The Way of Jesus
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When you scroll through social media, flip on the news, or even sit in a workplace meeting, one word often comes up: empathy. It’s praised as one of the highest virtues of our time. We’re told to be empathetic toward our neighbors, our children, even strangers online. It’s celebrated as the glue that holds our humanity together. And in many ways, that’s true.
Think about what empathy does. It allows us to pause and step outside of our own perspective. It helps us imagine the world from someone else’s shoes. Without empathy, we stay trapped in our own self-focus, unaware of how our actions affect others. So, in many ways, empathy is a beautiful gift.
But here’s the question that I’ve been wrestling with: is empathy enough?
Have you ever sat with someone who was grieving, and you didn’t know what to say? Maybe you offered a listening ear and nodded along with their pain. That was empathy. Or perhaps you’ve heard a friend pour out their heart about a struggle, and you told them, “I understand” or “I’ve been there too.” Again, empathy. It feels supportive - and it is - but left on its own, empathy often stops short.
That’s the subtle trap of our cultural moment: we’ve elevated empathy as if it is the final expression of love. But if empathy is the end, it can actually leave people where they are. It can sound like, “I see your pain, I validate it, and I’ll sit with you in it” - and then nothing more.
Now don’t get me wrong - sometimes sitting in silence with someone is exactly what they need. But if our response to suffering always ends with empathy, then we haven’t offered the fullness of love. We’ve acknowledged the weight but not helped carry it. We’ve felt the sorrow but not moved toward hope.
And this is where Jesus shows us a better way. Jesus didn’t just empathize. He went further. He was compassionate.
Compassion takes empathy and adds movement. It’s empathy plus action. It’s the shift from “I feel your pain” to “I will help you rise from it.” Where empathy identifies with suffering, compassion does something about it. Where empathy validates, compassion restores.
And that’s exactly what we see in the life of Jesus.
The World’s Empathy vs. Christ’s Compassion
In our world today, empathy has often been reframed into a kind of blanket approval. To be “empathetic” sometimes means to validate every decision, every lifestyle, every choice - no questions asked. If you disagree or call someone toward a different way, you risk being labeled unkind, judgmental, or unloving.
But Jesus never stopped at empathy. He didn’t merely say, “I see you and I’m sorry you’re hurting.” He met people in their pain and called them into transformation. He held space for their suffering but also pointed them to a greater hope.
When Jesus encountered the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11), He empathized with her shame - but He didn’t leave her there. He showed compassion by protecting her from her accusers, and then He gave her a call to action: “Go and sin no more.” His compassion was not passive approval; it was an invitation into freedom.
Think about the leper who begged Jesus for healing (Mark 1:40–45). He was untouchable - exiled from community and cut off from worship. Mark tells us in 1:41 that “Jesus was indignant.” Jesus was angry, but not at the man; he was angered by the suffering, the isolation, and the belief that this man’s value was somehow determined by his outward condition.
Despite the cultural disgust surrounding leprosy, compassion moved Jesus to stretch out His hand, touch the man, and heal him. With that touch, Jesus restored him not only physically, but also socially and spiritually.
Or consider Peter walking on water (Matthew 14:22–33). Jesus didn’t watch Peter sink and simply say, “I know that must be scary. I understand your fear.”He had empathy, yes, but His compassion reached out, pulled Peter up, and asked, “Why did you doubt?” His words weren’t to shame but to strengthen - to move Peter from fear into faith.
In every moment, Jesus’ compassion came with a call. He didn’t do everything for people. He invited them to step into faith, healing, or obedience. He gave the blind man instructions to wash in the pool of Siloam (John 9:7). He told the paralyzed man to pick up his mat and walk (John 5:8). His compassion was active, but it also required a response.
This difference between empathy and compassion matters deeply for us today. Because if all we ever do is empathize, we may accidentally keep people stuck where they are. We may validate pain but never point towards reaching for more. We may comfort, but we may not challenge. And so, we must go deeper.
Compassion refuses to leave people where it found them. It’s love in motion. It sees the brokenness, feels the weight of it, and then does something about it - whether that means speaking truth in love, offering a helping hand, or simply walking with someone as they take the next step.
The Intouch Ministries article called, “Have Mercy,” (I’ve linked it below - it’s a MUST read!) breaks it down beautifully:
“And here we can start to define compassion. More than empathy, it is a movement of our emotions and thoughts that recognizes, or identifies with, the suffering of another. Or perhaps it’s better to say that compassion is a deeper kind of empathy—one that is not content to sit at the margins and merely observe, even if in a feeling way, the pain of others. Compassion does. It cannot sit by. It heals. It moves toward those who are suffering. It puts itself at risk on behalf of others.”
So what does this mean for us? It means our calling as believers is not just to empathize with the world but to show compassion in the way Jesus did.
Empathy says: “I understand how you feel.”
Compassion says: “I understand, and I’ll walk with you toward healing.”
Empathy without compassion can lead to passive acceptance. Compassion with truth leads to transformation.
This doesn’t mean barging into people’s lives with unsolicited fixes. Jesus never steamrolled anyone. His compassion was deeply personal - He saw people, listened to them, and responded to their unique need. But He also never left them unchanged. He spoke words that healed, restored, and challenged.
For us, compassion may look like:
Listening to a friend’s struggle - and then praying with them, not just for them.
Offering comfort to someone grieving - and also bringing them a meal, writing them a card, or sitting with them in silence.
Acknowledging a loved one’s anxiety - and also pointing them toward professional help, pastoral counsel, or healthy spiritual practices.
Hearing someone confess sin or brokenness - and lovingly encouraging them toward repentance and new life in Christ.
At the heart of the gospel is the ultimate picture of compassion. Jesus did not remain distant, simply empathizing with humanity’s pain from heaven. He stepped into our world. He felt our weakness. And then, He did the ultimate act of compassion - He carried our sin to the cross.
The cross is not just God’s empathy on display. It is His compassion - His empathy combined with redemptive action. He didn’t just say, “I see your suffering.” He entered it, bore it, and made a way out of it.
True compassion may sometimes mean hard conversations.
It may mean stepping into messy situations.
It may mean being misunderstood by a culture that equates love with silent validation.
But Jesus shows us that compassion is the more powerful way.
Because compassion doesn’t just comfort - it transforms. Compassion doesn’t just sit beside the hurting - it helps them stand. Compassion doesn’t just say, “I understand.” It says, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”
As the time of year approaches, I can’t help but reflect on how this is, in part, the heartbeat of Christmas.
Christmas is the story of a God who didn’t merely empathize with humanity from afar. He stepped into our world - into our frailty, our isolation, our spiritual leprosy - and moved toward us. The birth of Christ is compassion embodied: God drawing near enough to touch what everyone else avoided. Near enough to restore what was broken. Near enough to lift us out of what we could never escape on our own.
Christmas is not just the season of warm sentiment; it is the arrival of divine love in motion. Jesus came close so He could heal, restore, and redeem. The cradle points to the cross, and the cross reveals the fullness of His compassion - love that doesn’t just feel, but acts.
