GOD’S COMPASSION
S-P-L-A-N-C-H-N-O-N
INTRODUCTION
• Luke 1:76-78, “And you, child, will be
called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to
prepare his ways, to give knowledge
of salvation to his people in the
forgiveness of their sins, because of
the tender mercy of our God…”
SPLANCHNON DEFINED
• W.E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of
NT Words says the Greek word
splanchnon is a compound word
often translated affection,
compassionate, & tender mercy.
• And we will see the word pity in our
lesson today as well
SPLANCHNON DEFINED
• The KJV sometimes translates
splanchnon “bowels” of mercy. It is
a word, the root of it from which we
ultimately get our word spleen.
• Acts 1:18, “Now this man bought a
field with the reward of his
wickedness, and falling headlong he
burst open in the middle and all his
bowels gushed out.”
SPLANCHNON RESULTS
• Luke 1:77, “… to give knowledge of
salvation to his people in the
forgiveness of their sins.”
• Heb 4:15, “For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but one who in
every respect has been tempted as
we are, yet without sin.”
EXAMPLES OF JESUS
• JESUS RAISED THE WIDOW’S SON
• HEALS & FEEDS 5000
• GAVE SIGHT UNTO 2 BLIND MEN
• JESUS CLEANSED A LEPER
• JESUS COMMENDS THE GOOD
SAMARITAN
THE WIDOW’S SON
• Luke 7:11-15, Jesus “… went to a
town called Nain, and his disciples
and a great crowd went with him. As
he drew near to the gate of the town,
behold, a man who had died was
being carried out, the only son of his
mother, and she was a widow, and a
considerable crowd from the town
was with her.
THE WIDOW’S SON
• Verse 13, “and when the Lord saw
her, he had compassion on her and
said to her, "Do not weep." Then he
came up and touched the bier, and
the bearers stood still. And he said,
"Young man I say to you, arise." And
the dead man sat up and began to
speak, and Jesus gave him to his
mother.”
HEALS MANY & FEEDS 5000
• Matt 14:13-14, “Now when Jesus
heard this, he withdrew from there in
a boat to a desolate place by himself.
But when the crowds heard it, they
followed him on foot from the towns.
V.14, when he went ashore he saw a
great crowd, and he had
compassion on them and healed
their sick.”
HEALS MANY & FEEDS 5000
• Matt 14:15-21, the disciples said it
was getting late – send them away.
• Jesus said they need not go away.
• He took 5 loaves & 2 fish and feed
5000 men besides women & children.
• There was 12 baskets full left over.
GAVE SIGHT TO 2 BLIND MEN
• Matt 20:29-34, “And as they went
out of Jericho, a great crowd
followed him. And behold, there were
two blind men sitting by the
roadside… they cried out, "Lord, have
mercy on us, Son of David!" The
crowd rebuked them,… but they
cried out all the more, "Lord, have
mercy on us, Son of David!“
GAVE SIGHT TO 2 BLIND MEN
• V 32, “And stopping, Jesus called
them and said, "What do you want
me to do for you?" They said to him,
"Lord, let our eyes be opened." V 34,
And Jesus in pity touched their eyes,
and immediately they recovered their
sight and followed him.”
JESUS CLEANSED A LEPER
• Mark 1:40-42, “And a leper came to
him, imploring him, and kneeling said
to him "If you will, you can make me
clean." Moved with pity, he stretched
out his hand and touched him and
said to him, "I will; be clean." And
immediately the leprosy left him, and
he was made clean.”
THE GOOD SAMARITAN
• Luke 10:30-36, "A certain man
went down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and fell among thieves, who
stripped him of his clothing,
wounded him, and departed, leaving
him half dead. 31 Now by chance a
certain priest...passed by on the
other side. 32 Likewise a Levite…
THE GOOD SAMARITAN
• Luke 10:33, "but a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came
where he was. And when he saw him,
he had compassion…”
• His splanchnon caused him to do all
that he could for him.
MUCH MORE TO BE TOLD
• John 21:25, “Now there are also
many other things that Jesus did.
Were every one of them to be
written, I suppose that the world
itself could not contain the books
that would be written.”
PAUL ENCOURAGES
SPLANCHNON
• Phil 1:8, “For God is my record, how
greatly I long after you all in the
bowels of Jesus Christ.”
• Paul is so united with Christ that he
feels with the heart of Christ, he
loves with the love of Christ. (from
The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic
Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003 by
Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
CHRISTIANS ARE TO
DISPLAY SPLANCHNON
• Col 3:12-13, TLB, “Since you have
been chosen by God who has given
you this new kind of life, and because
of his deep love and concern for you,
you should practice tenderhearted
mercy and kindness to others… Be
gentle and ready to forgive; never
hold grudges. Remember, the Lord
forgave you, so you must forgive
others.”
CHRISTIANS ARE TO
DISPLAY SPLANCHNON
• Splanchnon is not something you
just feel. It moves you to do
something about the need of the one
who is in distress and afflicted.
• The Good Samaritan didn’t just walk
on by and say “I feel so sorry of you.”
He acted upon his feelings for the
wounded man.
CHRISTIANS ARE TO
DISPLAY SPLANCHNON
• Luke 10:36-37, “Which of these
three, do you think, proved to be a
neighbor to the man who fell among
the robbers?" He said, "The one who
showed him mercy." And Jesus said
to him, "You go, and do likewise."
DOES JESUS CARE?
WHY SHOULD HE
CARE?
ITS
SPLANCHNON