Effective leaders have compassion for their team even during the administration of justice for unacceptable attitudes or behavior. Read Luke 13:31-35.

As Jesus approached Jerusalem, some religious leaders warned Him that He would not be safe in Jerusalem and told Him He should not go there. Jesus already knew He would be killed while He was in Jerusalem and He knew that was part of God’s plan to redeem people to Himself. Jesus also knew that Jerusalem would be harshly judged by God for their actions in the past, for what they were about to do, and for their unbelief. The prophecies about Jerusalem were fulfilled in 70 AD when the Roman General Titus leveled Jerusalem. Jesus expressed deep sorrow as He thought about the future suffering of those living in Jerusalem.

Effective leaders assume responsibility for their team’s wellbeing even when their personal life is putting them under enormous pressure. Read Mark 14:32-42.

Jesus is in Jerusalem just prior to His crucifixion. Jesus has eaten His last meal with His disciples and they have gone outside the city walls to spend the night outdoors in a garden known as Gethsemane. Jesus was aware it was His time to become the sacrificial Lamb of God and He was preparing Himself for His coming death at the hands of the religious leaders and the Roman soldiers. Jesus took a few of His closest friends a short distance from the other disciples and asked them to watch and pray with Him. Verse 33 says, “He began to be deeply distressed and troubled.” Luke 22:44 tells us that His perspiration became drops of blood. His personal situation made Him vulnerable to fear and discouragement. He was counting on His friends for support.

Compassionate use of power and influence characterize God-honoring leaders. Read Matthew 8:5-13.

Jesus was becoming well known throughout Israel for His power to heal every sort of physical infirmity and illness. Even the occupying army of Rome could not avoid hearing of Jesus’ authority over powers that caused sickness. As Jesus entered Capernaum, a city which housed a Roman garrison, an officer sought out Jesus to ask Him to heal a household servant that had become paralyzed and who was living in terrible pain. When Jesus agreed to go with the solider to heal his servant, the man simply stated that he was not worthy to have Jesus to his house, but if Jesus simply spoke a command, the servant would be healed. He believed that Jesus had power and authority over every aspect of life and could command sickness to leave his servant and the spirit holding the servant in bondage would have to obey. This story clearly demonstrated a healthy use of power by both the Roman solider and Jesus.

Justice flows from a leader’s Christlike attitude of serving others. Read Zechariah 7:1-14.

After returning to Israel from the Babylonian exile, the leaders wanted to know if they needed to “mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years” (v. 3). God’s answer came first in the form of a question, “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?” The second part of God’s answer spoke directly to their question when He said, “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.” God addressed the motives behind the behavior.

A Christian leader’s only hope is in the character and promises of God. Read Lamentations 3:22-26.

With the horrors of the complete destruction of Jerusalem still in his mind, Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations. Almost right in the middle of Lamentation’s five chapters Jeremiah wrote words of hope not despair. In his words he reminded the remnant of Jews left in the land as well as today’s leaders that our only real hope is in the character and promises of God.