Print or Save as PDF Booklet JESUS: THE MERCIFUL
(Matthew 5:7)
MERCY: WHAT IS IT?
Jesus defined mercy with a story: "There was a certain king (Matthew 18:23-35) who decided to settle accounts with his servants. He discovered that one servant owed him 10,000 talents - a small fortune. The servant would never be able to repay what he owed - not ever. The king, then, ordered his men: "Throw him into the dungeon; sell all his possessions, including his wife and children!" The servant begged him, "My lord, please be patient with me. I will pay it all back. I just need some time." That plea touched the king's heart and - surprise of surprises - he ended up canceling the entire debt. The servant left jumping and shouting for joy! Soon, however, he came across a fellow servant who owed him some money. It was just a little sum, but the first servant demanded immediate payment. Even though it was a small debt, that servant was unable to pay it. The first servant, the one who had been forgiven such a large debt, then commanded that servant to be thrown into the dungeon until he paid what he owed." Now in this story, who was merciful - the king or the first servant? Of course, it was the king, because he was touched by the difficult situation of the debtor and did something to alleviate his suffering.

Jesus went walking with his disciples one day on the Sabbath (the Jewish day of rest). It was lunchtime and the disciples were hungry. They came upon a field of corn ready to be harvested. There arose the drama: hungry men, gazing on a field of ripe corn, and a group of Pharisees watching this group of Jesus' disciples and thinking: "It is the Sabbath. It is not permitted to work on the Sabbath. Watch them closely to see if they pick some corn to eat. If they do, we've got them!" Now what is Jesus going to do? Will he be considerate of the needs of his disciples and draw the criticism of his enemies? Or will he give in to the man-made traditions and let his men go hungry? What would mercy do? The answer is obvious.

The merciful one defined as his priority the needs of men. Actually, this in no way violated God's law which was given to bless people. It only conflicted with the traditions of those legalistic hypocrites who invented rules and burdens that not even they were able to bear. Mercy attends to the needs of people ahead of man-made rules and customs.

Religion without mercy is empty and dead and is not from God. Nobody who excludes mercy from their life can claim that they are following Jesus. To be or not to be merciful is no insignificant matter. In the judgment, Christ will say to the unmerciful: " 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'" (Matthew 25:41-45). Mercy is an essential part of true Christianity.

"Blessed are the merciful because they will receive mercy", said Jesus. Mercy is when we feel the pain of someone in a bad situation. It is not, though, only feeling the pain, but acting to alleviate and help. We all feel pain and necessity sometimes. No doubt, we need an encouraging word or a kind gesture. People around us also feel these same things and need that kind word and helping hand.

In , Jesus taught us that God would reward our care and affection for others. We will "receive mercy". Jesus said in Matthew 6:14 that "if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." The merciful person really will be blessed. He will feel that his life is worth something and also will be certain that the God who rewards is observing him with great pleasure.

JESUS IS OUR EXAMPLE OF MERCY
No one measures up to Jesus. He went through life with an agenda full of important tasks but always found the time to stop and tend to the needs of those around him. To help someone else wasn't a waste of time for Jesus. His priorities were so different from those of the world. Coming down from the mountain after delivering a powerful sermon, he met a leper who said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed" (Matthew 8:3). That scene was repeated for over three years during Christ's ministry on earth.

Constantly responding to requests that we might find inconvenient, we never read in the Bible that Jesus ever met a needy person asking for help and he failed to help them. To at the very end, we see Christ, crucified on the cross of Calvary, dying in anguish between two thieves. He had his hands full with his own problems but, hearing the thief's request, he felt great compassion. Though he himself was suffering pain and humiliation, he was able to forgive the thief. That is our Jesus! He looked down upon us, with the guilt of so many sins committed against Our Heavenly Father, and he still descended to this dirty little ball of clay to live among sinners like you and me, just because we needed his infinite mercy.

Now then, how do we feel toward those people who cover themselves with the filth of this world and the stench of sin? Knowing that they will have nothing to eat tomorrow and a fate worse than death awaits them in the judgment, will we reach out to assist? Jesus did. If we want to live the life of Christ, we will also reach out to help.

PERSONAL APPLICATION
We must challenge ourselves to ask in every situation, "What would Jesus do?" Would Jesus forgive the one who offended him or nailed him to the wall? Would he give another chance to the one who failed him? Would he be patient with the slow to learn? Would he give a helping hand to pull someone out of the mire of iniquity? If you know the answer, then just do it too!

According to , to show mercy means to attend to the needs of people around us. Mercy always walks with open eyes and acts at the smallest cry for help. This happens daily with us and we will perceive it if we are open to it. We cross paths with faces marked by pain, anxiety, fear and sadness. Sensing that there is something wrong that needs attention, we have two options: remain indifferent to the one who is suffering or draw near for the purpose of helping. We have in Jesus a perfect model for mercy because everything in his life was a reflection of his Father. It was Jesus who said, "Be merciful, just like your Father in heaven is merciful" (Luke 6:36).

We may sometimes want to excuse our negligence by saying to ourselves that we don't know the person. In , Jesus teaches us about this pre-planned isolation tactic. It is the story of the "Good Samaritan". Notice that two Jews (both were religious types) went down the same road as the wounded man but purposefully passed by on the other side. They had an opportunity to stop and help but they didn't. Maybe it was the worries of life, fear of a trap, tiredness after a day's work or maybe it was simply indifference. Whatever the excuse, the result was still "no action". The Good Samaritan, though, was a busy man, on his way to fulfill responsibilities and obligations, but he put it all on hold to stop and help a person in need. We need to keep our eyes open to such opportunities. When the Samaritan saw the man, he drew near, wanting to see the need instead of wanting to hide from it. We too are always being presented with opportunities like this. What moves us to act is not our education, talent, social class or financial resources. It is a heart filled with mercy.

The Samaritan came to the wounded man without fear and without shame. The ones who should feel fear and shame are those who see but do not stop to help. The church is not a monastery into which we flee the harsh realities of life. To the contrary, we are a body of action. The Samaritan was not afraid of blood. He applied the medicine and touched the wounds. The Christian can't be afraid of blood. Some people, facing a person in need, ask, "What will I receive in return for helping?" Others say, "There is no hope; I would be wasting my time." The merciful, though, keeps on helping. Race, skin color or religion does not matter. The good Samaritan did not ask for social security number, income tax statement, three references of merit or driver's license in order to decide if he would stop and help or not. The man was wounded, it was urgent, and so he helped!

What would you do if you went down a main road and saw a gravely wounded person at one o'clock in the morning? Showing mercy sometimes involves risks. Robbers, hiding behind the next boulder, could have attacked that Samaritan but his mercy and compassion were greater than the risks. How much greater were the mercy and compassion of Jesus when he went to that cruel, shameful cross in order to save us from our fatal spiritual wounds?

There is an ancient tradition that a woman among the multitude, having mercy on Jesus as he treaded the painful way of the cross, took a towel and dried his face. The gesture of that woman did not end his sufferings but Christ was so touched that he left his face print impressed on that towel. That story is just a legend, but it is true that any kindness or act of mercy we do for others, because of the Lord, leaves a lasting impression on our souls and often on the souls of those who we helped. We all know that, faced with the enormity of the sufferings and need of people, the resources we have to give seem like nothing. Sometimes the only thing we can offer is a friendly word and a gesture of mercy. Who among us would dare to deny even that?

The gospel of Luke tells that while Christ was in the garden of Gethsemane, immersed in anguish to the point of sweating something like drops of blood, "an angel appeared to Him from heaven, comforting Him" (Luke 22:43). That angel did not change his destiny or death, nor alter his decision to go forward. His determination to die on the cross in order to be able to remove our sins continued and he did die a terrible death. Could it be that that comforting and strengthening from the angel was wasted time? Was it in vain that Jesus died on the cross to show his mercy for a sinful race? Of course not! It is never in vain when we show mercy for a suffering, needy, scared or lost person.

I was sitting on the patio early one morning at a friend's house on a Lake in Kentucky. As I enjoyed that moment, I thought to myself: "All this is so beautiful: the air is fresh and crisp. The lake is still like a mirror, the sounds of the birds are like a symphony, the trees are green and lush, even the rustic house with flowers planted in every nook and cranny, the patio - it is all beautiful and pleasant. Even the rocking chair I sit in is comfortable. What a privilege to be able to talk to my Creator within my heart and mind. All of life is good."

Then this little old sick poodle-looking dog comes up and stands in front of me. "I know what he wants - affection. He wants to be petted, touched. He really wants to sit in my lap, but he's 13 years old, crippled, going blind and deaf, sick and he smells like death warmed over. He smells like road-kill - and I don't want him to touch me. Not even rub against my pants leg. And I sure don't want to touch him. He stinks." That little old stinking puppy was road-kill just waiting to lie down in the middle of the road.

Jesus cares about human road kill. Not possums, flattened out on the highway with a circle of buzzards around him digging into the feast before them. Not even the deer that could have been in your freezer, cut and wrapped in wax paper for future meals if a car had not gotten to him first. The world is full of old, diseased, lonely, addicted, divorced, downtrodden, sinners, dirty people and we may think - don't touch me. I don't want to hold you in my lap. They are road kill - flattened out on the road of life but the muscle we call the heart keeps on beating. It matters to Him when people go to bed at night with stomachs growling from hunger and lips that are dry and parched from thirst; when people sleep under the bridges and remain on the outside of home and society; when they shiver in the cold on long winter nights or lie in pain on hospital beds or sit staring at the walls of a jail cell.

It matters to Jesus when people are lonely, when poor, dirty beggars come into the assembly, when children have mental disorders and when, teens who driven by hormones have messed up big time. They may be Mary Magdalene, or the leper, or Zacchaeus the publican, or the woman with a hemorrhage of blood, or the crazy man of the Gadarenes. This is not just about Jesus. It is about you and me. I didn't pet that dog but God help me if I refuse to take the humans who are road-kill into my arms and treat them with kindness and love. Jesus calls us to reach out to touch the least, the lost and the lonely.

Make the decision now that you will stop and help the needy, the stranger, the rejected, and the lonely; that you will loan to the one who cannot repay you, forgive the one who offended you, give another chance to the one who failed, treat the back-slidden, weak, inactive, slow brother with kindness and love; that you will not crush the defeated and ignorant; not nail to the wall the brother who yielded to temptation; that you will do something to alleviate the suffering of the homeless and abandoned and look at every human being as if it were Jesus who is needing your help.

SELF-EXAMINATION:
Answer these questions in order to measure your own level of mercy:

• 1. Do you invite people to your home that cannot return the favor?

• 2. Do you set aside some money each week to help the poor?

• 3. Is it hard for you to forgive someone who hurt you?

• 4. Have you talked to an unbeliever this week in a way that might draw them toward the Lord?

• 5. Do you feel grateful for all the Lord has done for you?

• 6. Do you visit the sick at home or in the hospital?

• 7. Would you give another chance to the person who robbed you?

• 8. Are you able to forget the wrongs that people have done to you?

• 9. Do you avoid talking to poor people?

• 10. Have you already received the mercy of God?

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