Gwendolyn Harmon's Blog: Learning Ladyhood, page 26

Choosing the Path of Blessing

A sorrowful trio stood at the edge of town. Tears flowed down the cheeks of two young women, while the face of the older women bore the traces of its sorrow with a look of determination. Nothing would move her from the course of action upon which she had decided.

The two younger women clung to the older one, as if refusing to part with one so dear. The older woman said to the younger two,

“Go, return each unto her mother’s house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and...

Life Redeemed

Last week, we celebrated Christ’s resurrection, the victorious climax to His sacrifice in payment for our sins. Because of the resurrection, we are offered salvation, for Christ’s blood redeems us from our captivity to sin.

But this past week, as I thought about the redemption Christ purchased with His precious blood, something else came to mind.

You see, as indescribably important and wonderful as it is that Christ has redeemed my soul, I have found a special joy this week in mulling over the f...

Blessed are Ye

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

 

This final beatitude (which is sometimes counted as part of the previous one) brings the truths of these statements from theoretical to practical. It reminds us that these statements are not just lofty truths to be assented ...

Persecuted

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10)

This beatitude seems on the surface like an extreme contradiction. After all, who would be happy to be persecuted? And yet, “happy” is just what the word “blessed” literally means.

Perhaps this paradox will be easier to unravel if we consider the fact that it is not the persecution itself that makes us happy, but the cause for which we are persecuted.

For Righteousness’ Sake

The blessedness of persecution hinges on the fact that we are not being persecuted because of something wrong we have done. I Peter 4:14-15 gives us the most concise explanation of this concept:

 

“If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”

 

Persecution for righteousness’ sake comes for the simple reason that we are like Christ and unlike the world. It is the natural consequence of exhibiting the Christlike character of all the preceding beatitudes, for the righteousness of Christ makes all the world’s self-righteousness look decidedly shabby.

The more we grow in the righteousness of Christ, the more the world hates us, because the world hates Christ. As Jesus said,

 

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John 15:18-19)

 

I love the way D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones puts this:

 

“To become like Him we have to become light; light always exposes darkness, and the darkness therefore always hates the light.”*

Our growth in righteousness will inevitably bring us into the way of persecution of some form. It may be as mild as looks of contempt or spiteful words, or it may even be as extreme as martyrdom. God has a unique plan for each of His children, but one common thread runs through them all:

 

“In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

 

To suffer for righteousness’ sake is part of following Christ. In fact, the early Christians considered it to be the greatest honor. In Acts 5, the apostles, having just been beaten for preaching the gospel,

“departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” (Acts 5:41)

We cannot avoid conflict with the world: but we can make sure that the conflict is due to the righteousness of Christ shining through us, and not our own sinful attitudes and actions. If the world is persecuting us because we are living righteously, we can be encouraged to know that we are following in the footsteps of Christ.  

 

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously: Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:21-24)

Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

As much encouragement as we can find in the occurrence of persecution which arises because we are growing in Christlikeness, there is even more encouragement to be found in the promise tied to persecution throughout Scripture: that the suffering of the persecuted Christian is never unrewarded.

The word for persecution in Matthew 5 has the idea of being pursued or pressed forward. There is a great contrast in this beatitude. To those whom the world has hunted down and driven from place to place, it promises a future of ownership in the very kingdom of heaven. They may be poor and persecuted now, but in the kingdom of God they will be rulers, for the Christian who suffers for Christ will one day reign with Him. (2 Timothy 2:11-12)

A few verses after this promise about the kingdom of heaven, Jesus says we ought to respond to persecution this way:

 

“Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 5:12)

 

The point is not to rejoice in the physical or emotional pain of persecution, but rather to glory in its cause and its future result. We rejoice in persecution because it shows that we are in some measure reflecting the righteousness of Christ, and we rejoice in persecution because we know with the utmost certainty that God is a righteous Judge, and He will one day correct the injustice of our persecution and reward us for enduring it faithfully.

—And through it all, we can rest in the truth of Romans 8:35-39.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, for angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

 

*D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount p. 137

A Powerful Peacemaker

The life of Joseph is an incredible example of God’s grace at work in the heart of a man who chose to forgive, though he had been horribly wronged. 

You might not think of Joseph as a peacemaker, but throughout his life, there is not one recorded instance of him seeking revenge. In fact, he actively worked to do good to those who wronged him.

His brothers hated him from a young age, and eventually sold him as a slave. Then, they told their father that he had been killed by wild beasts. Then, to all appearances, life in Canaan just went right on without Joseph.

That is, until the famine. Food began to dwindle, and when they heard reports that there was food in the land of Egypt, they decided to go. Little did they know that they were about to come face to face with their long-lost brother.

They didn’t recognize him, so many years had passed, and now he was dressed as a high-ranking Egyptian. In fact, the brother they had so hated had become the second most powerful man in all Egypt! Imagine their surprise, shock, and terror, when Joseph finally revealed his identity.

And yet, while he had tested them to ascertain the state of their hearts, he had already shown himself generous and eager to help his family survive the famine. Not only that, when he had opportunity to berate them for the wrong they had done him, he pointed instead to the truth that God had used it for good. Here is what he said:

 

“Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.” (Genesis 45:5)

 

He then assured them that he would take care of them through the five remaining years of famine. Not only did he show them his heart of forgiveness and his faith-filled perspective on the events of their past, he also made peace with them by offering to meet their physical needs.

Later on, after their father died, the brothers again feared that Joseph would exact revenge. After all, he was the most powerful man in Egypt, except for Pharaoh, and could have punished them in whatever way he chose.

They sent off a hurried message saying that their father made it his dying wish that he would forgive them, and then cautiously appeared before him, bowing to the ground in humility. Joseph replied:

 

“Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones.” (Genesis 50:19-21)

 

Joseph was able to promote his brother’s peace by extending his full and free forgiveness for their wrong. Though he was powerful, he was a peacemaker, and chose to see his brothers as God saw them, and their wrong from the vantage point of the good God chose to bring out of it.

The foundation of being a peacemaker like Joseph is the willingness to set aside grievances and offenses, focusing instead on God and resting in the good He can bring out of even the worst situations.

“But we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Peacemakers

“Blessed are the peacemakers:

for they shall be called the children of God.”

(Matthew 5:9)

We humans are not naturally creatures of peace. We argue, we fight, we fuss and we fume. We are selfish, and selfishness is the exact opposite of what it means to be a peacemaker.

It is common to think of a peacemaker as a naturally easygoing, peace-at-all-costs sort of person who has a dread of conflict and thus attempts to please everyone. But that is not the Biblical definition of a peacemaker.

The word translated peacemaker in this verse is simply the form of the word for peace that gives the sense of making or doing. It implies an active effort to make peace, by doing things that will make peace.

While the English word peacemaker only occurs just this once in the Bible, the same Greek word appears in the same form several other places as well, each giving us a glimpse into what it means to be a peacemaker.

Peace with the Wrongdoer

Romans 12:18-21 shows us what it means to be a peacemaker when we personally have been wronged:

 

“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy huger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

This passage tells us that the Christian is not to pursue vengeance or seek to take the punishment of the wicked into his or her own hands. Instead, we are actively to seek to do good to those who have wronged us, diligently finding out their needs and meeting them to the best of our ability. That is being a peacemaker.

Of course, this does not abolish the proper administration of justice: it simply means that the Christian, when wronged, can rest in the knowledge of God’s ultimate justice being done in His timing.

In the case of wrongdoing that has violated society’s laws, Scripture makes it clear that it is proper for the Christian to expect society to administer justice: the emphasis here is not that wrongdoing should never be punished, but rather that we are to leave that punishment to the proper authorities, knowing that whether or not earthly authorities are willing or able to bring the wrongdoer to justice, God is the Judge of all, and will make it right in His timing.

I am reminded of 1 Peter 4:19,

 

“Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”

 

We can be peacemakers even to those who have done us or our loved ones wrong, because we can trust the faithfulness of our Creator, who has forgiven our own wrongdoing towards Himself.

Peace with our Surroundings

“Finally brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11)

This verse reminds me that to live in peace, we must humbly accept the people and circumstances God has placed in our lives. We cannot make peace with those around us if we do not first have peace in ourselves!

Often, one of the things that hinders us from being the peacemakers God desires us to be is bitterness about some aspect of our life. We know God has allowed it, and plans to use it for our good, but we can’t quite bring ourselves to accept it or believe that it could be turned into anything good.

Look at the verse again and notice the things Paul told the Corinthians to do. Each one takes humility, either with God or our fellow Christians. Living in peace takes humility as well.

Those things in our lives over which we are fuming or fretting keep us from living in peace with God and with others. It is pride and selfishness that says to God, “I don’t like that part of my life, and I won’t be happy while it exists, so there!”  

Until we bring those things to God, humbly confessing our pride and selfishness in surrender to His will, we will never get our focus off ourselves long enough to do anything to aid the peace of anyone else, for to be a peacemaker means to reject our natural selfishness and live with our focus on others.  

 

Peace with our Fellow Christians

This brings us to the third passage: this time the word peacemaker is translated “at peace.”

 

“And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.” (1 Thessalonians 5:13)

This reminds us that we are to be a peacemaker within the church. Romans 12 tells us that the church is the body of Christ, made up of many members, with many different functions. We are, however, still sinners, saved by grace but still struggling with a sin nature.

That is why it is so vital that Christians be peacemakers. As members of the body of Christ, our purpose is to serve God. We must lay aside our selfishness, rejecting the “right” to hold grudges or demand attention. We speak that which will edify, or build up, instead of that which will tear down. We seek to live and act and react to life the way Jesus would. If we all did that, we would truly be at peace among ourselves!

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes the peacemaker as:

“the man whose central concern is the glory of God, and who spends his life in trying to minister to that glory.” *

To keep our eyes and hearts focused on God’s glory is to live in readiness to be a peacemaker. Of course, the ultimate way we can further peace is to share the gospel, for it is through Christ that we have peace with God. (Romans 5:1)

We can be peacemakers with those who have wronged us by actively looking for ways to do them good, as Christ did for us. And we can be peacemakers within the church by setting self aside and looking for ways to encourage and edify our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Children of God

The promise of this beatitude is that peacemakers will be called the children of God. 1 John 3:1 says,

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.”

 

When we live as peacemakers in this world, we display our “family resemblance” to God, who has called us His own children. The world doesn’t recognize a peacemaker. It thinks it strange and abnormal for someone to do good to their enemies with a sincere heart. It cannot understand why anyone would “put up with” the things a peacemaker overlooks, or why that peacemaker will not take vengeance on one who has wronged them when the opportunity arises.

We may have the world’s approval for a while, insomuch as our peacemaking efforts comprise just generally being a nice person, but there is a reason Romans 12:18 begins with the words, “If it be possible.”

The world is no champion of true peace. It is too much a fan of its own selfishness to applaud true selflessness for very long.

 Yet, regardless of how the world perceives us, to be called the children of God should be our greatest joy, and the furtherance of His glory our greatest desire.

 

 

 

 

 

*D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.1996 p. 123

 

Pure Heart in a Pagan Land

Daniel is indisputably one of the great heroes of the faith. God Himself refers to Daniel in the book of Ezekiel, twice declaring of Jerusalem,

“Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 14:14,20)

He again mentions Daniel later on in the same book, saying derisively to the prideful prince of Tyrus, “Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee” (Ezekiel 28:3)

This shows that Daniel was well and widely-known for his wisdom and his righteousness throughout the Babylonian empire. The book of Daniel records many instances of Daniel standing up for righteousness, whatever the cost. But all that didn’t just happen.

It began with a decision.

Daniel was taken captive in the first Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 605 BC. (2 Kings 24:1-2) He was apparently either from the royal family or else one of the leading families of Judah, and was chosen in response to Nebuchadnezzar’s command to bring him

 

“Children in whom was no blemish, but well-favoured, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.”(Daniel 1:4)

 

This long list of accomplishments tells us what kind of education and looks Daniel had, but it isn’t until verse 8 that we find out what kind of heart he had.

The king was generous with the new arrivals, giving them meat and wine from his own table, and giving them three years to “catch up” with their Babylonian training before being brought into the kings’ presence. But there was a problem. The food so generously provided to the captives was defiling in the eyes of the Judean captives, who had apparently been brought up to follow the law.

What could they do? They were far away from home, and no one in Babylon was likely to care what their religious beliefs were. To refuse anything the king commanded was extremely dangerous and could even be fatal. The captives had no rights, no way to make their captors understand the importance of adherence to God’s laws. Even to attempt it must have seemed futile. This is the situation in which we find Daniel in verse 8.

 

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank”

 

This is the beginning of the amazing and miraculous things God did for and through Daniel. Not only did the man in charge of him listen to his appeal, the proposed “experiment” of eating only the part of the king’s food that would not defile them was widely successful.

It is easy to look at a man like Daniel and think that it was somehow just easier for him to stand up for righteousness. But Daniel wasn’t just naturally a “better person” than the rest of us: he made a choice to focus on doing right, whatever the cost.

His heart was set on following God, and that purity of heart helped him to stay strong against peer pressure (Daniel 1), against the intimidation of a prideful king (Daniel 2-4), against the offer of a wicked ruler’s wealth (Daniel 5:16-17), and even against the threat of a gruesome death. (Daniel 6)

Whatever test came Daniel’s way, he passed it, not because he was perfect, but because he had a pure heart committed to obey God.

Purity of heart is rare, because our hearts are naturally “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9)

To get our hearts pure, we simply confess our sin and ask for forgiveness. Then we strive to keep our hearts pure by memorizing God’s Word (Psalm 119:11) and going to God immediately when we sin, knowing that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)

The closer our relationship to God, the purer our hearts will be.

After the final destruction of Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the captives in Babylon with a message from God. I wonder if Daniel found comfort, strength, and encouragement in these words then as I do today:

 

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.”(Jeremiah 29:11-13)

Pure in Heart

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

Matthew 5:8

Like mercy, purity of heart is a direct result of the poor-in-spirit Christian seeing sin as God sees it. That Christian will mourn over his or her own sin, meekly accepting God’s standard of righteousness, and hungering to meet it with all the intensity of the most urgent need.  

To Be Pure-Hearted

To be pure means to be clean or clear, figuratively or literally. To have a pure heart is not only to have a heart that is cleansed from sin, as at salvation, but also a heart that desires to stay clean before God.

Just like a clean floor needs regular attention if it is to stay clean, our hearts need that ongoing confession of sin and restoration of fellowship as we live as saved, yet still sinners in the midst of a filthy world. 1Timothy 1:5 reminds us,

“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.”

 

Our love for others, our mercy, our meekness, every aspect of our interactions with others flows from our hearts. A pure heart will value others the way God values them and will treat them accordingly.

If our hearts are soiled by the grime of unconfessed sin, however, we will treat others according to the selfishness and deceitfulness of our old sin nature.

Purity of heart strikes me as a single-minded focus. Jesus Himself mentions later in this same “Sermon on the Mount,”

  

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Luke 6:22-23)

 

The direction our eyes are gazing determines our focus. When we keep our eyes set on the world and worldly things, our focus will be worldly.

With our gaze full of a worldly focus, the light of Christ which ought to shine through us will be dimmed as we embrace the world’s darkness.

However, when we set our gaze on the things of God, our light grows brighter and brighter. The purer our heart, the brighter our light. Paul says,

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

 

His one goal, the one thing for which he worked and longed, was “The high calling of God in Christ Jesus” When we become Christians, we are called to be ambassadors. (2 Corinthians 5:20) Jesus said, just a few verses away from our beatitude,

 

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

 

Purity of heart will always lead to the fulfillment of our calling to be lights, examples, beacons of hope and righteousness that will lead others to the one in Whom there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

To See God

Purity of heart also leads to a glorious result: “for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) Matthew Henry explains this well:

“None but the pure are capable of seeing God, nor would heaven be happiness to the impure. As God cannot endure to look upon their iniquity, so they cannot look upon His purity.” *

 

You see, when our hearts are made pure before God at salvation, we are given the unfailingly certain promise that we will see Him one day, face to face. (1 Corinthians 3:12)

In the glorious description of eternity ahead with God in the New Jerusalem, we are told,

“And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: And they shall see His face…” (Revelation 22:3-4)

 

But, as with so many of the other promises made in these beatitudes, there is an earthly aspect to the promise as well as the obvious heavenly fulfillment. This is seen in 1 John 3:2-3.

 

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.”

 

The knowledge that we will one day see God face to face, in the indescribable glory of all that He is, serves as motivation to purify ourselves now, while we wait for His coming. And notice, too, that beholding God makes us become more like Him. 2 Corinthians puts it this way:

 

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into that same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (3:18)

 

Here on earth, we wait for that sweet someday when we will see God face to face and be given new bodies, pure and free from our sin natures. But while we wait, we strive to become more and more like God as we catch more and more glimpses of His glory.

 

 Where Do We Begin?

At this point, you may be asking yourself, “So how do we get there? How do we develop that single-minded striving to keep our hearts pure before God?” Psalm 119 gives the answer:

 

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word. With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy commandments. Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” (vv.9-11)

 

Purity of heart begins with God’s Word. One of the things Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17 was,

“Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.” (v.17)

He then goes on to say that He prays this not just for His disciples, but also for all those who would believe in Him through their word (i.e., you and me.) We are sanctified, or set apart from sin and to God, through the Scripture. This means that the way we grow in striving after purity of heart is to immerse ourselves in God’s Word, saturating our thinking with His truth. That is exactly what the author of Psalm 119 did. That is where his heart to study, learn, obey, and delight in God’s Word came from.

When I was a teen, my brother came home from Bible college with a grand plan to memorize Psalm 119—and for me to memorize it along with him!

To be honest, I began memorizing the psalm to please my brother. However, the more time I spent reading, repeating, and reviewing the verses, the more truth I noticed in them, and the more I grew to share the love the unnamed psalmist had for God’s Word. The verses resonated with where I was in my Christian growth as well as where I wanted to be.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but that memorization project was to be a defining force in my growth to the measure of spiritual maturity I enjoy today.  It was the Holy Spirit of God quickening the Word of God to my heart that developed within me the desire, the longing, the thirst for holiness that motivates me to strive after purity of heart.

—And if you come to it honestly, with a poor in spirit heart, humbly submissive to its truths, that’s exactly what the Word of God will do for you.

 

“Behold, I have longed after Thy precepts: quicken me in Thy righteousness.” (Psalm 119:40)

 

 

 

*Matthew Henry, Parallel Commentary of the New Testament, AMG Publishers. Chattanooga: Tennessee. 2003 p. 15

The Merciful Stranger

In Luke 10, a man comes to Jesus and asks, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replies by asking the man what he had understood from Scripture in answer to that question. The man summarizes the law, saying,

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”

Jesus agrees with this summary, saying, “This do, and thou shalt live,” but that answer does not satisfy the man, who asks further, “Who is my neighbor?” Knowing that the man’s goal was only to justify himself, Jesus gives a parable in response to the question:

 

“A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?”

I don’t know what the man thought or how he felt about Jesus’ story, but he gave the right answer:

 

“He that showed mercy on him.”

 

It is easy to read this story and cheer for the good Samaritan, making much of his character and generosity, but miss the practical application of what Jesus intended it to illustrate.

Of the three men who travelled that road and saw the wounded man, the Samaritan was not the most likely to stop. In fact, to the Jewish audience to which Jesus spoke this parable, Samaritans were considered apostate half-breeds, hated and despised.

Great lengths were taken by the Jews of Jesus’ day to avoid travelling through Samaria to get anywhere else, and the mere mention of a Samaritan in Jesus’ parable likely shocked some of His hearers, let alone the Samaritan appearing in the role of the hero.

For the Samaritan of all people to show mercy to the Jewish man would have been a surprising twist, especially since the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans was not at all one-sided.

It is interesting how Jesus chose to phrase this parable: it is a certain man, a specific road, a certain priest, a certain Samaritan: all this makes it quite likely that Jesus is relating something that had actually happened. In fact, one commentator I read suggested that this may have been an event which the crowd would have known of. That is just interesting speculation, but it does seem from what Jesus said that this was no made up-story, but rather a real-life illustration of what it means to be merciful.

It is often pointed out (and rightly so) that the Samaritan didn’t let the man’s heritage stop him from showing mercy on the wounded man. In our current culture, I think it is needful to also mention that the Samaritan also did not let the wounded man’s feelings towards his heritage stop him. There was no excuse of “I can’t help him, he’s a Jew. They hate us!” The man needed help, so the Samaritan helped him.

The Samaritan’s example is a good reminder to us that we are to show mercy to others regardless of who they are, what society thinks of them –or even what they think about us. After all, God Himself showed us mercy while we were still at enmity with Him.

 

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

 

The knowledge of how much mercy God has extended to you and to me ought to give us hearts ready, willing, even eager to pour our own pitiful store of mercy out on others. And when the Holy Spirit prompts us to some act or word or service of mercy, let us obey immediately, regardless of that person’s personality, beliefs, past actions, or attitude towards us.

God’s mercy extends to the lowest and the least –and aren’t you glad it does?

 

 

The Merciful

“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”

(Matthew 5:7)

This beatitude is somewhat self-explanatory.  When we show mercy to others, we do not always obtain mercy from them in return.

However, in this beatitude, Christ lifts our gaze to a higher level, assuring the merciful that they shall receive mercy from God.

The mercy of God is not dependent upon any merit of ours, as Ephesians 2:4-7 reminds us:

 

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

 

When we were dead in our sins, hopelessly lost and utterly offensive to God, that same God who is perfectly holy and separate from sin, chose to take our sin on Himself, that we might be made righteous before Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) That is the richness of God’s mercy in action.

From this we can see the kind of mercy Jesus is talking about: the kind of mercy that seeks out those who would be unlikely to be extended mercy by anyone else, those from whom we expect no return of kindness. Christ did not die so that we would somehow pay back His gift of salvation: His sacrifice was motivated by His mercy.

Mercy in Selfless Action

The words used in this beatitude for mercy and merciful also have the idea of compassion. Christ was often noted to have had compassion on various individuals and groups of people throughout the gospels. Yet, while it is certainly biblical to “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” (Romans 12:15) Christ’s compassion always motivated Him to act.

Again, Christ’s example shows us what our mercy should look like: Christlike mercy is compassion in action. It does not merely feel in accordance with what another is feeling, but also looks around, sees what can be done to help, and quietly does it, without any fanfare or expectation of reward. Mercy is practical compassion, not just emotional compassion.

Mercy in Extending Forgiveness

Another aspect of the mercy of God can be seen in the parable He gave about a remarkably unmerciful servant:

 

“Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldst not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” (Matthew 18:23-35)

We see here the expectation that we will be merciful in forgiving others, just as God in His mercy has forgiven us.

Some would take this passage to mean that if we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us, but that’s not what is implied here.

The unforgiving servant was not put to the torturers for eternal punishment, but only until his debt was paid. That is not how salvation works. The unsaved person’s punishment for sin is eternal and inescapable by any merit of our own. It is “the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

There is a sense, however, in which the unforgiving Christian, out of God’s will in disobedience to His commands, has stepped out from under God’s protection and now stands vulnerable to attack.

But when the unforgiveness is confessed and the choice is made to forgive, God restores the Christian to that place of protection within His good and perfect will.

Our flesh hates to forgive, for forgiveness requires humility. When we take our eyes off ourselves, however, forgiveness becomes far easier.

In fact, for the poor in spirit Christian who mourns over his or her own sin and hungers and thirsts after righteousness, in meekness allowing God to be the defender, forgiveness will come naturally. It is the outflowing of a heart aware that its own debt of sin forgiven by God is far greater than any sin he or she may be called upon to forgive in another.

The Summary of Mercy

John Wesley gives a good summary of mercy when he describes the merciful as, “The tender-hearted: They who love all men as themselves.” * This again comes back to the further teachings of Jesus:

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:39)

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12)

To be merciful means to extend to others that which God has first extended to us, not only in heartfelt compassion, but in forgiveness and selfless action on their behalf.

 

 

*John Wesley, Parallel Commentary of the New Testament, p.12

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