The latest installment of the Star Wars Saga arrived on Disney+ over Memorial Day Weekend with the 6-part mini-series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Beginning approximately 10 years after the events of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan is living on the planet Tatooine, where he brought Anakin and Padme’s son, Luke, to hide him from Palpatine and the work of the Empire. As the series begins a group of Inquisitors have been dispatched by Vader and the Emperor to hunt and detain the few remaining Jedi that survived the purge that took place during the Clone Wars.
Whether you call yourself a fan of the Star Wars Universe or not, it’s safe to say the myth of the Jedi is ubiquitous in our culture. Trained to use the Force, Jedi can implant thoughts into the minds of others, they can move objects large and small as they harness the power of the Force, and they wield one of the greatest and most powerful weapons ever created – the light saber.
As the Inquisitors move from one planet to the next, seeking to discover the whereabouts of every living jedi, you might expect them to have elaborate surveillance meant to detect disturbances in the Force. Maybe they would be seeking reports of individuals utilizing a laser-like sword to defend themselves or others. Or maybe they would be gathering reports of large and small objects being moved from one place to another without the use of physical force or manual labor. But, instead the Inquisitors search for the Jedi by looking for a particular character trait that easily sets them apart from others- their compassion. What makes a Jedi so easy to find is their concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of those around them. As the Grand Inquisitor questions a saloon owner on Tatooine, one of the other Inquisitors throws a dagger at the owner’s head, only to see it suspended in midair before it’s able to strike him. With this simple act of mercy the words of the Inquisitor are confirmed, “The jedi code is like an itch…He cannot help it… His compassion has been his undoing.”
When we carefully read the 4 gospels, we are given a beautiful and complex picture of the person of Jesus. He says things that shock us and does things that no one else ever did, but we don’t only get to read what he said or did. The gospels also reveal Jesus’s motivations and various emotional states and the feeling most often attributed to Jesus throughout the gospels is compassion.
“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. – Mark 8:2-3
They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him. – Matthew 20:33-34
When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. – Mark 6:34
And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” – Luke 7:13
When the Son of God lived among his people and in His creation his concerns for the sufferings and misfortunes of those who surrounded him dominated his ministry life. From the beginning, God entrusted His people to represent Him in all that He had made by nurturing the earth, caring for the land, loving one another, and magnifying the glory and image of God throughout the earth.
Even after the Fall of Adam and Eve, Israel was called to be a light to the nations- a people marked by love and compassion. A people set apart, holy to the Lord. But Jesus is confronted by great darkness throughout His ministry: abject poverty, disfiguring diseases, the stench of death, and the corruption of leadership. In response to all that He witnesses, Jesus feels compassion and He is moved to action. Not able to leave things as they are, Jesus restores them so they can be who He always intended them to be. Jesus feeds those who are hungry, heals those who are suffering from blindness and leprosy, and then in his greatest work Jesus’s compassion for His people and His world lead Him to suffer and die on the cross to bear the punishment for our sins and to free us from the power of death.
Though we are rebels, people who desire to live for ourselves, apart from the laws of God, Jesus willingly suffers so that we can experience the mercy and favor of God. Jesus dies so we can live and the life He gives to us is eternal. He restores us to be the people God intends us to be, a people that reflect the light and love of our Maker. If we understand how dire our situation was before Christ came to save us, and if we experience the compassion He has shown to us, we in turn will be moved to show compassion towards others in their sin and suffering.
In the early days of the church, the people of God were known by others for their compassion. During times of plague, while pagans fled cities to save their lives, Christians moved by compassion and confident not even death could separate them from eternal life with Jesus, rushed into those same cities to care for the sick. The modern nursing and hospital industry we take for granted was founded upon the work of those early Christians.
May Christians today be once again associated with the One to whom we have been united by the Holy Spirit, a people marked by our compassion towards others. How wonderful it would be to hear people chatting about the Jedi and saying, I know people in my life whose compassion leaves a trail just like Obi-Wan…they go to that church down the street… I wonder why they act like that? Then we can respond by pointing to Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith!