Let Mercy Lead

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." Matthew 5:7

According to Kent Hughes, the basic idea of the Greek word translated merciful is "to give help to the wretched, to relieve the miserable." Here the essential thought is that mercy gives attention to those in misery. From this we make the important distinction between mercy and grace. Grace is shown to the undeserving; mercy is compassion to the miserable. Thus the synonym for mercy is compassion. But mercy goes beyond compassion or becomes compassion in action because it involves more than just a feeling; mercy exists when something is done to relieve the distress. This is a theme throughout both the Old Testament [see Hosea and Amos 5] as well as the New Testament. Jesus' Himself made it perfectly clear when, after He had told the Parable of the Good Samaritan, He asked His questioner: "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.' Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise'" [Luke 10:36-37].

But there is probably no greater example in Scripture of mercy than the story of Joseph and his brothers as it displays both great mercy and great forgiveness. New Testament scholar Robert Guelich has shown that especially in this Beatitude merciful describes one who forgives and pardons another who is in the wrong. Years after Joseph had been sold into slavery, they stood before him in Egypt literally "at his mercy" and he showed them exactly that. There was compassion as he wept for their misery, and then action as he met their needs. There was forgiveness as he restored them all to his grace, saying, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good" [Genesis 50:20]. The merciful person remembers his own sin and God's mercy to him; he understands the weaknesses of others, and he forgives.

The reason the merciful are blessed is that "they will be shown mercy." Like the preceding four Beatitudes, the word "they" in the phrase is emphatic: "Blessed are the merciful, for they [they alone] will be shown mercy." Other Scriptures teach the same idea. James says, "Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful" [James 2:13]. Jesus Himself says, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" [Matthew 6:14, 15].

Please don't miss the point here and suppose that this Beatitude teaches that one can merit God's mercy by performing acts of mercy. Such an idea would be at complete variance with the rest of Scripture which teaches salvation by grace alone, by faith alone [see Ephesians 2:8, 9]. Moreover, if receiving God's forgiveness could only be merited by becoming forgiving, none of us would ever be truly forgiven, for none would ever absolutely meet this standard. What this Beatitude does mean, however, is that those who are truly God's children and as such are objects of His mercy, will themselves be merciful and will receive mercy in the end. Showing mercy is the objective evidence that we have received mercy.

This interpretation suggests two very penetrating tests. The first is this: If we have no mercy toward those who are physically and economically in distress, we are not Christians. This is precisely the point of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told this story to demonstrate that the religious establishment of His day did not fulfill the Great Shema of Israel:

4 Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD: 5 and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thine heart: 7 and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thy house, and upon thy gates. -- Deuteronomy 6:4-9

-- loving God with all one's might and one's neighbor as himself [Luke 10:25-28]. The fact that the priest and the Levite both turned away from the needy Israelite man proved that they did not love their neighbor as themselves; they thus failed to fulfill the Law and were lost. But the Samaritan's act of mercy showed that he loved his neighbor as himself, and that he was living within the gracious parameters of the Law. He was a lover of God and man.

If we remain impassive or callous to human need and refuse to do anything about it, we need to take a good long look at ourselves and see if we really are believers. The Apostle John perhaps says it best: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" [1 John 3:17]. This is a test that many churchgoers have never liked and perhaps have even rejected outright. If so, they are in great peril of soul.

The second test involves the corresponding act of mercy -- forgiveness. The test is this: If we refuse to exercise mercy by extending forgiveness, we are not Christians. Of course, it is frightening to maintain that we cannot be truly forgiven unless we have forgiving spirits. But it is true, because when God's grace comes into our hearts it makes us merciful. Forgiveness demonstrates that we have been forgiven. So the telling line is this: If we refuse to be merciful, there is only one reason -- we have never understood the grace of Christ. We stand outside His grace and are unforgiven ourselves.

Jesus taught this in the Parable of the Unmerciful Slave [Matthew 18:21-35]. The slave owed his master an immense sum -- in today's currency in excess of $20 million. The debt was impossible to repay, so he pleaded with his master who, with astonishing compassion, forgave him the entire debt. Incredibly, however, the wicked slave went out, found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a little over $2,000, and threw him into prison for failure to pay. When the other slaves reported this injustice to their master, he summoned the wicked slave: "'You wicked servant,' he said. 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?' In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart" [Matthew 18:32-35].

These are hard, violent, surgical words. But they are mercifully so. The Lord here warns the religious crowd among us who attend church, can recite the appropriate answers, lead outwardly moral lives, but inwardly hold a death grip on their grudges to take stock of their lives. If we have no desire to forgive others our very souls are in danger.

Remember that Jesus gave us these Beatitudes so that we can ascertain two things: first the authenticity of our faith, and second, the health of our spiritual lives. In the searchlight of this Beatitude, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy," is our salvation authentic? Are we merciful? Are we forgiving? Or do we hold grudges among our treasured possessions?