The Compassion Doctrine
What Happens When You Look at Your Enemies the Same Way Jesus Did?
The Passion Narrative: The Gospel of Luke
First, they arrested Him in the dead of the night. Without a conviction, they mocked, blindfolded, and beat Him. As the daylight came, Jesus faced the Sanhedrin, a Jewish court of elders who sought to put Jesus to death because He called Himself the Son of God.
They led Him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor with the authority to put Jesus to death. But Pilate found no fault in Jesus and sent Him to the governor of the Galilee jurisdiction, Herod. Herod questioned Jesus, but likewise found Jesus undeserving of death and sent Him back to Pilate. Pilate told the Jewish leaders and people: “This Man is innocent.” But to appease the Jews, Pontius Pilate had Jesus flogged, a terrible means of torture that rips the flesh off one’s back (the Orthodox tradition says Jesus was whipped 39 times). Then Pilate brought a bloodied and wounded Jesus before the Jews once more and sought to release Him for the Sabbath.
But the Jewish elders and people demanded that Pilate crucify Him. They showed Him no compassion. Why? Pilate asked, “what evil has He done?” Though Pilate knew he betrayed innocent blood, he relented and delivered Jesus to be crucified.
Forced to carry the cross, which weighed over 150 pounds, Jesus made the exhausting trek to the hill where He was to die. Falling repeatedly, Jesus required help from another man.
Then His crucifiers humiliated him. Stripping him of his purple robe, they barely left a cloth to cover Him, a degrading prospect for any man, let alone the Son of God.
Then they crucified Him. Crucifixion is a death of asphyxiation. Jesus had to suffocate to die. But He first watched people mock him again after the Romans hammered nails through the sinews of His hands and the bones of His feet. Once upright, Jesus had to physically force Himself up to stay alive, or else the weight of His body would pull down on His arms, making breathing impossible. That He could speak at all in the midst of such torture is beyond me. That He continued to fulfill His ministry is why I call Him Lord. Through His labored breathing, struggling to stay alive, Jesus lived long enough to enact mercy one final time.
Despite all the suffering, humiliation, torture, and exhausting death, Jesus looked at those who inflicted such pain upon Him and sympathized with them. He was concerned for their salvation. He moved beyond empathy, had compassion on them, and loved them by seeking their good. In his dying breaths, Jesus petitioned the Father. “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
The Compassion Doctrine
I define the compassion doctrine as the desire and the decision to alleviate the suffering of all people, including – and especially – of those who hurt me professionally, socially, financially, and even physically by praying for their repentance and salvation. This even includes people who hurt my loved ones. It is the practice of looking at others with the same eyes of Jesus, with the understanding that sin has wounded every human being, and thus suffering is present within everyone. The compassion doctrine is not concerned with “feeling bad for someone.” Rather it understands that when someone hurts me – he himself suffers. He becomes a slave to the sin he committed, which without repentance, festers and leads him to death.
Brokenness is Ubiquitous
Compassion naturally occurs when we see physical suffering. Ukrainian mothers weeping over their dead sons, immigrants sweltering in the heat, or even an old person struggling with their dropped groceries. Being compassionate becomes exceedingly difficult towards people whose suffering is not outward, who look to be at the top of the world: Successful politicians, beautiful celebrities, influential athletes. But the compassion doctrine understands that every human is broken and thus every human will need prayer. But here is not one among us, no matter how successful, rich, popular, or beautiful, that does not experience brokenness. This understanding demands that I show compassion as much as possible, towards as many as possible – especially my enemies.
Love Your Enemies
Fundamentally, compassion is a derivative of love. It is impossible to pray for the good of your enemies without first believing the commandment to love your enemies. But why should I love my enemies to begin with? Why should we not despise our enemies, wish to see them fail, and be happy when they suffer? Well, we all suffer from the corruption of sin. While there are manifestations of sin that are more violent – rape, murder, human trafficking – it is a disease that has sparred no one. All of us will hurt someone someday and all of us will require compassion. And God wants everyone to be saved and turned away from the pain of sin. Every Christian should remember Romans 5:8. Did Jesus withhold compassion from us while we lived in sin? Not so, Christ died for us in the midst of our sin and rebellion against Him.
We often pray in the Orthodox church that our God is so compassionate and so merciful that He does not wish the death of a sinner, but rather that he returns and lives. Jesus said that heaven rejoices over the repentance of a sinner. But how is one sincerely compassionate towards his or her enemies?
Practicing Compassion: Keep Looking At The Father
I believe when Jesus died, He was not looking at His enemies. I think He cast his eyes downward at His crucifers for just a moment and then kept His eyes cast upward. I believe He died looking at the Father. Praying for my enemies is impossible when my mind’s eye is cast on them. My human instinct is too powerful. My desire for retribution is too atavistic. Every time I catch myself devoting energy to how my enemy wronged me and how I can “get him back,” I must cast my eyes towards the Father. Father, forgive him, yes, he hurt me, but I don’t want him to suffer. Father, lead him to repentance. You said Heaven rejoices when a sinner repents. I want to be side by side with my enemy in your kingdom, praising you.
I am not inventing a new idea here. My intention is to articulate a powerful, but uncomfortable truth. Jesus tasked Christians to practice compassion, particularly to our enemies. Do you recall when Jesus first taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? The words Jesus spoke on the cross are the demonstration of that teaching. How marvelous is our God! Our King, at His weakest point, was strong enough to practice what He preached.
Practically, in prayer, first remove your enemy from the context in which they harmed you. Remember that every human being is crafted in the image of God – yes, that includes President Biden and President Trump or other public figures whom you may disdain. Pray they become aware – “for they know not what they do” – of the hurt they caused and like Zacchaeus the tax collector, repay the people he cheated four times as much. Just as you pray for your own success – professionally, relationally, and physically, do likewise for your enemy. Pray they change and become a better person. The litmus test for your heart is when such prayer is answered. Do you respond with revolt if your enemy becomes a better person? Or thank God for their changed heart?
Compassion Is Medicine for Your Soul
Jesus also had our hearts in mind when He gave us this commandment. He knew how much energy we spend ruminating over personal grievances. He knew how dangerous it is for our mental, social, and spiritual health. Thus, compassion is also medicine for your soul. By praying for your enemies, you invariably soften your heart towards them. Compassion becomes the antidote to the dangerous sin of schadenfreude.
The Compassion Doctrine and Justice
Is the compassion doctrine compatible with justice? It is. But it requires holding two seemingly contradictory ideas in your head simultaneously. I established that Christians are tasked to pray for their enemies. But that does not mean the hurt he or she caused does not exist. Nor does it mean their actions go unpunished or are “okay”. It does not mean you must be friends with your enemies. It does not mean you seek their company or to trust them.
Christians are clearly commanded to abhor what is evil. And are explicitly charged to pursue justice. Thus, you may simultaneously seek earthly justice against your enemies and pray for their heavenly salvation. As Christians, we want our enemies to become better, to repent, and like Jesus – to be saved.
Conclusion
Jesus teaches us, in His dying breaths, what it means to love our enemies. It means to pray for them. It means to seek to alleviate their future suffering and ask God for their repentance. We cannot love those who have hurt us without Jesus. That is how I know my faith is so real; I have no ability to love my enemies on my own. It is only because Jesus’ example and grace that I pray for my enemies.
Critics and skeptics will argue that surely Jesus could pray for his enemies because He is God. Indeed, we will never be able to be as gracious or compassionate as Jesus. But that argument forgets that Jesus was also fully human. He felt every bit of pain on the Cross. And yet He still chose to be merciful.
But I take comfort and counsel in a different biblical example about a regular person. An angry crowd, without conviction, murders an innocent man. St. Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned to death. His last words? “Lord, do not charge them with sin.”
Wonderful discourse on compassion and forgiveness! May God help us to love our enemies and forgive those who wrong us.