Matthew 5:7
"Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy
We are
all in need of mercy on a daily basis.
We are in need of God’s Mercy daily because of our sin, that is why they
are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).
We also need to show mercy those who are downcast or those we have offended
(Zechariah 7:9-10). They only way too
truly to do justice and explain the subject of mercy would be to use the Words
of Jesus.
Jesus
often spoke in parables when He was teaching the crowds. And the two parables that best illustrate
mercy are The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and The Unforgiving Servant
(Matthew 18:21-35). These parables show
what it means to express true mercy, extend compassion, and why we should be
merciful.
In
Luke 10:25-37 a Scribe wanted to test Jesus and try to test and asked, "What
must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus I turn tested the Scribe by replying
"What is written in the Law?"
The Scribe answered " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength and with your entire mind';
and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Jesus told the Scribe that he
answered correctly but the Scribe was not done, he wanted to justify
himself. So inquired he of the Lord Jesus
again by as asking The Lord, "And who is my neighbor?" For the Jews did not view Samaritans or
Gentiles as neighbors. This meant that not showing compassion or love was
purely acceptable. Jesus understanding what the Scribe was trying to accomplish
replied in a parable about The Good Samaritan.
Jesus told
of a Jewish Man who was going to the Temple of Judea, on his way he was
attacked by robbers. Now it was common
to be mugged by rubbers because the road the Jewish Man was traveling on was road
was well known for robberies due to its location and low visibility. The robbers beat the man, took his clothes,
and left him barely alive. Now a Priest
and Levite (who more than likely were returning from the temple duties) saw their
fellow Jewish Brother instead of offering help they ignored him as if he was
not even there. But a Samaritan
traveling the same road so him and had compassion on him. He put ointment on his wounds and bandaged
him up. He got off his animal and placed
the wounded man on top and took him to a place of rest. He not only paid for wounded man’s stay he
also paid for any debt that the Jewish Man might occur (We must understand that
the Samaritans where considered to be less than the Jewish and often would be spit
on by the Jews. Samaritans where not
highly respected our considered to know God).
Jesus than
looks at the Scribe and asked, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a
neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" Jesus was as Master a strong question, it was
not about whom we consider to be our neighbor but it focused how we show
compassion. In other words Jesus destroyed
the excuses of why Samaritans and Gentiles are not considered worthy of love
because they are not our neighbor. Jesus
gave an example of the same mercy, love, and compassion God shows for us. He saw us hurting and in need of a Savior and
never the less He sent a Savior. And in
the same way we should go and do likewise (Luke 10:37).
But sometimes
we do not offer true mercy. Sometimes we
would rather hold on to the hurt, debt, or wrong that has been transgressed against
us. Because we clearly expect people to
treat us like the Good Samaritan and show us mercy and compassion when we are
in need of it. We want others to get
over the hurt and pain we have caused them but at times we struggle to forgive
the single sin someone has done against us.
In
Matthew 18:21-35 Peter ponders what it means to forgive. He asks Jesus, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Peter uses the number seven because
seven is a holy number in Jewish customs.
It signifies completeness or finished much like God completed the
creating on the seventh day and rested.
But Jesus in His great wisdom responded, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times
seven.” This was to signify that you are never done forgiving and you
can never run out of mercy. Forgiveness
is something that you continually do and never cease. But to further explain his point Jesus tells
us a servant you owed his Master a tax debt that was so enormous it could not
be paid off. The Master was infuriated
because his servant had created such an enormous debt so his servant was due to
face an onslaught of wrath. The Master
ordered the servant and his entire family to be sold as well as the remainder of
the debt to be paid. But the servant threw
himself on the mercy of the Master and vowed that with time and patience he
would pay of the entire debt. The Master
had great compassion and mercy and relented, he sent him home debt free. The servant however saw a fellow servant who
was indebted to him. (Now it is important to note the servant owed the Master what
is comparable to over 7.5 million dollars while this other servant owed the recently
forgiven servant pennies). The forgiven
servant violently grabbed the indebted servant and demanded his money. The indebted servant threw himself at the
mercies of the forgiven servant. But
instead of showing mercy like the Master showed him the forgiven servant had
the indebted servant put in jail to suffer for his debt. Well the Master caught wind of this and was
greatly displeased. He called the forgiven
servant to his home and said, “'You
wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow
servant, as I had mercy on you?'” The Master threw the servant in jail
and ordered him to pay a debt that he could not pay. So the servant would suffer for the rest of
his life because he refused to show mercy to his fellow servant. Jesus concludes by saying, “So also my heavenly Father will do
to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
Plainly put if refuse to forgive
and show mercy towards those who have wronged us we can expect the same from
God. God views the sins others have done against us as minimal when compared
the sins we have done against Him. This
is not to make light of what others have done but it is to say we “always
forgive and expression compassion through mercy”. And we do this through the strength of Christ
(Philippians 4:13). So it is not about
how we feel about the sin that has been against us but more so we forgive
because we have been forgiven much. We
do not act in a malice towards those who have wronged like the servant did
(Matthew 18:28) and we do not impede judgment upon them suffer for their sin (Matthew
18:30). Instead we let the Master take vengeance
upon them if He sees fit (Romans 12:9).
Mercy will be shown to those who
offer it. So forgive those who have
wronged you. Write a letter, email, or
talk to them and person and let them know that they are forgiven. If you see someone in need of mercy, offer it
and do what you can to help them. We
must learn that compassion and mercy go far beyond our feelings. They are something that we can only do
through the power and the strength of God.
It is His love that compels us to forgive and extend compassion.
Stay focused you can do this!
In His JOY!
