Holy Week: Enabled to Love

The throngs of people overwhelmed me, as I neared the shores of the Ganges River in India for the first time at age 11. Men and women of all ages were stepping into the dirty waters that flowed past. As they emerged, a mark was painted on their forehead, to signify the "spiritual cleansing" they had just received. The noise of the unknown language was mingled with shouts of joy from thousands of people, and I could feel my head swimming. A man with a terrifying face painted blood-red approached my cousin from behind, and said he needed to tell him something. Women with bowls of paint kept running up, in an attempt to make the mark of cleansing on my forehead. Beggar children wove in and out of the crowds, offering to pray for anyone who would give them money.

"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd."

-Mark 6:34

The ministry Jesus had on earth is marked by one main characteristic: Love. When He saw the throngs of people surrounding Him, He didn't just see a group of people... He saw individuals, whom He loved. He saw the lost, who could be found. He saw His Beloved, who had fallen under oppression. He stretched out His hands, and healed those who were sick. He spoke one word, and freed those who were possessed. He saw their need, and taught those who were thirsty. He didn't just see a crowd of people; He reached out, and healed individuals. He took time, in the midst of the crowd, to stop for one centurion, one leper, one bleeding woman. His heart was overwhelmed with love for each individual; it was not His father's will that even one should perish. He overlooked no one who came to Him.

I am so convicted when I look at my own life... how I fail to love even those closest to me, much less one stranger in a crowd. How quickly I forget that I was that stranger; that I was lost in the sea of faces; that I was unknown, and unloved. But in Christ, we are found, and loved beyond imagination. And we are empowered to love as He did.

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Worship Song: 

"You Don't Miss a Thing",
by Amanda Cook (Bethel Music)