The Beatitudes, eight short teachings found at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, lay the foundation for the rest of Jesus’ teachings and are fundamental to understanding Jesus. The Beatitudes not only give us the spiritual roadmap to true happiness, but they set out the character traits of citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Character traits of the Kingdom of Heaven are set out in the first four Beatitudes and include being poor in spirit, mourning, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and meekness. The fifth Beatitude flows naturally out of the first four. When a person recognizes their spiritual bankruptcy, mourns their sins, hunger and thirsts for God’s righteousness, and submits to the direction and control of God, then their character begins to change; it starts to reflect the nature of God. Mercy is an attribute of God’s character. The closer a person becomes to God, the more merciful towards others that person becomes.
Mercy is the Greek word eleemon and means kind, compassionate, sympathetic, and merciful. Merciful people display compassion; they want to ease others’ suffering not just to appear “charitable” or to receive a benefit, but because they genuinely empathize with their plight.
Like meekness, today’s world tends to view mercy as a weakness, as something undesirable. Our culture roots for the person who serves their enemies vengeance instead of serving them forgiveness. Our culture says, no mercy, you don’t deserve it, so you shouldn’t get it. Thankfully, the Lord is merciful. David said, “let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.” 2nd Samuel 24:14
God’s Mercy
The Old Testament describes God as merciful. Psalm 103:8 says, “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.” The faithful love of the Lord never ends! “His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:22-23
We all need God’s mercy. We are all sinners. (Romans 3:23). We all deserve punishment for our sins. But because God loves us, He gave us a way to be forgiven of our sins. He sent His son Jesus who took our punishment upon himself. (Romans 6:23) Because of what Jesus did for us, we receive God’s mercy.
Paul sums God’s mercy up for us in Ephesians 2:4-10 NLT, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them”.
The more we understand our sinful condition, the more we appreciate the value of God’s mercy – mercy we do not deserve but that He gave us anyway because He loves us. His love lifts us from our sinful condition and seats us with “Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”
Mercy of Jesus
Jesus being the image of the invisible God, was also merciful. He showed mercy to the poor, the outcast, the sick, the blind, the deaf, the dead, the tax collectors, and prostitutes. Matthew 9:36 tells us that when Jesus “saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Another verse says, “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Matthew 14:14
Jesus also wants us to be merciful. Jesus twice quoted Hosea 6:6 “…show mercy, not offer sacrifices.” The first time was in response to the Pharisees questioning Jesus about him hanging out with “tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.” Jesus responded, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13
The second time was after the Pharisees protested Jesus’ disciples “harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” Jesus said, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ Matthew 12:7 Jesus took notice of the Pharisees’ tendency to care more about looking like good Pharisees than focusing on the more important aspects of the law – justice, mercy, and faith.” Matthew 23:23
In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus shows us what mercy should look like in the lives of kingdom citizens. Jesus told an expert at religious law that he must “love your neighbor as yourself.” The expert asked, “and who is my neighbor?”
” Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
“By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” Luke 10:30-37
The good Samaritan didn’t just see the beaten man and feel compassion for him, but he soothed the man’s wounds and took him to an inn where he cared for him. How many times do we avoid those in need? How often do we look at them, maybe feel compassion for them, but then walk away? Jesus doesn’t call us just to see the less fortunate and to feel compassion for them, but He calls us to show mercy to them by helping alleviate their condition of need. He said, “now go and do the same.”
Although Jesus’ words often were directed at the Pharisees of His day, He also is speaking to us right now. His words are convicting. They require us to examine ourselves. Are we so concerned about looking like good Christians that we forget what Jesus requires of us? Do we spend more time ensuring our FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts reflect that perfect Christian life but ignore that which is more important: showing mercy to those in need?
Prayer
Lord, I want to see others as you see them. I want to see them and feel your compassion and love for them. Then I want your supernatural strength and wisdom to help them so that I can be You to them. In the name of Jesus, I pray for your eyes, your compassion, and your strength, Amen.
