Abiding at the Feet of Jesus | A Look at the BeatitudesSýnishorn

In Matthew 18, Peter approaches Jesus with the question, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Peter was expecting Jesus to say that there would be an end to the mercy we’re to extend to others. Jesus’ response, however, was just as surprising then as it is now. “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” 

The essence of mercy expresses the fact that when we receive the mercy of God, our natural response should be to extend mercy to others. 

There’s a common expression I like a lot. It says, “Grace is when you get what you don’t deserve. Mercy is when you don’t get what you do deserve.” 

Think about the people who were listening as Jesus gave His Sermon on the Mount. It was a rough-looking bunch of people, wasn’t it? Imagine they were longing for what He would say next after He introduced broken, mourning, meek, and hungry conversations.

Being merciful is aiding the afflicted, helping the wretched, and rescuing the miserable. In the Bible, the word mercy points in two directions. First, it can refer to a kindness shown to someone in need. Second, it can refer to a punishment withheld from a guilty person. 

Mercy was not valued in Jesus’ day as much as it is in ours. The Romans were merciless, and that ruthlessness aided them as they conquered neighboring people. The Pharisees studied the Law, which was clear on the importance of showing mercy. They knew what God commanded along these lines, but they were unable to fulfill it. 

The Pharisees were definitely capable of merciful acts. But we must make a distinction: They were not merciful people. Do you see the difference? The Pharisees could prepare themselves ahead of time to do a merciful act. But doing a single merciful act isn’t the same as having a merciful spirit. 

Here is the reason that people like the Pharisees are incapable of being merciful: Mercy and grace don’t come out of proud, self-righteous people. Generally speaking, rigidity, intolerance, judgmental attitudes, and condemnation flow out of them, but very little mercy. The people through whom mercy will flow are people to whom mercy has come. To put in another way, people who know they need mercy, and then get it, will show it. Those who know what it feels like when mercy comes have experienced its healing power. Therefore, these people extend mercy to others.

By definition, we cannot earn grace and mercy. It is a free gift. In a sense, both the self-righteous and the ashamed are right: We don’t deserve it. But God longs to gift us lavishly with His mercy and grace. The hope for both the self-righteous and the ashamed is that God is calling them to draw closer to Him. He calls us all to come near to Jesus so that we can understand our sin and learn about the bottomless mercy that our heavenly Father has for us. 

When we are in proximity with Christ, abiding in Him, our hearts are able to hear when God calls us to extend mercy to someone, or even to ourselves. As we understand the hurt that we ourselves have caused, then we are able to forgive those who hurt us. As we learn about the patience that God has with us, we can overlook annoyances and frustrations that pop up in our own lives. The unlovable, difficult people in our lives become our missions. We begin to pray for them, to speak to them kindly, and to not be embarrassed to count these people as our friends. 

Questions to Journal: 

1. What is the connection between receiving mercy and showing mercy? Who are the people who have the easiest time extending mercy to others?

2. What are the two greatest hindrances to receiving God’s mercy? Which one do you find to be the most challenging in your own life?