I want you to show you pictures of Jesus today. My prayer is that the eyes of your heart would be open by the Holy Spirit to this truthful representation of Jesus Christ through preaching. My hope is that you would see Him in the light of His glorious mercy because if you do, you will never see Him the same again – and you will never be the same.
Randy Frazee, pastor of Pantego Bible Church in Fort Worth, Texas, shared this story:
I remember seeing a picture of a husband and wife in a gentleman’s office. I said, “Nice picture.” I turned around and looked at the man, and he had tears in his eyes. So I asked him, “Why are you crying?”
He said, “There was a time in our marriage when I was unfaithful to my wife, and she found out about it. She was so deeply hurt and injured she was going to leave me and take the kids with her. I was overwhelmed at the mistake I had made, and I shut the affair down. I went to my wife in total brokenness. Knowing I did not deserve for her to answer in the affirmative, I asked her to forgive me. And she forgave me. This picture was taken shortly after that. When I see this picture, I see a woman who forgave me. I see a woman who was willing to stand with me in this picture. So when you see this picture you say, ’Nice picture.’ But when I see this picture I see my life given back to me again.”
When our focus at Christmas turns from Jesus to the events and the parties and the presents, the Christmas story can easily be downgraded in our own hearts and lives and become just a “nice picture.” I hope that today, we might look upon it again through personal eyes, through lives that have been and are being restored through the mercy of Jesus Christ.
Mary had a perspective; the birth of Jesus was the incarnation of God’s mercy. We read it in her magnificat in Luke 1:46-55… Now the act of her worship reveals the inspiration behind it: the child she carried was the fulfillment of God’s promise to show mercy.
Mercy; this is the reason Jesus came into the world. He is the mercy of God incarnate and visible.
Mary’s song of worship erupts in magnifying praise upon her recognition of this miracle child – the Messiah of God, the embodiment of God’s mercy – growing inside of her, soon to be revealed in the flesh of a newborn. Her song reminds us of the mercy that He gives...
1. Mercy’s Incarnation
Mary’s song defines the mercy of God for us revealed in Jesus’ birth. Sandwiched between her declaration of His mercy in vv. 50 and 54 are 3 important statements that define it.
• He has shown strength with His arm. He scatters the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
• He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.
• He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.
Mercy itself means showing kindness to someone in need. It is the outflow of compassion. It is God responding to need because He is loving and kind and good. It is God helping out those, who cannot help themselves.
In one sense, mercy defines God. Mary describes His mercy in these terms: He shows strength with His arm – He exalts the lowly – He fills the hungry. It is the helpless that He helps; those without strength, those without honor or dignity, those without nourishment – He provides for us what we cannot provide for ourselves. This is why Jesus came.
• Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
God is merciful and has expressed the riches of His mercy in the coming and dying of Jesus. He is unwavering in His mercy, but He is also selective in how He applies mercy. His mother notes that He has nothing to give to those, who choose to live out of their own sufficiency: He scatters the proud, who delude themselves with illusions of self-sufficiency. He puts down those, who presume to be mighty and sit on their own thrones. He sends away those, who would trust in their own wealth and riches rather than look to Him.
In mercy, He lifts us, strengthens us, nourishes us, saves us, heals us, redeems us – only when we’re looking to Him and not to ourselves. He doesn’t ask for anything that you might give to His cause of restoring or healing or saving. He requires the abandonment from ourselves to Him.
• Psalm 130:5-7 “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord, more than those who watch for the morning— Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption.”
Mercy defines sin and weaknesses. The existence of His mercy and the loving kindness that He gives reveal that we need Him. The convicted felon may appeal by throwing himself on the mercy of the court. The very fact that he can reveals his guilt. The mercy found in Jesus identifies our guilt and weakness.
• Romans 5:6 when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
The incarnation of Jesus is God identifying our sin, our need, our weakness… To look again to Bethlehem is to see God’s merciful response to our deepest, most crucial needs. It is God saying, I haven’t forgotten you. I am with you. I want to heal you. I want to redeem your life and show you My glory. I’m here to restore you. I’ve come to save you.
We need mercy for our sin, mercy for our addictions, mercy for our helplessness, mercy for our wounds, mercy for our brokenness, mercy for our marriages, mercy for our children...
2. Mercy’s Mission
Mercy; this is why Jesus came. His life was an extravagant mercy-giving mission that affected all kinds of people. Every kind of need and pain was touched by the mercies of Jesus.
He shows mercy to those unable to see. In Luke 17:38, a blind beggar heard that Jesus was near and called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus responded with miracle mercy in verse 42 saying, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”
He shows mercy to the rejected. When 10 lepers came to Jesus in Luke 17:13, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Jesus turned to them and gave them mercy for their need. He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
He shows mercy to the grieving. When Jesus saw the grieving heart of a widow, who was losing her only son, Luke 7:13 says, When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.
He shows mercy to those held in the grip of binding forces. Mercy drew Jesus to those, who were oppressed and held captive by demons. One man brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus after years of sorrow. The body was unable to speak and the evil spirit often compelled the boy to burn himself in the fire. The father pleaded with Jesus in Mark 9:22, “… have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus responded to the pitiful prayer of that father and rebuked the spirit and cast it out.
Do you need mercy? Hebrews 4:16 says, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The place where mercies are kept are at the throne of God. You will find Jesus engaged in your need. He has infinite wealth and infinite power and infinite wisdom. All stand ready in His mercy.
3. Mercy’s Invitation
Mary’s praise qualifies those needing mercy: His mercy is on those, who fear Him...
One last picture of mercy comes from Luke 7. One of the most tender and deepest acts of mercy happened at a dinner party. In Luke 7:36, Jesus was a guest at the house of a Pharisee named Simon. It is likely that this Simon had at one time been a leper, who Jesus healed in Matthew and Mark. Leprosy would have stripped him of his Pharisee status. Jesus’ merciful healing would have restored him.
In the middle of the meal, a known prostitute rushed into the dinner and began to kiss the feet of Jesus. Simon the Leper/Pharisee was horrified. His concerns are revealed in v. 39: “This Man, Jesus, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.” In other words, Jesus is obviously not a prophet if he can’t discern that she is a prostitute.
We can track the conclusion of his thoughts:
1) No true man of God would let her kiss His feet, especially not in public.
2) Jesus did not seem to hinder her from her affectionate worship.
3) Jesus must, therefore, lack discernment or holiness. A prophet would know how sinful she is. A true, holy man would be repulsed by this display.
The most revealing detail in the story is not anything that Jesus did, but what He did not do. He did not stop her. With others watching, He allowed a notorious woman to express her affection.
What does this tell us about the mercy of Jesus? Here is God more concerned with a repentant heart and an extravagant worship than a shameful past.
Two figures stand out in this story; Simon-the host and the prostitute-party crasher. She needs mercy. He seems to have forgotten how precious it was. Jesus points that out in verses 44-48…
What happened to Simon? If Simon the leper and Simon the Pharisee are one in the same, then what happened to the leper, who found the healing mercy of Jesus? Where did he lose the appreciation for a life in need of mercy?
You know, we need to be careful that we do not become Simon’s, who scoff at the worship of people desperate for mercy and appreciative of His merciful touches. Always remember the depth of mercy, which Jesus showed in your life.
When I began leading worship at a previous church, where I served as a youth pastor, I remember a particular lady, who was very expressive in her worship. She waved, she swayed, she danced. She came to the altar and waved and swayed and danced. She went into the aisle beside her pew and waved and swayed and danced. Her worship gestures were, well obvious to everyone and, to many, including me, to the point of distraction. It was nothing intentional on her part, but her “motion” in worship was a like a magnet for the attention of the crowd.
I remember thinking how distracted she was being and wishing, someone (not me mind you) would politely bring this to her attention – until I learned her story. She had been a breast cancer survivor, well more than a “survivor” actually. Her cancer had advanced rapidly. However, she was led in faith to trust that the Lord would heal her. She prayed for her healing. She had friends to pray for her and God did the miraculous.
When I heard her story – I met a woman, who knew the life-changing and life-giving mercy of God. And she and Jesus have no hurried agenda to get beyond the moments when she worshiped him extravagantly at His feet.
He has mercy for the rejected, mercy for the blind, mercy for the grieving, and mercy for the bound, but nothing is more beautiful than His mercy for sinners. And nothing is more appropriate than to bring adoring, profuse worship before Him. Mary said of His mercy: His mercy is on those, who fear Him, from generation to generation. Do you love Him? Having observed Him in glorious mercy that heals, redeems, and restores, can you do anything less than a scandalous prostitute, who desperately needed that mercy?
Conclusion
How should we respond to the mercy of Jesus Christ? Will you be a Simon or worshiper at the feet of Jesus this Christmas?
A young woman in England many years ago always wore a golden locket that she would not allow anyone to open or look into, and everyone thought there must be some romance connected with that locket and that in that locket must be the picture of the one she loved. Just before the Holidays one winter, tragically, the young woman died at an early age. After her death the locket was opened, everyone wondering whose face he would find within. And in the locket was found simply a little slip of paper with these words written upon it, “Whom having not seen, I love.”
Let’s pray…
