Dear Friends,

How well do you know Jesus? Every incident in the Gospels is a portrait of Jesus and tells us more about him. But they are also something more than sources of information, because, by the Holy Spirit in our hearts, when we read these incidents, Jesus does come alive for us, and draws near to us and makes himself known to us.

For the Gospel incidents to become this for us there needs to be an inner consuming passion in our hearts such as the Apostle Paul had in Philippines 3: 10 when he says, "I want to know Him (Jesus)". Not just to know about him, but to know him. When we have this desire the Bible becomes a new book.

I felt all this when reading the Gospel set for the 7th Sunday after Trinity in the Prayer Book. The Gospel passage for this Sunday is Mark 8: 1-9. I commenced reading this familiar story of the feeding of the 4000, and it was only words. But then after reading the passage through a third time, Jesus seemed to reveal himself again in these familiar words. It was in one sense nothing new, but in another sense it was new. It was like meeting Jesus again. The familiar face was seen, but yet it was new and Jesus was coming and making himself known to me as he promised in John 14:21, 23.

This is how our reading of their Bible should always be. Seeing Jesus, hearing his voice, learning about him and from him, and being loved by him.

How did Jesus reveal himself. In Mark 8:2 Jesus speaks to the disciples and says, "I have compassion for these people ...". The words became personal. Jesus was saying to me, "I have compassion for you".

That made me meditate on the nature of Christ’s compassion. The people who had followed Jesus for three days were ordinary people, with no special qualities to attract Jesus to them. They could claim nothing from Jesus and had no right to his love. No doubt their own folly and improvidence had led them to be without food. They had gathered around Jesus, and Jesus had given them of his time and wisdom, so they had been rewarded already by his word and attention. Perhaps they came to Jesus for selfish and worldly motives -- to see a miracle or receive healing. In a word they were ordinary sinful folk just like me, yet Jesus had compassion for them.

Love and grace abound in this word compassion. Jesus sees the folly our ways lead us into. He sees our failure and sins, yet he has compassion which issues in loving unmerited remedy and provision.

Then Jesus impressed on me the wonder of his compassion. It was no impotent helpless compassion like mine; nor was it half-hearted compassion. So often my compassion for people is half-hearted. Indeed, I have compassion, but it is not very deep, and soon forgotten. Even when my feelings are more deeply involved, I am impotent. I have compassion, but I can’t do much if anything to help.

Jesus’ compassion is full and wholehearted. He does not forget us. His compassion acts, and has power to act. It is divine compassion. Jesus says to me -- "I will not send you away to collapse on the way". I am not physically hungry, but spiritually I am hungry, and sometimes starving. It is my own folly, but Jesus is full of compassion and he feeds my hungry soul, and will not let me collapse or faint or die.

He has power to act to relieve my need. "How can anyone get bread enough for all these people out here", said the disciples. Yet the limited resources of the disciples -- seven small loaves -- Jesus makes into a satisfying meal for 4000. Spiritually this invariably is true. We have not got much spiritual resources, either in knowledge or faith, but Jesus can take our small resources, and make them more than enough to satisfy and enrich our souls.

Jesus speaks to me further. How did this compassion operate. He involved his disciples. They had to give him all they had -- the seven loaves, every one of them, had to be handed over to Jesus. Jesus said, "Give me all of yourself and all that you are and all that you know, little though this is". He assured me then that by divine grace and power he was more than able to increase those resources to enormous potential and quantity.

I must not hold back from Jesus, nor must I withhold anything from him when he asks. I am in need. Jesus has compassion. Jesus asks me to put myself totally in his hands. Just in the same way as he asked for those seven small loaves, Jesus asks me to trust him wholly and give him my all.

The power of this is that it is not just words yielding their meaning, but Jesus speaking. Jesus said all this to me personally. Jesus comes to me in his Word and speaks to me and makes himself known to me. Trust me, he says. This is the word of God made living to my soul.

Do you meet with Jesus in his Word? Are you growing to know him personally better as you read his Word. I rarely meet him immediately. I have to seek the one my soul loves. I need to read the passage often several times before Jesus comes. When I seek him with all my heart Jesus comes to me.

I notice in the story that the people followed Jesus for three days. We must not be discouraged if the blessing we hunger for is slow to be coming and the Lord seemingly so slow in revealing himself to us.

Treasure the Word of Scripture, for by the Holy Spirit, it is where Jesus meets with his people. He comes personally and directly, and not simply as written information.

Your servant for Christ’s sake,