Psalm 22

That word compassionate doesn’t mean what you think it means… at least when it comes to God. In the English language, compassion is defined as “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.”

That almost comes close to the concept of compassion as it was applied to Jesus… but not quite. In the Greek, the word is splagchnizomai, which is basically what we would call “guts.” So, when the Bible says that Jesus was overcome with compassion, it means He felt like He got kicked in the stomach. Think about that definition as you read the following verses:

“Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” (Lk 7:12-13)

“When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mk 6:34)

“So [the prodigal son] got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” (Lk 15:20)

When Jesus encountered people who were suffering, it churned in Him so deeply that it felt like getting kicked in the gut. And it caused Him to reach out and do something. So, what does all of this have to do with Psalm 22? Did you recognize familiar phrases in this chapter?

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (vs 1)
All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. (vs 7)
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord…deliver him, since he delights in him.” ( vs 8 )
I am poured out like water… My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. (vs 14)
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.” (vs 15)
They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. (vs 18)

This psalm is often looked at as a “Messianic psalm” because there are so many parallels to Jesus’ betrayal, trial, and execution. But I think David wrote this psalm out of his own personal experience. I don’t think he was writing down something under inspiration that he didn’t know about or couldn’t relate to. The point here is not that David wrote about Christ, but that Christ also experienced the same suffering David did.

That brings us to the origin of the English word compassion. It has its roots in the Latin words pati and cum, and it means to suffer with. So compassion, at its heart, is not just even heartfelt sympathy. It is an active embrace of the suffering of another.

That means there has never been anyone more compassionate than God. When He came here in the flesh, He actively embraced our suffering. He willingly dived headfirst into the awfulness of our sinful planet. He voluntarily immersed Himself in the pain and sorrow of a place separated from the Source of life. He not only came to redeem us; He came to suffer with us.

So it’s no surprise, then, that parts of His life parallel some of the deepest, darkest descriptions of suffering we can find elsewhere in the Scriptures. It’s not that those verses were written about Him in order to prophesy about Him (although they do prophesy about Him as well), but His suffering can be seen in those verses because our suffering became His. He willingly accepted it, embraced it, and identified with us in it.

So, if you are hurting today, God is hurting with you, because He is compassionate. And for God, compassion is not something He feels. It’s something He does.