SIDE A SIDE B: Come and Eat

Notes and reflections on the first talk of the “Side A Side B” preaching series at the Feast Valle Verde

March 28, 2021

The desire to please everyone is a struggle that humanity has always been dealing with. If you think that you are struggling with it only because of how the filters of our social media apps have pressured us, look back at this scene in the Book of Matthew where King Herod gave in to the wish of his daughter to have John the Baptist beheaded, only because he doesn’t want to appear shame-faced in front of everyone in the crowd who heard him say that he would grant his daughter’s wish, whatever that might be.

When Jesus heard the news about his cousin’s beheading, he rode a boat at once and went to a remote area where he could just be alone. Jesus, being fully God but also fully human, got hurt and felt grief, just like we most probably would. This should make us learn to accept our feelings as they are, because they are valid and even Jesus felt them.

While death is inevitable for all of us, the cause of death of his cousin was just too ridiculous and cruel. Jesus must have really wanted to lament on it hence his escape from the crowds. But, according to the story in the Bible, people from different towns heard where he was headed and followed on foot in order to hear from the famous teacher and healer. When Jesus saw them, instead of driving them away so he could continue to wallow in his [very valid] grief, his broken heart made him even more compassionate. He felt their pain and longing. While our feelings are valid, they also have their rightful expiration dates.

This is what separates “empathy” from “compassion”. Empathy is usually described as “putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes”, whereas compassion means “to suffer with”. To be compassionate goes beyond the feeling of pain, it necessitates action. He then went on to heal the sick and feed the hungry among those who pursued him in his silence. It is in this setup where the famous story on the multiplication of loaves took place. He chose to alleviate others’ desperate call for healing. He continued to do the same until His passion, death and resurrection, a deeper call for God’s commandment to love one another.

Here is Jesus-- grieving yet still choosing to heal, serve, break bread and give. Between King Herod who broke the head of John the baptist just to please the crowd and Jesus who broke bread and fed the crowd-- who will you want to call your own King? Which party will you join? The one filled with sinners who continue to indulge in worldly pleasures, or the one filled with sinners who are sharing meals with Jesus, experiencing His compassion and healing?

If you are among those who have personally experienced Jesus’ compassion and healing, what are you being called to do next? Like Jesus, will you also now be willing to share your time, talent and treasure with God’s favorites-- the last, the least and the lost? And if you are already doing that, may you find true meaning, purpose and joy in it… until we all see each other in Heaven, in one great Feast that lasts for eternity.