Merciful Receive Mercy

annah, one of Elkanah’s two wives, was weeping bitterly and in great distress. The other wife, Pheninnah, was her rival and provoked Hannah bitterly to irritate her (1 Sam 1: 2-6) because Hannah could not have any children. This happened year after year, each time they went to the house of the Lord. One year as Hannah was pouring her heart out in prayer, she promised God that if He gave her a son, she would dedicate her son to Him all the days of his life and a razor would not touch his head. God was merciful to Hannah and He gave her a son (1 Sam. 1:19-20). His name was Samuel. He would eventually become a judge, priest and prophet. After her years of suffering, years of weeping and years of anguish, God covered over the emotional scars with tears of joy. Our God is a merciful God and He desires that everyone become like Jesus. Jesus’ fifth beatitude teaches us another quality of true Christians,

Here Is Mercy. Have you ever experienced a failure at school, at home or at work? I have, and on many occasions, I would worry about what might happen to me. When I fail “big” I find myself asking God for mercy. In this beatitude, Jesus says that I will receive mercy if I show mercy. Mercy is something that most of us want to receive. So what kind of mercy does Jesus say will be reflected in a Christian’s life?

By mercy, Jesus does not mean someone who is easy-going nor does it have the idea that “everything is always okay.” It does not have the idea of justice, peace or love. The Greek word Jesus used for merciful is ELEEMON. It means more than just compassion for someone. Mercy (ELEOS) is a feeling that occurs when you are moved by the suffering of an undeserving person and in some way you emotionally share in that person’s suffering.

The Holy Spirit has given us many illustrations of mercy in the New Testament. In the gospel of Matthew, ELEEMON and ELEOS occur only 11 times. Two of these times Jesus tells us, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (NASB) Matt. 9:13 and 12:7. Most of the time we find men and women pleading with Jesus to show mercy. The first passage is Matt. 9:27,

And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, and saying, “Have mercy on us, Son of David! And . . . the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord. Then He touched their eyes . . ." (NASB) Matt 9:27-29

And behold, a Canaanite woman came out from that region, and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” (NASB) Matt 15:22

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. (NASB) Matt 17:15