When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36

I am grateful for this verse in Matthew.

It is a reminder to me that Jesus, the Son of God, is a man of feeling, a man of sympathies.

A man.

He sees as God, but feels as a man, and through his perfect vision, he is moved by the people that surround and follow him. These, he knows, are “like a sheep without a shepherd.” The disillusioned. The cagey. The cautious. The unprotected ones.

The description of these people is interesting in this verse.

“They were harassed.”

Another common translation of the word here is “troubled”. The Greek term, used in other ancient literature, sheds some light on the import of the term. When describing fish, “harassed” fish were flayed. When describing sheep, “harassed” sheep were fleeced.

“They were helpless”.

The term “helpless” here provides a description, but the image in the Greek term is a little stronger than that. The Greek stem of this word is used elsewhere in Scripture to describe Judas getting rid of the money he was paid to deny Jesus. And to describe the results of Jesus exorcising a demon. And to describe the act of ships securing near the shore. And to describe what should happen to child abusers.

Judas threw down the 30 pieces of silver into the temple before he went and hung himself.
The demon threw down onto the ground the man it occupied before it left him.
Ships threw down anchors as they came near the coast to refit.
The child abuser would face a better judgment if he had a giant stone attached to his neck and be thrown down into the sea.

The crowd, “the helpless” that Jesus sees, are a mass of castaways. The ones thrown down. The ones who, for whatever reasons deemed acceptable and permissible by society, are thrown away.

The crowd that Jesus sees here was vulnerable, sheared and skinned.

The crowd that Jesus sees here was violated, susceptible and swindled.

The crowd that Jesus sees here was vomited, shamed and shunned.

And certainly Jesus is not simply reacting here to physical appearances. He is the God-man who sees past appearances and into souls. These before him are dislocated and misguided, discarded and misdirected. Skeptical and cynical. And hungry for hope.

Jesus loves the orphans.

All of us.

“Come to Me, all of you who are tired and taxed, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28