Caring as Jesus did

Sunday night I gave my first talk at our weekly meeting. I wasn't really nervous, but I was a little intimidated. Never having talked there before I didn't know what to expect as feedback. It was part of project of sorts we're doing with our students called "prayer, care, share." They were challenged to pick three friends and then pray for them, care for them and eventually share with them. It has been exciting to see them respond to it so far. So, this week we were starting "care" and I was speaking on the topic.
I choose to focus on loving others and in turn caring for them. I hit on the Great Commandment to love the Lord your God and to love others as yourselves pointing out that if we don't love God and are an outpouring of His love in return it is hard to love others. Then I proceeded to use examples from the Perfect Example, Jesus. I used the famous passage of feeding the 5,000.
Matthew 14:13-21
I just want to share a few major points that God showed me from this passage.
1) First off, in verse 14 the very first Jesus does for the people is heal them. He had compassion on them (aka love for them) and healed them. Caring for people is fulfilling a need in their lives, Jesus saw their need for physical restoration and he filled it. He loved them because he put their need for physical healing above his need for rest. He didn't even have time to sit down...He got out of the boat and started caring for the people gathered there. Wow...
2) In verse 15 the disciples tell Jesus to send the people away so they can get food. They recognized that these people were getting hungry and had a need to eat. However, they assumed that the people needed to fulfill that need themselves. Instead, in the next verse Jesus tells them to feed them! He says, "they don't need to go away. You give them something to eat." Whoa, how many times have I tried to send others away to tend to their own needs? Jesus knows they are hungry, and He knows they are capable of going off and finding food themselves (they have afterall, been eating their whole lives, right?), however, He instead wants His disciples to care for and feed these people. To fulfill their needs. To demonstrate God's love for them by fulfilling a simple need for food.
3) Jesus provided the food but the disciples passed it out. Verse 19, Jesus blessed the food (it multiplied) and He gave it to His disciples for them to give to others. So, Jesus wants us to care for others, but He doesn't leave us high and dry. He provides for us a way to care for others, the means of caring for them. That is a true picture of us being vessels for Him! The people ate and were satisfied.
4) Never once does it talk about Jesus preaching to the people. Verse 22 says "immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat..." Jesus cared for these people but didn't preach. I'm not a Biblical scholar, but I felt God is showing us through this passage that actions speak just as loud as words. What we do effects how people will respond to God and see us as messengers of Him. It's just as important to care for people and show them God's love as it is to tell them of God's love.
As I was sharing this during my talk, I actually didn't prepare for 2 & 3...God brought those to my attention while I was talking. Talk about a revelation from God! As my eyes were opened, I was impacted my what God was using me to tell others. The picture of Christ asking us to care for those in need was so beautiful to me. Just thinking of how many times I've turned people away convicted me. Sometimes the simplest passage, even a popular passage we've heard hundreds of times, can impact you more in one moment than it you ever imagined.
Who have you cared for today?