When the Bible talks about Mercy, it is not making a promise of fair treatment by other people
The expectation of fair and equal treatment was wishful thinking in the days the Bible and it is wishful thinking today. We live in a self-focused, power-grabbing, competitive society. In the modern age, people who show mercy are often abused and taken advantage of. I once worked for a pastor who said, “those who I help the most seem to kick me in the teeth the hardest.”
Jesus helped people, even if they abused Him in return. He was never striving for equal treatment, but He was consumed with His Father’s will and His Father’s glory. Jesus showed mercy because that’s who He is. God is merciful and Jesus is a perfect reflection of God the Father.
Jesus was the most merciful human who ever lived:
- He had mercy on the sick and reached out to heal them.
- He reached out to a crippled man and made his legs strong again.
- He healed the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and the mouths of the mute.
- He made friends with prostitutes, tax-collectors and drunks. He extended to them His love and gave them access to the gospel.
- He showed love to children and to lonely people and to those who had nothing to offer Him in return. There was never a person on the face of the earth who displayed more mercy than Jesus.
Here are three aspects of mercy that we often see illustrated by Jesus in scripture:
- Withholding condemnation
- Acting compassionately
- Ministering to those who are undeserving. (Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinner because those were the very people He was pouring our mercy on.)
With those aspects in mind, we have to move beyond the idea that mercy is earning future favors from people. Biblical mercy includes withholding punishment, but it’s also more than that. I would define mercy this way:
Biblical ‘mercy’ is acting sacrificially to meet another person’s need – especially if they don’t deserve it.
The kind of mercy that Jesus both taught and displayed was radical in that is was truly selfless. Jesus was the most merciful man who ever lived. Do you remember how our world treated him? They called for His blood! If mercy carried with it a promise of fair treatment in the future, then Jesus would have been made King instead of being crucified as a criminal. In Jesus’ case, those who He extended mercy to, did not extend mercy to Him in return.
Jesus was merciful for a reward far better than ‘favors from people.’ Jesus was consumed with the will and the approval and the glory of His Father. The president on the Bible College I attended used to say, “If you do ministry for the people, they will let you down every time.” Then he would conclude his statement with these important words, “If you do ministry for the Lord, He will never disappoint you.” I think he was on to something!
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