Do you know that the latin origin of compassion is compatior (cum patior), which translates in English as
"to suffer with"?
Embedded Files
Meaning, to have compassion fundamentally means to be able to feel the suffering of others, not just to sympathize or feel pity.
This deep meaning of compassion is communicated by Jesus through the parable of the Good Samaritan.
As context to the text, we should know that the Jews are an exclusive people. They treat themselves very highly as the 'chosen people of God,' and those outside of their territories—the 'non-Jews'— they see as not as important (and even as enemies).
And so, what an astonishment it must have been for the man attacked by the robbers to have been rescued not by his own people (the priest and the Levite) but by an outsider, a Samaritan!
In the Book of Exodus, God is described as "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, overflowing with loyal love and faithfulness". The first word in Hebrew is rakhum / rakhamim, related to the term "womb"--which implies that compassion is at the very core of a person and that it is like the tender feeling of a mother towards her vulnerable infant.
Page updated
Report abuse