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BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

Christian Life, ,

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

“Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7

Today we come to the main point in this second trio of beatitudes. Matthew 5:6-8, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy”, is the central thought between the bookends.Being a merciful person is in the middle of being righteous and pure in heart.

In Hebrew culture, firstborns always get justice, second-borns always get mercy. A curse on the second-born father was passed to his firstborn son – e.g. Ham and Canaan, Genesis 9:24, 25. Every firstborn son belonged to God (Exodus 13:2) and had to be redeemed by sacrificing an animal. At the first Passover, God killed the firstborns of Egypt (Exodus 11:5); they got justice for Egypt’s treatment of Israel.

Firstborns got the double portion as a compensation for their responsibilities; firstborns had to take responsibility for the sins of the family; firstborns had to be the judge of the whole family and they had to be the judged of the family; firstborns had to be kinsman redeemer e.g., they had to take over the role of a deceased brother, i.e. marry his widow(s) and produce a son.

John 3:1 – Nicodemus was a Pharisee; Pharisees made up 2% of the population and they were all firstborns. Jesus told Nicodemus he needed to be born again, from firstborn to second-born so that he could be moved from firstborn who got justice to second-born who gets mercy.

We are all in Adam (God’s firstborn) and get justice. Jesus (the second Adam) took the form of man (in Adam the firstborn) so that He could take the justice for Adam’s race in order that we can receive mercy.

All who receive mercy are expected to give mercy (James 2:12-13).Every word from God is to be full of mercy (James 3:17-18). We are to express to the world the heart of God that is full of mercy, full of passionate grief for lost potential.

The whole issue of being merciful is that God Himself in Jesus took on the form of the firstborn (Adam) to take the justice for Adam’s race. Through the miracle of rebirth by the Spirit of God, we become God’s second-born and are therefore eligible for mercy. Since we have received the mercy of God that has cancelled such a huge debt, we are to imitate the character of God (Exodus 33:19) by showing mercy to all people.

Like the wicked servant in Matthew 18:23-35, not to show mercy to those who offend us is to cancel out God’s mercy towards us and place us back in the position of firstborn – justice, not mercy.

We reflect the heart of God by being generous to those who do not deserve it, just as God has been generous to us so that we ourselves will experience God’s generosity to us and that we can truly know Him, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness – Exodus 34:6.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND GOOD WORKS

Christian Life, ,

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND GOOD WORKS

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7

What the Bible teaches is always in balance. Without the righteousness of Jesus which covers and replaces our unrighteousness, we have no standing before God. As our substitute, Jesus died for us as though He were unrighteous, and gave us His righteousness as a gift of mercy. This is the only way to find acceptance with God.

God made Him, who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5: 21)

However, there is another side to it. James put it this way:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2: 14-17)

We may revel in the righteousness which God has given to us as a free gift of His grace and which makes us acceptable to Him but, without responding in gratitude by doing the right thing for others, it means nothing.

The heart of the kingdom then, as far as daily living is concerned, is showing mercy to someone in need whenever and wherever we can because God has shown mercy to us. This is the way God rules in His world.

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be is summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no harm to his neighbour. Therefore, love is the fulfilment of the law. (Rom. 13: 8-10)

God’s kingdom comes whenever and wherever we show mercy to others. It is possible for us to be merciful now because our selfish, greedy selves have been put to death by the death of Jesus. We have been raised with Him to a new life of gratitude and obedience to Him for His mercy and unselfish love for others, shown by our compassion towards them. If not, our faith is empty, useless, and invalid – bottom line.

Jesus had something to say to people who claimed to know Him by their so-called “spiritual gifts” but, like the Pharisees, used them for the wrong reasons,

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matt. 7: 21-23)

The kingdom of God is much more than a doctrine to be understood. It is a life to be lived and a reality to be experienced. Of what value is it if we can navigate our way through the intricacies of the kingdom with clarity and accuracy in our understanding but still live as though we are citizens of this world?

Like our rabbi who blazed the trail, the kingdom of God only comes to life among us when we practise its values amid this world’s darkness.  Jesus showed us what God’s kingdom will look like when it is finally ushered in in its fullness. There will be no sickness or sorrow, no demons or dying. All sin will be put away forever and God’s family will live in union with Him and with one another in perfect harmony.

Until then, we experience the kingdom only in part. Ours is the task of being heralds of the kingdom and bearers of the good news, demonstrating what the kingdom is like by reflecting the disposition of our Master and by replicating His love and compassion towards all people, and showing that the kingdom is real and is coming in its fullness when Jesus returns.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.