The ancients didn’t believe we feel emotions with, and in,
The ancients believed thought, logic, and wisdom emanated from the heart. Emotion came from the intestines. Despite the medievals reassigning it to the heart, the idea still managed to trickle down to our culture: People have a “gut reaction” or “visceral reaction” to various things, which means they’re reacting without thinking. It’s pure irrational emotion. And some of ’em have learned to trust their guts, ’cause they said bye-bye to logic long ago. But enough about them.
Some gut reactions are good ones. Even fruitful ones. When
You know, like Jesus does when he sees the needy. Here’s some examples from Matthew.
Matthew 9.36 KWL - Seeing the crowds, Jesus felt for them, because they were beaten down and thrown out,
- like sheep which have no pastor.
Matthew 14.14 KWL - Coming out, Jesus saw many crowds, felt for them, and ministered to their sick.
Matthew 15.32 KWL - Summoning his students, Jesus told them, “I feel for the crowd,
- because they stayed with me three days and have nothing they could eat.
- I don’t want to release those who were fasting; they might faint on the road.”
Matthew 20.34 KWL - Jesus, feeling for them, grasped their eyes and they quickly received sight. They followed him.
The word I translate “felt for them” is
Nowadays people talk about compassion as “having a bleeding heart”—dipping back into the medieval idea. But the bleeding heart idea actually comes from Jesus. Because his heart was pierced for our transgressions
So yeah, since empathy is an effect of love, empathy like love is
Love your neighbor as yourself.
We’re commanded to be empathetic. When the L
The context of this verse is the L
Leviticus 19.18 KWL - “Don’t avenge. Don’t cling to anger against your people’s children.
- Love your fellow Hebrew like yourself. I’m the L
ORD .”
Revenge is what people do when they lack empathy. They feel someone wronged, insulted, dismissed, slighted, or robbed them. They want satisfaction. Not tit-for-tat; not to simply get back what they feel was taken from them. Revenge wants to hurt someone—and justify itself by calling it “justice.”
But did that other person intentionally wrong us? Half the time, no. Most of the time, it’s nothing personal; they’re not trying to wrong us specifically; they’d wrong anybody, because they’re selfish jerks like that. They don’t love anyone as themselves.
If everyone took revenge for every slight we experience, society would be nothing but duels, feuds, and war. The L
When love our neighbors as yourselves, and we see people suffering, it oughta make us feel for them. We should want to help. Not suppress our consciences by inventing
In Jesus’s good Samaritan story, the Samaritan put up his own money to care for an assault victim he just found on the road. That, Jesus said, is loving one’s neighbor—and go and do likewise. He didn’t make this optional: If he’s our Lord, that’s our mandate. Be compassionate. Go out of our way to help the needy. Quit