‘But when Jesus saw her he was moved with pity and he said to her ‘do not weep’. Luke 17

Empathy is defined as  the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. But real empathy ,in my view ,  is to take pity on another’s misfortune and act without the possibility of any benefit or reward. It is far removed from ‘ survival of the fittest’ and the opposite of Darwinian evolution and the theory of the selfish gene. It is I believe one of the clearest signposts of Gods presence and involvement in the world and a clear reflection of his true nature. Time and again in the gospels we read about Jesus ‘weeping’ ‘ being moved’ ‘having pity’ and each time as is written in 1 Corinthians ‘ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things’ the detritus of humanity.Why this decision to share in the pain of the world ?This is a door that God, at least during our time on earth,has chosen to keep closed. But what we do know is that the life of Jesus was in itself the greatest act of empathy of all time. God sacrificed himself on the cross for our redemption and forgiveness. He placed himself in our shoes for all time and yet did so leaving our free will untouched.He forgave without the demand of anything in return only the light and hope of a better world which is exactly what is reflected every time we put out our hand to aid a brother or sister.