Blessed Are the Merciful
A guest post by Jeremy Thornton.
“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)
On the morning of October 2, 2006, Charles Carl Roberts barricaded himself inside West Nickel Mines Amish School. After murdering five young girls and wounding six others, Roberts committed suicide.
It was a dark day for the Amish community of West Nickel Mines, but it was also a dark day for Marie Roberts, the wife of the gunman, and her two young children.
On the following Saturday, Marie went to her husband’s funeral. She and her children watched in amazement as Amish families — about half of the seventy-five mourners present — came and stood alongside them in the midst of their blinding grief. Despite the horrific crimes the man had committed against them, the Amish came to mourn Charles Carl Roberts as a husband and daddy.
Bruce Porter, a fire department chaplain who attended the service, was profoundly moved: “It’s the love, the heartfelt forgiveness they have toward the family. I broke down and cried seeing it displayed.” He said Marie Roberts was also touched. “She was absolutely, deeply moved by the love shown.” (USA Today, October 7, 2006).
The world would be a better place if everyone could learn the importance of being merciful. It appears that everyone expects mercy from others but do expect to grant mercy to ones that have offended them.
There was a time when the “Golden Rule” was taught to young children, stressing the importance of “doing unto others as you would have them do to you” but now it seems as if we live by the rule of “doing to others before they can do it to us.”
As Jesus is preaching to the multitude, He has addressed the attitude of those who will be blessed, and among those who are blessed are those who are merciful.
What does it mean to be merciful, and what will happen if we extend mercy to others?
State of Being.
Simply put, “mercy” can be defined as “punishment due, withheld.”
Mercy is akin to forgiveness and grace. Mercy is shown or granted when someone has committed some act that would demand punishment, but instead of receiving punishment, their actions were overlooked.
Throughout the Bible, we read of the many instances of God being merciful.
God saw the wickedness of man, and it repented to Him that He made man, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and God granted mercy to Noah and his family in giving instructions to build the ark and be kept from the flood (Gen. 6:5ff.).
Abraham pled for God’s mercy upon Sodom and Gomorrah and God stated He would be merciful to those cities if Abraham could find ten righteous people (Gen. 18:20ff.).
God was merciful to Saul of Tarsus. Saul caused havoc upon the church, persecuting Christians and causing the church to be scattered abroad (Acts 7-9), but God was merciful, and Paul was chosen to take the Gospel to the Gentiles and to have his sins washed away in the waters of baptism (Acts 9:15; Acts 22:16).
Mercy implies a willingness to forgive, and as all come short of the glory of God because of sin (Rom. 3:23), God will grant mercy to those who obey His plan of salvation.
State of Blessing.
Those who are willing to be merciful to others will receive mercy.
Does this mean that if we are merciful to others we should expect the same in return? Unfortunately, there are some in this world that will not be merciful. Christians have been persecuted since the foundation of the church.
Many Christians had to give their lives because they would not deny the faith and although Jesus stated the merciful would obtain mercy, the mercy He speaks of does not come from men but from God.
When we continue to act and react as God would have us to, the time is coming when God will extend His mercy to those who keep His commands.
“This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.”
The many of this world that are not merciful are just a small reminder that Christians are strangers and pilgrims in this world.
The time is coming when the merciful will receive mercy, but now is the time to be merciful, knowing the blessing that is in store for those who are.
Jeremy Thornton preaches for the Highway 77 Church of Christ in Marion, Arkansas. I’ve known Jeremy for several years and appreciate his good work in the Lord’s kingdom!
I have heard this statement before that mercy is somehow defined as “punishment due, withheld.”- but that is totally wrong.
Where is the punishment withheld in the story of the Good Samaritan?
When Christ asked the lawyer "Which now of these three, think you, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do you likewise. (Luke 10:36-37)
Mercy is to have compassion for people who deserve it, not to withhold punishment on those who don't deserve it.
ONLY those who are merciful will receive mercy from God, that is what Christ clearly said: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)
The parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35 also clearly shows that God will not be merciful to those who show no mercy or compassion to others, and will actually take away any forgiveness that they may have previously had.
We must live love God in order to obtain mercy from him:
Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
(Deu 7:9)
But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; Psa_103:17
Amen