Bowels of Compassion

And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them. Mark 6:34

Moved with compassion comes from the Greek verb splagchnizomai, meaning to be boweled. The human body has been meticulously designed by God, so our organs have different emotional significance. For example, our core contains intestines and wombs, which represent our emotions and feelings such as compassion and empathy.

As Jesus saw the crowd and was moved by compassion, He would perform food miracles to feed the multitude, heal the sick, and teach them many things, as He was moved by the bowel of mercy and deep care for His people.

The health of our intestines is similar to the soil. Like soil, a healthy gut requires good bacteria and  microbiome, also known as gut flora.  Interestingly, the root word of humans is humus, meaning soil, because humans are earthlings and made of soil.

In my opinion, this correlation shows that Jesus deeply cares about humanity, so much so that His bodily part moved with compassion. Because of His deep love for us, everything He suffers on the cross is driven by the bowel of mercy, and mercy triumphs over judgment so humans can be saved from God's judgment.

Let us all be moved by compassion like Jesus, particularly for our mercy ministry, and we will  have a deep sense of humanity and care for people.

Blessing prayer: Thank you Jesus for your mercy endures forever. May we be compassionate like you and inspired by your tender mercy to love and care for one another. In Jesus’ name, Amen