Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall receive mercy.

Matthew 5:7 ESV

As we have noted in the previous weeks, the Beatitudes are a mindlessly thrown together list of virtues; rather, they are carefully structured descriptions of the Christian character. These are not gifts that the Spirit gives to some Christians and not others. These are qualities will mark every child of God, however imperfectly that might be. Thus, the Beatitudes are not goals to attain; they are a diagnostic test for our souls.

And Jesus gave them a very intentional structure. As we have seen and will continue to see, true blessedness or happiness necessarily begins with seeing that we are poor in spirit, that we have no good apart from the LORD. Understanding our spiritual poverty leads to mourning over sin. We lament our own sin, the sins of others, and the effects of sin upon others. Such a person will then be meek, for he has seen his own vile sinfulness. Furthermore, the thought of his sinfulness creates within him a spiritual appetite for what he does not yet fully possess: righteousness.

We should notice that these first four Beatitudes are primarily concerned with blessed person’s internal condition before God. The final four Beatitudes, however, focus more upon our external condition before others. Fittingly, then, the Beatitudes reflect the two great commandments: loving God and loving others. And as with those commandments, so with the Beatitudes. While love for God must inevitably flow into love for those around us, we cannot properly begin to love our neighbor without first loving God. The Beatitudes operate under the same pattern. Being poor in spirit, mourning, meek, and hungry and thirsty for righteousness will inevitably lead to being merciful, pure in heart, peacemaking, and being persecuted, but the latter is necessarily rooted in the former.

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

The happy or blessed ones, who walk in the divine favor of God, are merciful (ἔλεος). But what is mercy? R. Kent Hughes gives this explanation:

The basic idea of the Greek word translated merciful is “to give help to the wretched, to relieve the miserable.” Here the essential thought is that mercy gives attention to those in misery. From this we make the important distinction between mercy and grace. Grace is shown to the undeserving; mercy is compassion to the miserable. Thus the synonym for mercy is compassion. Mercy, however, is not simply feeling compassion. Mercy exists when something is done alleviate distress. (48)

Hughes then points out that we see how mercy is tied to action after Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (Luke 10:36-37)

The priest and the Levite may very well have said a prayer for the man as they moved to the other side of the road, but it was the Samaritan who showed the man mercy through cleaning his wounds and caring for him. Indeed, mercy is, at its core, a response to misery, specifically the misery of others. Mercy means willingly entering into their misery. In many classical Greek writings, the word is translated as pity, and many of the pagan philosophers considered it a weakness as best and a deficiency in one’s character at worst. In fact, if we want to hear this Beatitude somewhat as it might have been heard by Jesus’ original audience, consider this translation: Blessed those who pity, for they shall be pitied. Yet as proof that His kingdom is not of this world, Jesus makes it a defining character trait of His people.

Of course, this is because those who belong to the kingdom of heaven are adopted as children of God, which means that we ought to long for and strive to imitate His character. And He Himself is merciful.

When God’s presence passed by Moses upon Sinai, He declared His name and His character to the prophet, saying:

The LORD, LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will be no means clear the guilty…

Here is how the Septuagint translates that verse as follows:

The Lord, the Lord God is compassionate and merciful, patient and very merciful and truthful and preserving righteousness and doing mercy for thousands, taking away acts of lawlessness and of injustice and sins…

Notice the triple declaration that God is merciful, yes, very merciful. Paul notably also calls God “rich in mercy” in the context of describing the glories of the gospel. Our God pitied our sinful and miserable condition, a condition that is entirely self-inflicted, and He responds with compassion and mercy. Indeed, every good that we have is rooted in the mercy of God towards us.

But what does it mean for us, as God’s people, to be merciful. William Tyndale gives a wonderful answer that we will use to guide our discussion:

To be merciful is to have compassion and to feel another man’s disease; and to mourn with them that mourn, and suffer with them that suffer; and to help and succour them that are in tribulation and adversity; and to comfort them with good counsel, and wholesome instruction, and loving words. And to be merciful is lovingly to forgive them that offended thee, as soon as they knowledge their misdoing and ask thee mercy. To be merciful is patiently long to abide the conversion of sinners with a lusty courage, and hope that God will at the last convert them, and in the mean time to pray instantly for them; and ever when he seeth an occasion to exhort them, warn them, monish them, and rebuke them. And to be merciful is to interpret all to the best; and to look through the fingers at many things; and not to make a grievous sin of every small trifle; and suffer and forbear, in his own cause, the malice of them that will not repent nor be aknown of their wickedness, as long as he can suffer it, and as long as it ought to be suffered; and when he can no longer, then to complain to them that have authority to forbid wrong, and to punish such evil doers. (Vol 2, 23-24)

His notion of mercy is fourfold.

First, it is compassion and pity for the affliction of others. Paul commands us to do this when he says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). The suffering of one member of Christ’s body ought to impact the whole body of Christ. But, again, mercy is not merely a feeling; rather, it is an active attempt to alleviate their sorrow and suffering. As Paul wrote at the end of Galatians: Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (6:2) and “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (6:10).

Our compassion and mercy ought to be toward all people, but we have a specific duty to our fellow believers because we are members of the same body and are collectively the bride of Christ. Indeed, remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:31-46 regarding the day of judgment:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Indeed, the Greek word for alms or charitable giving (ελεημοσύνη) has the word for mercy at is root. Thus, giving to the needy is a tangible display of mercy and is a vivid test for how merciful we are.

Second, we are merciful to others whenever we forgive their sins against us. Jesus modeled this for us by praying for the forgiveness of those who mocked and crucified Him, even as He hung from the cross. We are to do likewise.

Consider this parable of our Lord from Matthew 18:21–35:

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.  So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

The refusal of the servant in the parable to forgive the significantly smaller debt of his fellow servant is revealed to be all the more ruthless in comparison to the king who forgave the servant’s own enormous debt.

Likewise, a refusal of mercy from we who have received God’s infinite mercy is particularly cruel. Even while we were still sinners in the midst of our rebellion against the eternal and almighty King, Christ died for us. He forgave us of a debt far greater than ten thousand talents. Indeed, any sins commit against us should rightfully be seen as miniscule in comparison to our sins against the Holy One.

Therefore, of all people, followers of Christ should be the most willing to treat others better than they deserve, to forgive sins and to show mercy. We should be happy to bypass transgressions, showing mercy rather than vengeance, because in doing so we imitate our Lord. Through Christ, God has mercifully not given us the wrath that we so rightly deserve; we too, in Christ, must treat others better than they deserve.

As we make this our aim, keep Hughes’ words in mind:

Some words of qualification are in order. The warning is not for those who find that bitterness and hatred recur even though they have forgiven the offender. The fact that you have forgiven and continue to forgive is a sign of grace, despite the ambivalences and imperfections of your forgiveness. The warning is for those who have no desire to forgive. Their souls are in danger. (52).

Third, the merciful long for sinners to come to Christ. Sin is the great cause of misery, and if sin is not put to death in Christ, sin drag all people down into everlasting misery. On the final day of judgment, we will feel no pity for the damned. Once God’s common grace is removed, we will discover nothing to love or pity within them. But so long as there is breath in a person’s lungs, we should yearn for them to come to Christ. Before his conversion, Paul actively put God’s people to death as a persecutor of the church. Of this Paul wrote: “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16). Paul is, in essence, saying, “I am a living testimony that Jesus can save anyone! If He can save me, He can save you!”

Martin Lloyd-Jones, after passing again through the first four Beatitudes, writes:

Does it not follow inevitably that, if I have seen and experienced all that, my attitude towards everybody else must be completely and entirely changed? If all that is true of me, I no longer see men as I used to see them. I see them now with a Christian eye. I see them as the dupes and the victims and the slaves of sin and Satan and of the way of the world. I have come to see them not simply as men whom I dislike but as men to be pitied. I have come to see them as being governed by the god of this world, as being still where once I was, and would be yet but for the grace of God. So I am sorry for them. I do not merely see them and what they do. I see them as the slaves of hell and of Satan, and my whole attitude toward them is changed. And because of that, of course, I can be and must be merciful with respect to them. I differentiate between the sinner and the sin. I see everybody who is in a state of sin as one who is to be pitied. (102-103)

Fourth, the merciful seek to interpret the actions of others in the best way and are not prone to fault-finding. In his great words on love, Paul writes:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

We should be quick to apply those words as Spurgeon does, saying, “And, brethren, we should be merciful to one another in seeking never to look at the worst side of a brother’s character… let us look at the bright side of the brother’s character rather than the dark one, and feel that we rise in repute when other Christians rise in repute, and that, as they have honour through their holiness, our Lord has the glory of it, and we share in some of the comfort of it.”

Are these your disposition? Are you merciful? Does your heart ache over the sin and misery of others? Lloyd-Jones gives us this word:

‘Let every man examine himself.’ I am not asking you what sort of life you are living. I am not asking whether you do this or that or the other. I am not asking whether you have some general interest in the kingdom of God and His house. I am simply asking this. Are you merciful? Are you sorry for every sinner even though that sinner offends you? Have you pity upon all who are the victims and the dupes of the world and the flesh and the devil? That is the test. ‘Blessed—happy—are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.’

FOR THEY SHALL RECEIVE MERCY

When we come to the second half of this Beatitude, we find one of the greatest difficulties and misunderstanding within the whole passage. Consider the words: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Does that not appear to say that the merciful will receive mercy because they first shown mercy to others? Does not the parable of the indebted servant teach that as well? Even though he was originally forgiven of his monumental debt, his unwillingness to forgive the debt of another servant resulted in his imprisonment. Jesus even ended by saying, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Or what about the two verses following the Lord’s Prayer? “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15).

R. C. Sproul rightly notes that “if God forgave me in exact proportion to the manner in which I distribute forgiveness to other people, I would perish” (82). And the same is true of showing mercy. None of us could bear such a condition. We would all fall hopelessly short and remain in our sins. Thankfully, this is not Jesus’ meaning. Instead, Christ is noting that we cannot be recipients of God’s grace without also being givers of grace ourselves.

Indeed, the purpose of the parable is not to teach us that God will forgive us exactly as we forgive others but rather that a characteristic of those forgiven by God is their forgiving nature. Because the world is full of sin, we will perpetually wrestle with forgiving those who sin against us, and the task is not easy by any stretch of the imagination! However, we pray for our own forgiveness to God in order to give perspective to those who have sinned against us. For when we consider our eternal debt against God that has been forgiven us, the prospect of us withholding forgiveness from another person is even more absurd than the parable describes. Such a practice is simply inconceivable for the Christian. We cannot receive infinite mercy with one hand, while denying finite mercy with the other. The forgiven must also be forgivers. Those who have received mercy must also be ones who are merciful.

And that is Christ’s point. A person can only be merciful after having received God’s mercy. But as we strive to show mercy, we will inevitably find ourselves acting like the priest, Levite, or the unforgiving servant.

The good news of the gospel is that mercy is there for us. Jesus doesn’t say to us, “Be merciful and earn your way into the kingdom.” Jesus says, “Be merciful and know that there is mercy available to you too. In me, there is forgiveness to cover all of the wrong things that you have done, be they few or many.” What is more, it is real forgiveness, based on a real dealing with those sins on the cross by Jesus. There is a real restored relationship with God, no matter what we have done or will do. That’s mercy. (Duguid, Hero of Heroes)

Indeed, it is only those who can see their own need for mercy who are truly equipped to give mercy to others. It is only those who see themselves as pitiable who are properly equipped to show godly pity to others.

Receiving mercy, however, requires overcoming our own pride. The mercy of God extended to us by Christ upon the cross only requires the humility of receiving what we could not produce, of depending solely upon the goodness and compassion of another. Although the gospel is offered freely, it requires accepting God’s pity upon our miserable state. But for many that is a step further than they are ever willing to go.

In Lewis’ wonderful story, The Great Divorce, he imagines a number of people who take a field trip to heaven from hell, where they are greeted by believers who urged them to leave hell behind for good. In one scene, one man keeps insisting that he only wants his rights:

‘What do you keep on arguing for? I’m only telling you the sort of chap I am. I only want my rights. I’m not asking for anybody’s bleeding charity.’

‘Then do. At once. Ask for the Bleeding Charity. Everything is here for the asking and nothing can be bought.’

On the new earth, we will not be able to find one single person who can claim to be self-made Christian that pulled themselves up by the bootstraps and defeated their sin. No, all will gladly proclaim for all eternity that the very merciful God looked upon them with pity and forgave their sins through the atoning blood of Christ. After all, we have no other hope of standing before God other than Christ. We must simply receive the Bleeding Charity.

Thus, as we come to the Table of our King, we do not eat this bread and drink this cup as though we were faithful laborers who fully deserve their rightful wages. Much less do we come as princes, receiving what is rightfully ours. Instead, we come as beggars, crying out for mercy. We have nothing to offer Christ, nothing that can bride His hand. We only come to receive what He freely gives. Therefore, as we eat this bread and drink of this cup, let us taste and see the goodness of our merciful God who had shown His unending compassion to us through the giving of His Son.