"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:37 NIV).

This week as our mission team overlooked the city of Port-au-Prince, in Haiti, we sensed God's compassion for the desperate multitudes. On the day of our arrival there was a general strike and a published threat that 'the streets would be empty or they would be red.' Fortunately there was little perceivable violence.

Despite the strike it was impossible to clear the streets of Port-au-Prince. They are full of rubble, disease and swarms of people, most of them with no apparent place to go.

As you arrive at the airport you are swarmed by men who are hungry and need to feed themselves and their families. "You be my boss" they plead. At the gates are starving children, many begging us to adopt them or take them to one of the orphanages. They are tired of living on the streets. Dr. Jacob Bernard and Marion Austin who rum a school and an orphanage locally, prayerfully consider whether arrangements can be made to take in another child.

Those on our trip who have been to many trouble spots around the world agreed that not only was the situation the most appalling that they had seen in the western hemisphere but worse than what they had seen in the most critical areas of Asia and Africa.

Compassion speaks of the stretching of our capacity to identify with the needs of others to the point of anguish. Compassion is the pain of love. Pain is the inbuilt alarm system that alerts us to the need for corrective action that will promote healing. Compassion is the outstretching of a loving heart.

We call the events that we commemorate this week The Passion .

"It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, HE NOW SHOWED THEM THE FULL EXTENT OF HIS LOVE." (John 13:1-2 NIV). In the events of the week that lead up to His crucifixion and resurrection we are shown how far His love can stretch.

• He weeps over the city and pities the condition of the human race, helpless and harassed like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36) and blind to God's merciful rescue efforts. As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes...you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." (Luke 19:41-44 NIV).
• He washes the dirty feet of men. This act took on new significance to me this week as I saw men standing in open sewers in Haiti or as we walked the streets littered with waste and decaying animal carcasses. At the time of Christ it was illegal for a Master to demand a Hebrew slave to wash his feet because it was so demeaning. But Jesus willing took up the towel and washed the feet of sinful human beings (John 13:5).
• When Judas met him in the garden to betray him with a kiss, Jesus greeted him as "Friend". (Matthew 26:50).
• Jesus could have called 12 legions of angels, (72,000) to rescue Him from the Cross (Matthew 26:53). Instead He chose to submit to the plan of redemption, drink the cup of suffering and lay down His life as our substitutionary sacrifice for sin (Romans 5:8). (One angel wiped out 185,000 people in 2King 19:35. Imagine what 72,000 angels could have done to vindicate the Son of God!)
• In the face of our exposed depravity and our utter disregard for righteousness, He cries out, "Father forgive them. They know not what they do." (Matthew 23:34).

Come under the wing of the One who forgives you, gathers you, heals and delivers you. Feel His outstretching love. Sense His passion.

In the words of C.T. Studd: "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me. No sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."

Feeling His passion,