01.20.21
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
We continue our consideration of the Beatitudes with a look at the fifth one. Jesus is speaking to His disciples about discipleship. This is the official start to His ministry, although He has been teaching, preaching, and healing for about a year now.
Thus far, in the Sermon on the Mount, He has stressed four things, the first four steps to godly living as a disciple of the Lord Jesus. What are they? Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3) We must recognize our spiritual need. Blessed are those that mourn (4). We must genuinely repent of our sin. Blessed are the meek (5). We must fervently submit to the will of God. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness (6) There must be a heartfelt desire for God—a thirsting after His righteousness.
The next three Beatitudes concern our attitude toward the Lord,
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (7).
The Roman world was a brutal society and one in which mercy was not an admired attribute. In great contrast, mercy is an attribute of God. This theme runs throughout the OT. Here is one example: But I have trusted in your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. (Psalm 13:5)
Mercy refers to our not receiving what we deserve. It is one of the gifts of salvation, for we deserve judgment, punishment, banishment, hell. When we accept Christ as our personal Savior, we find that He has already taken these things upon Himself at the cross.
Jesus is telling us that those who have received mercy are to display it. As Paul advised, Therefore seeing ye have this ministry, as ye have received mercy, we do not faint (2 Corinthians 4:1b). Once we have been the recipient of the mercy of God, we are to share that with others.
Jesus will later give the parable of the man who was forgiven an exorbitant amount of debt, but yet when one of his own debtors asked him to forgive one-tenth that amount, he refused and had him thrown into the debtor’s prison. (Matt 18:23-35)
When we are merciful we will react to others with a forgiving and compassionate spirit. We see examples of this sprinkled throughout the Word of God. Abraham was merciful toward Lot even though Lot had been disrespectful of him. Abraham sent his servants to deliver Lot after he had been captured by an enemy army.
David showed mercy toward Saul despite all of the trouble the king had caused him, even attempting to kill him on occasion. After the death of Saul and his son, his great friend Jonathan, David sought out their remaining kin. Finding a lame grandson, he took him into the palace and cared for him and his family.
The Church at Corinth, composed primarily of Gentiles, provided for the needy Jewish church in Jerusalem when they were facing a famine. They realized that their spiritual well-being had come to them from Jerusalem, and they were willing to reciprocate in a material way.
The fifth step in godliness is thus a changed life, one that turns from selfish concerns to mercy towards others. This is all a reflection of the mercy God provided for the whole world when His Son, the Lord Jesus, took our sins upon Himself. He bore the judgment we deserve.
God is abundantly merciful to all who will call upon Him in faith.