Christ’s Compassion

One of the most compelling stories that I’ve learned about in history has to do with Vincent van Gogh and his ear. Yes, his ear. Legend has it that van Gogh cut off his ear in a rage of madness after an argument with fellow artist, Paul Gauguin. The two were supposed to be friends but an argument ensued and van Gogh’s ear was no longer attached.

One story has that van Gogh did it himself which Gauguin was the one responsible for the incident. Like most stories from history, there is now another version of the incident that claims van Gogh cut off his ear in a rage of madness after learned of the marriage of his brother. The new claim is that van Gogh did get into an argument with Gauguin but the news of his brother’s marriage was too much and the genius cut off his ear.

If you’re wondering why the marriage would send him into a frenzy, new evidence seems to suggest that it had to do with fear of losing financial support from his brother. Although the two were close, van Gogh was fearful that the marriage would cause a financial burden for him. Regardless of what the truth is, van Gogh’s ear was cut off. A story like this is fun to learn about but what can we actually learn about this story? When I read about the incident (or incidents as we are unsure of exactly what and why the event transpired), I do think of madness but I also think of passion.

Van Gogh was a known genius and a greater artist so the idea of getting others attention is not so farfetched. This story actually reminds me of the story of Christ but in a different sense. Before you click away, think about the different similarities. While both men did live during two completely different periods of time, both men were held in high esteem by those around them. Of course, authority figures hated Christ because He came to Earth to free man from their bondage and as I’ve learned, those in charge want to keep those who they have control over in bondage. If someone comes to take their control, they’re going to dislike this individual.

Yes, Christ loved all people even those who religious leaders and those in charge thought of as being beneath them. You know, the usual suspects: the sinners, the tax collectors (Matthew), unbelievers, and so forth. Although two-thousand years apart, very little has changed in the way people think. Today, people still look down on those who are different. The sinners are seen as lepers who you should stay away from and nonbelievers seen believers as high society hypocrite types that are to be looked down upon. There is some truth to both of these perspectives but the truth is, we cannot look at an individual and simply judge them without truly knowing them and even then, who below is above one another?

Christ was passionate in all that He taught. Although He had no degree, He was referred to as teacher (John 3:2) and the life that Christ lived is one that we should learn lessons from. Van Gogh was said to be a man of passion about his work and let’s say he was trying to get the attention of others by cutting off his ear as many believe. Christ came to Earth to teach His creation a better way by living a perfect, sinless life but despite doing all things right, He was hated and despised for doing so not simply because He loved too much but rather, because of what He stood for.

Remember, Christ taught and healed on certain days that Jewish tradition said you could not and when He went against these traditions (Mark 2:24, 3:6, 7:5), He was seen as a lawbreaker which means, people relied on tradition and legalism more than they did truth and grace. This was the case regardless of what Christ said or did. Different times, even after Christ had performed a miracle, people wanted more. Although they had just experienced and witnessed different ones, it was never enough much like our society, today: the more that we have, the more we want and the more they saw, the more they wanted.

Unlike van Gogh, however, Christ had a purpose and a reason for His passion. No, I’m not saying that van Gogh’s madness did not make sense, at least from his perspective but the compassion of Christ and the reason that He came to Earth were on another level than any other man or woman before or since. Christ not only took on all the sins of man and died for them but through His death, He not only gave men and women who never had an opportunity before their first opportunity at salvation but gave men and women since a second opportunity at eternal life (John 3:16) which is something that none of us can ever buy nor is it something that we can offer to someone else and this deed of kindness and love is the greatest act of compassion in the history of the world and truly, rightfully said, the greatest love story ever told.