Walk with those who are running away

Who do you know who is scattered and distressed and likely to be gored if they stay on the same path? asks Gordon Allan.

Have you ever thought, “people do the strangest things”? In my head the thought is usually followed by the question, “Why?”; closely followed by the supplementary question, “Just why?!” The Pamplona Running of the Bulls is one such case in point.

It is a 400-year-old tradition that takes place in the second week of July in the Spanish town of Pamplona, where men run in front of bovine battering rams through the streets of the town and try to avoid being trampled and gored.

I took an intake of breath when I learned that the historical name of the bull-minders was “pastores” ‒ well that’s one things that’s certainly not on this pastor’s to-do list! In Matthew 9:35-36 it tells us that, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

“Harassed and helpless” literally meant “distressed and scattered” or “rent and mangled as if by a wild beast”. The Lord Jesus shared the good news and supernaturally demonstrated the Kingdom, but he also saw carnage, wounds and brokenness in the lives of people.

Two things happened as a result. Jesus was moved by compassion (v36) and he called for workers (v38).

… story continues