As opposed to the classical view of God (impassibility = no pathos/emotion, no change, not impacted by anything outside of himself, because what is perfect cannot change), in the Bible we can see a lot of examples where God does show emotions. E.g. he rejoices, claps his hands over you, he is disappointed, he gets angry ..and he also has compassion.

  • the biggest change: the word was made flesh

The story

  • the woman’s pain is fresh, it has just happened to her
  • her pain is great: lost the 2 loves of her life (husband, son) → no man to support her → beggar / prostitute
  • judged by society: widespread belief that disaster is God’s punishment
  • BUT Jesus: stops the crowd, touches the bier = willing to break social and religious taboos, he gives the boy back to his mother

Conclusion

  • God is not far from any of us, not unwilling to immerse himself in pain
  • think of the most painful thing in your life: God is inside that pain, his heart breaks for you, and his compassion heals + he actually does something to fix the problem
  • we are made in God’s image, we are to imitate him in having compassion on those hurting