We are familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan, a man who stopped when he saw someone injured and chose to help him. However, long before Jesus told that story, the Old Testament had already recorded a similar tale through a figure we may rarely pay attention to: Ebed-Melech. He was an Ethiopian official who lived in King Zedekiah’s palace. His name appears in a critical situation, when Jeremiah nearly lost his life for delivering a message the leaders did not wish to hear.
Jeremiah was thrown into an empty cistern, which contained nothing but mud. The officials did not merely wish to punish him, but to let him die a slow death without bloodshed. In the midst of this situation, Ebed-Melech came to the king and pleaded for Jeremiah to be saved. Interestingly, Ebed-Melech’s concern did not stop at the decision to help. He also thought about how Jeremiah would be lifted out of the well. He asked for some old rags to be placed under Jeremiah’s armpits so that the rope used would not cause him further injury. This small act of consideration shows that compassion is not merely a desire to end someone’s suffering, but also a sensitivity to the way in which we help them.
Dear Bible Friends, in our daily lives we often witness the suffering of others without realising that what we see actually presents us with a choice. We may choose to remain silent because we feel it is none of our business, or hope that someone else will come to their aid first. However, Ebed-Melech showed a different possibility: what he saw did not remain merely information, but moved him to care and to act. We may not always be able to solve other people’s problems, but within the scope of what we can do, there is always something we can do: listen without judging, keep someone company when they are alone, speak out when we see others being treated unfairly, or offer help in a way that does not cause further harm. For compassion is not merely about the ability to see another’s suffering, but about the willingness to let what we see move us to act.
