Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
While the world calls blessed those who are well-educated, wealthy, good looking and the accomplished, Jesus re-defined those who are blessed from a heavenly point of view. God sees not as man sees, for God searches the hearts of all men, and this is how He defines a blessed man.
Blessed are….
• The poor in spirit who are not self-reliant or self-confident but depend only on God for their strength goodness and righteousness. The kingdom of God belongs to them.
• Those who mourn over their sin and want to set things right in their lives – they will be comforted.
• The meek (gentle or humble) who do not dominate over others but are willing to submit to God and His will. They will inherit the earth.
• Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, which will be given to them for they seek the right things. Their desire is not for physical food but for spiritual food which will never be denied them.
• The merciful are blessed for they will receive mercy from the Lord
• Webster’s meaning of mercy
1. Mercy is compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender.
(For example, a man who committed murder is given a life sentence instead of a death sentence)
2. Also, it refers to a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion
(When someone gets something, they desired for they refer to it as God being merciful to them)
3. Compassionate treatment to those who are in distress
(Showing compassion to someone who is in need of any kind)
4. In a negative way to say somebody is at the mercy of someone else would mean that they are under the power of that person and have no way to protect themselves.
How does the bible define mercy?
• Mercy in the bible refers to forgiveness or withholding punishment.
• In the Bible, mercy is extended to an offender in the form of forgiveness, or to the suffering in the form of healing or other comfort.
• Mercy can be characterized as compassionate treatment of those in distress.
How does God reveal His mercy?
God revealed Himself this way to Moses – this was after Moses had broken the tablets of stone and was one his way back again to God on the mountain with two new tablets of stone. The Lord passed by Moses and introduced Himself to Moses this way.
“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, (Exodus 34:6-7)
If God were not merciful to us today, what happened to the people in the days of Noah and in the days of Sodom would be our predicament too.
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentation 3:22-23
God’s mercies are unending, they are new each morning and sufficient for us for each new day.
In the Old Testament
• Joseph showed mercy to his brothers who ill-treated him and sold him into slavery though he had the power to take revenge on them.
• David twice spared King Saul’s life and showed mercy to him though he was hunting him down mercilessly.
How did Jesus demonstrate this mercy?
Jesus demonstrated this mercy in various ways. His compassionate acts displayed His merciful nature.
Jesus was….
• Merciful to the lost
When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. Mark 6:34
The woman who was caught in adultery – John 8:1-11
While every one of the woman’s accusers stood with a stone in their hand, the One who actually had the right to stone did not condemn her, but mercifully forgave her and did not condemn her.
• Merciful to the sick
When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. Matthew 14:14
There are many incidents recorded in the gospels when people came and begged Jesus to have mercy on them and He graciously healed them and restored them to wholeness.
• Merciful to the hungry
“I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat.” Mark 8:2
Not only did Jesus care for the spiritual needs of people He also had mercy on them when they were physically hungry and fed them.
• Merciful to those who falsely accused Him, beat Him, mocked Him, spat on Him and crucified Him
“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” Luke 23:34.
The greatest demonstration of mercy was when Jesus hung on the cross and in the midst of all the pain and agony He was going through, He was still merciful to extend forgiveness to everyone who treated him with utmost cruelty and disdain.
Why should we be merciful?
• God shows mercy to those who are merciful
“With the merciful you show yourself merciful; 2 Samuel 22:26
Parable of the unmerciful servant Matthew 18:21-35
In the parable that Jesus taught the man who owed ten thousand talents joyfully received the pardon from his master but was unwilling to extend mercy to a man under him who owed him just a hundred denarii. The key verse in that passage is Matthew 18:33 “And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (ESV)
It is simple we are ever ready to receive mercy from the Lord, but if we do not extend this mercy to others, the Lord will hold it against us.
• God is the model we follow
“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:36
Think about it the way God reveals His mercy to all of mankind irrespective of whether they are good or bad. It says, For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:45
God’s greatest mercy was revealed to us when He sent Jesus to take our place on the cross so that we who were dead in trespasses and were worthy of punishment were made alive in Christ.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” Ephesians 2:4-5
• God desires mercy over sacrifice
Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13
The Pharisees were annoyed with Jesus because He was eating with tax collectors and sinners. Their focus was more on all that they were doing or not doing namely their sacrifices. For example, they didn’t work on the Sabbath, they didn’t eat with unwashed hands, they didn’t mingle with sinners, they fasted, they observed all the tradition of Moses etc. Jesus had to remind them that He desired mercy over sacrifice meaning that He wanted them to be merciful to the lost, the sinners, not be self-righteous and judge others.
It is so easy for us to feel good about all the things we do or don’t do. God is more concerned that we be merciful, and not judge or hinder others from entering His Kingdom. By not being merciful we actually prevent people from entering into the Kingdom of God. Jesus was simply saying value relationships over your rules.
What does mercy mean or look like in our everyday lives?
• Feeling for the lost, welcoming them, accepting them for who they are
Andrew Murray said, “There are two classes of Christians: soul winners and backsliders. You are one or the other. If you don’t have a passion to see people, come to the Lord Jesus Christ, I wonder if you know the Jesus I know.”
It is our duty as children of God to be filled with passion and to extend the mercy of God to those who have not experienced this love of God. We should invite our neighbors, colleagues, friends and relatives who are not yet in to come and enjoy the fellowship that we enjoy with the Lord and with fellow-believers at church.
• Being gentle with those who are under us, especially when they do wrong.
• Being ready to forgive someone who has wronged or offended us.
• Helping someone who is hurting or lonely or sick
• Correcting someone gently without being harsh or without a self-righteous attitude
• To see the needs of those around us, and respond to the same in a practical way
Often, we find it easy to tell someone ‘I will pray’ but that’s not enough. We must look for ways to demonstrate this mercy and love that God has showered on us in tangible ways.
When we extend this mercy to others, there will be major transformations of lives. Remember, blessed are the merciful for they alone will receive mercy.
