This is another of my favorite examples of Jesus' compassion. Let's get one thing straight. This woman was a prostitute, not exactly the kind of person you'd expect the Son of God to hang out with.
But that's the beauty of Jesus' life here. He said Himself that like a doctor, He didn't come to help those who were already well. He was here to help the sick, to rescue those most in need. Therefore, He showed compassion to the sinner, the tax collector, the prostitutes, the sick and afflicted, the poor and weak; the people most like us. Jesus spent most of His time hanging around with riff-raff, and thank God that He did.
This prostitute came to Jesus the way we all must: totally broken. She saw that the way she was living was no way to live, and more importantly she saw that Jesus had something infinitely better. Yesterday, we talked about the problem of the leper who hadn't been embraced in so long by another human, but was shunned by humanity. Today we have the opposite problem. Every night, this woman was embraced and carressed by men who loved only her body. But Jesus reached past the surface; He reached in and touched her very soul. He loved her for who she was, He forgave her sins, and He changed her life.
If only we could learn to see with eyes of compassion such as Christ did, to show the compassion He showed and still shows. We need to realize that we're no different than this prostitute, that we're just as guilty and sinful as she was. But Jesus reached across the boundaries that sin had placed on our lives and freed us. We, too, need to learn to reach across all boundaries, to have compassion on everyone, and to share Christ's love with all those we come across.