The compassion and mercy of Jesus operated as a force
against illness and disease. A good illustration of this is
in Mark 1:40-42 when a leper came to Jesus and asked
to be made clean. Verse 41 says, “And Jesus, moved with
compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and
saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.” As soon as Jesus had
spoken, the leprosy immediately departed from him, and
he was cleansed.

The Bible does not say, “immediately he was healed.”
It said that immediately leprosy itself departed, indicating
that the spirit life behind the disease left. When
that happened, the man’s body regained its health. The
force that drove the leprosy out was the compassion of
God released in the words that Jesus spoke and through
His hands.

The mercy of God governed Jesus in every situation.
After He healed the leper, Jesus instructed him not to say
anything about his healing but to show himself to the
priest. However, Mark 1:45 through Mark 2:1 says: “But
he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze
abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more
openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places:
and they came to him from every quarter. And again he
entered into Capernaum….”

The leper went out and stirred up the countryside to
the point where Jesus had to retreat to Capernaum. He
called attention to his healing until there were so many
people that Jesus could not even minister to all of them.
Jesus went to Capernaum. The crowds flooded Him there
as they had in the desert. It says in Mark 2:1-4:

And again he entered into Capernaum after some
days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
And straightway many were gathered together,
insomuch that there was no room to receive them,
no, not so much as about the door: and he preached
the word unto them. And they come unto him,
bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne
of four. And when they could not come nigh unto
him for the press, they uncovered the roof where
he was: and when they had broken it up, they let
down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

When Jesus saw their faith, He said, “Your sins are
forgiven you.” What a statement of mercy! He paid no
attention to them taking apart the roof. Through mercy,
He saw their faith. Through mercy and forgiveness, He
ministered healing and deliverance.

Gloria Copeland

Don’t ever come against somebody’s faith, even if you
do not think they are strong enough. Get in there and help
them. That is what Jesus did. He was governed by mercy
and compassion instead of by legalism, rules and fear. If
He had been afraid Peter was going to drown, He would
have started sinking Himself.

Peter walked on the water based on the Word of Jesus,
“Come.” As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, he made it.
But when he started looking at the wind, he became afraid
and began to sink.

As he started to sink, Peter cried, “Lord, save me.” The
Bible says:

Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and
caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little
faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they
were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then
they that were in the ship came and worshipped
him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
And when they were gone over, they came into
the land of Gennesaret. And when the men of that
place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all
that country round about, and brought unto him
all that were diseased; and besought him that they
might only touch the hem of his garment: and
as many as touched were made perfectly whole
(Matthew 14:31-36).

All this took place because Jesus was moved with
compassion out in the desert. In the life of Jesus, compassion
took a higher priority than anything else. It caused Him to
continually reach out to others and respond to their need.
Matthew 20:30-34 is a good example of this:

And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way
side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried
out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of
David. And the multitude rebuked them, because
they should hold their peace: but they cried the
more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of
David. And Jesus stood still, and called them, and
said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They
say unto him, Lord that our eyes may be opened. So
Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their
eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight,
and they followed him.

Jesus had compassion on them, not just for them. The
two blind men had caught sight of the fact that mercy
would do the job. They cried, “Have mercy,” and Jesus was
moved with compassion. The power of His mercy was
released and brought them their eyesight.

Gloria Copeland

Even Jesus expressed and acted on the inward yearning
of compassion. Matthew 9:36 notes Jesus observed
that the people were like sheep having no shepherd, and
He was moved with compassion on them. His immediate
response was to select 12 men to go and minister among
them. The choosing of the 12 disciples was directly related
to His compassion.

Matthew 10:5-8 says:

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded
them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles,
and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom
of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the
lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have
received, freely give.

Jesus had a revelation of the mercy and comfort of God
and this caused Him to want to share it with everyone.
He told His disciples to “go preach” and to “heal the sick,
cleanse the leper, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you
have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:7-8).

Matthew 9:35 says Jesus went through the cities and
villages teaching and preaching. Teaching and preaching
are acts of compassion.

When you have the same revelation of God’s mercy
that Jesus had, compassion will rise up on the inside of
you. He was continually praying, at times fasting, always
listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit—always walking
on the verge of that inner explosion of compassion. We
have the same Spirit of compassion living within us,
desiring to bring us to that same place of spiritual
preparedness, always ready to minister His love and
mercy through us.

Gloria Copeland

Hebrews 4:14-16
KJV—Seeing then that we have a great
high priest, that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
profession. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities; but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need.

Amp—Inasmuch then as we have a great
High Priest Who has [already] ascended
and passed through the heavens, Jesus the
Son of God, let us hold fast our confession
[of faith in Him], For we do not have a High
Priest Who is unable to understand and
sympathize and have a fellow feeling with
our weaknesses and infirmities and liability
to the assaults of temptation, but One
Who has been tempted in every respect
as we are, yet without sinning. Let us then
fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw
near to the throne of grace—the throne
of God’s unmerited favor [to us sinners];
that we may receive mercy [for our failures]
and find grace to help in good time for every
need—appropriate help and well-timed
help, coming just when we need it.

Moffatt—As we have a great high priest,
then, who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast
to our confession; for ours is no high priest
who cannot have sympathy with our weaknesses,
but one who has been tempted in
every respect like ourselves, yet without
sinning. So let us approach the throne of
grace with confidence, that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help us in the hour
of need.

NEB—Since therefore we have a great high
priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to the
religion we profess. For ours is not a high
priest unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who, because of his likeness
to us, has been tested every way, only without
sin. Let us therefore boldly approach
the throne of our gracious God, where we
may receive mercy and in his grace find
timely help.

Gloria Copeland