Jesus, on Mercy:
Matt 9:27,29&30a
27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him,
crying out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, "It shall be
done to you according to your faith."
30 And their eyes were opened. NASU
Matt 17:15,18
15 Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is
very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
18 And Jesus rebuked
him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
NASU
This next one is one of my favorites:
Matt 15:22-28
22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began
to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is
cruelly demon-possessed." 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His
disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps
shouting at us." 24 But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel ." 25 But she came and began to bow down before
Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" 26 And He answered and said, "It
is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 27 But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even
the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." 28 Then
Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you
as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once.
NASU
This is Easter…Resurrection Sunday…Rites of Spring…another
day, except that it’s the day, this year, on which most of us are remembering what took
place on that particular first day of the week; the manifestation of God’s Mercy
working to satisfy the Justice that Judgment demands.
Here’s a half-rhetorical question for you:
Does Jesus have the relationship between Mercy Judgment and Justice in the wrong order?
Don't we behave as if Mercy, if there is to be any, is supposed to come some time between Judgment and Justice?
Isn't that the time when the convict is supposed to throw himself on the "mercy" of the court?
Jesus shows mercy to people whose pain had nothing to do
with anything he did, or any kind of divine retribution inflicted by God. There
is no question of guilt, no question of future punishment. The only question
is: Why come to him in search of mercy?
The answer is not just that they knew he could bestow whatever mercy
they were seeking, but that they knew he would.
It looks to me like Jesus believes that:
Justice begins with Mercy
James 2:8-13
8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to
the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are
doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are
convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and
yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11 For He who said,
"DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, "DO NOT COMMIT
MURDER." Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have
become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be
judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has
shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
NASU
- But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
In a nutshell, James is saying that if you want to insist on
the rule of law, you should know that the law has to be your advocate.
If, however you choose to live by the royal law, Mercy will be your advocate at the throne of Judgment (pssst...that's the big One that Jesus sits next to).
Here's an example we might want to follow:
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