"And Jesus was going about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd" (Matt. 9:35-36).

Preaching is not merely an exercise in speech or oratory. Preaching is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end, and that being the helping of another human being. Preaching is one soul pleading to another, "Be reconciled to God!" (2 Cor. 5:20). Some men become preachers because they love the task, the accompanying glory and the feeling of power. But such will never preach with passion. It is the burden for others that creates passion in our preaching. "Others" becomes our pastoral cry!

Lloyd-Jones hits the mark when he writes, "To love to preach is one thing, to love those to whom we preach is quite another. The trouble with some of us is that we love preaching, but we are not always careful to make sure that we love the people to whom we are actually preaching. If you lack this element of compassion for the people you will also lack the pathos which is a very vital element in all true preaching."1

Passionate, powerful preaching is characterized by compassion for people. Compassion is feeling the same as others, carrying their burdens, sharing their pain, weeping when they weep.

"com/pas/sion n. a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for someone struck by misfortune, accompanied by a desire to alleviate the suffering; mercy."2

Compassion is what characterized the ministry of the Lord Jesus: "seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd" (Matt. 9:35-36). The Greek word translated "felt compassion" speaks of the movement of the inward parts (heart, liver, lungs and so on) in response to the pain and misery observed.3 The whole person is deeply affected! Christ was no mere preacher; He was a lover of mankind. His whole ministry was an outpouring of His compassion for us.

Compassion moved the Lord Jesus to associate with sinners (Matt. 9:13) and thus attracted them to Himself (Luke 15:1). Compassion moved the Lord Jesus to liberate mankind from the cold legalism of the Pharisees (Matt. 12:7). Compassion moved the Lord Jesus to a ministry of healing diseases and infirmities (Matt. 14:14). Compassion moved the Lord Jesus to feed the hungry masses (Matt. 15:22). Compassion moved the Lord Jesus to restore the sight of the blind beggars in Jericho (Matt. 20:34). Compassion moved the Lord Jesus to touch the untouchable leper, healing him (Mark 1:41). Compassion moved the Lord Jesus to raise the widow's son from the dead (Luke 7:13).

Hence, the words that Christ spoke proceeded from a life deeply affected by those to whom He ministered. He identified with us, suffered with us, and ultimately died for us. Are we like Christ? Or are we aloof from the everyday drudgery of mankind? Do we despise the afflicted, loathe the godless, flee the needy, avoid the helpless, fear contamination by the perverse and shut up our hearts from the pain of identifying with the hurts of others? How dare we then ascend the pulpit to speak words of comfort and encouragement when there is no feeling in our words? Miserable comforters are we! Baxter says, "Brethren, can you look believingly on your miserable people, and not perceive them calling to you for help? There is not a sinner whose case you should not so far compassionate, as to be willing to relieve them at a much dearer rate than this comes to. Can you see them, as the wounded man by the way, and unmercifully pass by?"4