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In A Word: Splagchnizomai (Deeply Moved)

In A Word: Splagchnizomai (Deeply Moved)

In A Word, Splagchnizomai (Deeply Moved with Compassion).

CAUTION. In this era of amazing advances in technology, there are sometimes unexpected consequences that turn out to be harmful to our Christian faith. One of these harmful improvements is the flood of believers who read scripture online, on the smart phone, on the computer screen. I’m convinced there should be a warning label on every one of the online Bibles… CAUTION: SKIM AT YOUR OWN RISK. So many of us now read the Word like we would read our emails or social media or the daily news. We skim the material hurriedly, superficially, carelessly. We skim the Scripture. Skim-reading the Bible doesn’t really bury the seed very deeply, of course. And in our skimming, we would be more likely to just skip over an important word or phrase without thinking, a word that could be vital to the whole passage. The fact is, the Bible is full of single words or short phrases that are too important  to simply gloss over as if it wasn’t there. There are times in the Word when single words are intended to feed us, nourish our faith, stimulate us to think at a deeper level about the biblical text.

There are single words in Scripture that are like stop signs asking us to stop and consider carefully, to pause before moving forward in the reading. This series on my blog will try to unpack some of these power-packed words or phrases in Scripture… Words like: Behold; Rejoice; Truly; Woe; Blessed; Beware; Come; If. And I will attempt to also explore the meanings of some short phrases that are single words in the original biblical language, such as “Himeni” (Here I am); “Shema” (Listen and Do’); “Splagchnizonai” (deeply moved with compassion); “pistence” (believe), and “kal-v’chomer” (How much more).  If it is poetically possible to “see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wildflower, and hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour,” as William Blake once imagined, then certainly we readers of Scripture can find a world of meaning in a single word, we can grasp something profound in a simple phrase.

“On hearing of John’s death, Jesus left in a boat to be by Himself in the wilderness. But the people learned of it and followed Him from the towns by land. So when he came ashore, Jesus saw a huge crowd, a needy multitude of people, and filled with compassion (splagchnizonai) for them, moved to the gut for them, Jesus healed those of them who were sick.”  (Matthew 14:13-14).

Splagchnizomai  (splawnk – NITZ – oh – mi). Don’t let that strange, practically unpronounceable Greek word put you off. It turns out to be one of the most meaningful ideas in the gospels, and it describes Jesus to a T. Most Bible versions translate this word to mean “moved with compassion.” But somehow that translation doesn’t quite do it justice. One might even say it doesn’t go deep enough. The literal meaning of this word is “to have one’s bowels yearn,” which makes sense since the root word for it is “intestines.” Since the innermost organs were considered at that time to be the seat of human emotions, and since love is the emotion being implied, splagchnzomai could be understood as an experience in which true compassion has its beginnings from down deep in the gut. This word points to an intense emotional experience that is felt in the pit of one’s stomach. This profound compassion is not superficial by any means, not casual, not distant. This compassion is immediate and so deeply felt that it demands action. This compassion is so visceral that it must find an outlet, a target, in doing something physical and helpful.

Living Into the Gut of Christ. As we deepen our union with Christ, as we live into His reality and character, we also live into His compassion, into being deeply moved to our very innards. As theologian Jeff McSwain once said, “If we truly are ‘in Christ,’ then just as we’ve been given the mind of Christ, we’ve also been given the ‘gut’ of Christ. In all acts of compassion, believers can give credit where credit is due, to the Savior who in solidarity with humanity shares his sensitive gut with us.” And the more we live into Christ, the more our gut matches the gut of Christ. For the Christian believer, to see human need is to bring in us a gut reaction.

For a long time now it has been the heart, not the gut or intestines, that was considered to be the emotional center of the person. So we could paraphrase splagchnzomai to mean: to feel something deeply in our acts of compassion, believers can give credit where credit is due, to the Savior who in solidarity with humanity shares his sensitive gut within our heart of hearts; to be heart-broken with empathy; to have one’s heart overflow with compassion; to feel one’s heart ache with concern; or to have one’s heart skip a beat with pity.

This overlooked Greek word is used only a handful of times in the gospels, and practically every time it is used in reference to Jesus in His ministry. The gospel writers are trying to communicate that the compassion from Jesus comes from a very deep place. He is a Person whose heart could break with love. He is Someone who can feel compassion from the pit of His stomach. And of course, Jesus is never content to just feel this intense compassion, He has a driving need to demonstrate it. Jesus has a deep well of compassion that goes down far below the surface, deep into His innards. And He often dips down into that well whenever He sees human need. Jesus had a gut feeling in His ministry, and that gut feeling was compassion.

There are a number of gospel passages in which Jesus experienced splagchnzomai. It is important for us to see the contexts in which He was moved in His innermost organs. It is vital that we observe Him as this intense emotion moved Him to action. It is fascinating to witness His profound feelings after observing the people who were living like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36 and Mark 6:34); when He was surrounded by neediness (Matthew 14:14); when He observed the huge throng of people skipping meals just to hear Him teach and preach (Mark 8:2); when He encountered a man who was leprous and two men who were blind (Mark 1:41 and Matthew 20:34); when He came upon a grieving widow who just lost her only son (Luke 7:13). The gospel writers also reported that Jesus used this fancy Greek word splagchnizomai in three of His famous parables: The Unforgiving Servant (Matt. 18:21-35); The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37); and The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). By using this particular word in His stories, perhaps Jesus wants us to so identify with this idea that we would want to demonstrate it ourselves. Perhaps He wants us to feel compassion from the pit of our stomach like He did. If we are to follow this Man Jesus, we need His Spirit to develop the ability to dip deeply into the well of compassion, to develop a sensitive gut.