7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7
Since the beginning of time, humans have imagined their deities as wrath-filled gods in need of appeasement. Ultimately, every man’s god was like the man himself: flawed, doling out justice in his own best interest, given to fleshly desires and appetites. Kings, who often imagined themselves as gods, controlled their kingdoms with iron fists, chopping off the hands of those who stole, brutally murdering those who crossed them in any way, and filling their coffers by means of war and slave labor. Those who ruled rarely cared about their subjects more than they did about their own comfort, power, and prosperity. In such a society, it is far better to rule than to be ruled.
What a refreshing blessing Jesus offers His followers, then, with a Kingdom ruled by the law of mercy and not punishment. Mercy, from its original Hebrew form, chesedh, does not just mean to sympathize or to pity. William Barclay describes chesedh as the “ability to get right inside the other person’s skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things with his mind, and feel things with his feelings.” (The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1, p.98). Ultimately, is this not what Jesus did when He clothed Himself with human flesh, experienced every human deprivation, and finally laid His life down for those who could do nothing to rescue themselves? It is just this rescue that drives Jesus’ followers to offer the same chesedh to others.
Mercy, however, does not mean that no punishment exists. Instead, it acknowledges that the consequences of judgment are already in motion. Mercy offers a way of escape from imminent judgment, but only if the doomed one knows their need. Those who know they have been rescued, then mercifully warn others of what is inevitable if they do not cry out for the King’s mercy. It is not merciful to ignore the fate of those blindly headed toward their destruction. Mercy demands action, not passive acceptance of what is to come.
Jesus will have much more to say about mercy throughout the Sermon on the Mount, and there will be no loopholes for revenge, hatred, or bitter unforgiveness woven into any of His teachings. There is no room for “us versus them.” The efforts toward reconciliation and peace are not optional. His chesedh rules His Kingdom, and the harvest of mercy will be multiplied for those who plant it.
I do pray that this study is impacting you as much as it is me. There are actions and words that I can no longer justify in my life. There are thoughts that I can no longer pretend align with Scripture. If Jesus preached what His Kingdom is in this Sermon, and I claim to belong in His Kingdom, my ways must display what He proclaimed and lived. It is only by God’s mercy that such a thing is possible, as He works out of me what He has placed in me. Sanctification will continue all the way to Heaven, but it is up to me to say “yes” to what the Holy Spirit is trying to do in my life.
Below you will find this week’s Sermon on the Mount Study on Mercy. The link for the answers for lesson 4 will be attached below that. Have a blessed week!
His Song in the Night 