of what authority over others should be like – not like the scribes and pharisees, who bound great burdens upon others, but rather reflecting the depth of the gentle love and compassion we receive from God Himself.
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Painting by James Tissot (1836-1902)