BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL
speaker: Steve Froehlich; date: January 31, 2016
text: Matthew 5:1-12; series: The Beatitudes
Matthew 5:1-12
Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his
disciples came to him. 2And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be
satisfied.
7
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be
glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who
were before you.
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The thronèd monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
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When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, [man],
Though justice be thy plea, consider this –
That in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer, doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
(Merchant of Venice, IV, i)
You may recognize this speech from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice – Portia, the
judge, doing her best to restrain the greedy and vengeful heart of the money lender,
Shylock, who was demanding to be paid his “pound of flesh” cut from the side of
Antonio, his debtor. He will have justice even though the court pleads for mercy.
It’s like the story Jesus told, is it not? The story of 2 debtors. Jesus tells the story in Mt
18 to explain to us the kingdom of God... to describe for us what life is like in the
kingdom of God... how we are to live with Christ as our king.
The king wants to settle accounts with his subjects:
1st man, a member of middle management, owed the king “ten thousand bags of gold”
(NIV). The debt is often translated “ten thousand talents – the point is that it’s an
astronomical amount of money.
The man cannot pay... so the king announces that he will do what he has the right to
do to reclaim the payment of the debt.
The debt is 10,000 talents. A talent would be equal to 120 Troy pounds... and at the
current value of $13,383.60 per Troy pound, 10,000 talents would be equivalent to
$133,836,000. The amount is not important. This is Jesus’ way of saying “a bazillion
dollars.” It is utterly unpayable... inconceivable that the man could pay the debt.
It should not escape our notice that the man doesn’t argue about the validity of the
debt. It’s his debt. He owes the king a bazillion dollars. It’s not a miscalculation. It’s a
debt for which he really is responsible.
So what does the man do? You’ve seen this scene play out in a hundred movies.
He does what every stooge does when he grovels and pleads before the local loan
shark... while the muscle, the goon squad hovers over him ready to break every bone in
is body. What does the stooge say? “Just gimme one more day... one more day. On
my mother’s grave... I swear... I’ll get the money and I’ll pay you back.”
And that’s what the man says, “Have patience.... give me a little more time... I’ll pay
back every penny.”
No he won’t.
He can’t – the point of the story is that it’s an impossible debt.
Now, you see the point here, don’t you?
Jesus is teaching us about the kingdom of God, the economics of the gospel
You and I... everyone of us is this man... this stooge.
We are in debt up to our eyeballs... no... we are drowning in debt... a debt of love
and righteousness, honor and obedience we owe to our Creator and King, the one
whose law condemns us and places a penalty on our head... fines and fees... a bazillion
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dollars. A price we cannot pay, the only solution for which is our life... being sold into
slavery to another master... forever.
But everyone of us, everyone one of us, at some point has said what this man in
debt said to the king. “I can handle this debt... I can pay you what I owe you. I will do
it.” Everyone one of has had that moment in which we cling desperately, foolishly with
the pride to our self-righteousness... the confidence that what we do, who we are, and
what we accomplish will be enough, will satisfy God. We insist that we don’t need
Jesus.
Ironically, even if you go through life saying exactly the opposite: “Oh, I’m not good
enough to please God, I can never do enough to satisfy him, I’m just eeking out my
days with no hope of ever amounting to anything, God hates me and will never be
happy with me.” This too is a denial, a rejection of all that Jesus has accomplished.
Whether you say, “I can do it” or “I can never do it” you’re measuring your life...
you’re assigning hope and significance to your life that is based on what you think you
can or can’t do. There is an element of pride in both answers because we trust our own
assessment of ourselves, we are confident that we see ourselves, God, and the world
clearly. CBS News anchor, Walter Cronkite, was famous for closing his news reports
with, “And that’s the way it is.” With all due respect, it takes a certain kind of arrogance
to make that claim – to claim that we know ourselves and the world as we really are.
But the gospel gives us a third way. The gospel doesn’t deny our hopeless
indebtedness... it’s true, we owe God a bazilllion dollars and the only remedy in sight is
to be sold into slavery. In fact... what we may not realize... we’ve already been sold into
slavery, and we’re working and living our lives for the will of one who wants nothing but
our destruction. Yet how many of us exhaust ourselves trying to satisfy the idols of our
heart?
The gospel does not deny our hopeless indebtedness. Nor does the gospel deny
our longing for our lives to be reconciled... for us to be free of slavery and debt.
What is that third way that the gospel offers?
Back to Jesus’ story in Mt 18. The man pleads his case. He begs. But the king does
not give him what he asks for. No. Instead, out of pity for him, the king, the employer
released his servant, his employee and forgave him the entire debt. (Mt 18:27).
The man began his day crushed under the load of an unpayable debt.
Have you been there? You owe the bank payment on your mortgage, on your car...
they’ve sent you 2... 3... 4 notices, and each day you live with the dread that the
repossessors are going to show up at your door, and take your life away.
But there’s a knock on the door. It’s someone from the bank. You open the door,
and the bank representative very politely hands you a box of chocolates and announces
to you that this is just a courtesy call to let you know that your mortgage has been paid
in full. Every dime. Oh, and here’s the title to the house, free and clear.
As the man hears the words from the king, the heart of the king is on display. To the
man’s surprise, the king is compassionate – in showing kindness, the kind shoulders the
loss himself.
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We may be tempted to run ahead of the story and offer an explanation for the king’s
action – that the king’s son is really the one who absorbs the loss... but even though
that’s true, it would be to miss the simple point of the story. The story is about mercy –
the tender-hearted and generous compassion of God. It is his disposition that Jesus
wants us to see. Here is our God, renowned for lavish generosity, kindness,
compassion... a tender-hearted mercy that moves him to acts of love. This is our God.
But what does this story of the 2 debtors have to do with the Beatitude that is our text
today:
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Jesus story in Mt 18 describes the 2nd half of the Beatitude – the man has received
mercy. But Jesus is talking about people who live in the kingdom of God, who reveal
the character of God by how they live.
Well, let’s consider the 2nd half of Jesus’ story.
The man who had been forgiven his bazillion-dollar debt goes running out into the
street, clicking his heels, back-slapping all the friends he meets, finds his wife and gives
her a big smooch right there in public for all the world to see... and then he sees one of
his tenants... the guy whose wife and 5 kids rent the 1 bedroom apartment over where
he parks his camels. The guy has his hat in his hand, he’s looking down while he kicks
the ground with his toe...
The man who has been forgiven... a bit perturbed that his celebration of his good
fortune has been interrupted. Yes, yes, what do you want... again?
The tenant hesitates, but then gets it out, “please sir, the rent is late again. Please
be patient I will pay you all I owe.” He utters exactly the same words as the man had so
recently spoken to the king. Exactly.
But the man who has been forgiven lunges in anger at his tenant. Furious, he pins
the helpless little man against the wall. He grabs him by the throat and starts shaking
him, “No, no, no... you must pay me what you owe me now.” And he called for the
police to come haul him away to debtors prison.
While this scene was playing out in the neighborhood, word made its way back to
the king of how ruthless and hard-hearted this man was being toward one of his
debtors.
So, the king summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked ungrateful servant! You
selfish merciless jerk! I forgave you all of your debt because simply because you
pleaded with me... you asked and I forgave you. Should not you then have had mercy
on the one who owes you money, just as I had mercy on you?' In anger his employer
delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. (Mt 18:32-34)
Now a quick comment about reading parables. Parables almost always have a single
point, and like most analogies, they have limits -- we can’t read into them all sorts of
other ideas. This story is about the contrast between God heart and character and our
heart and character. It’s not about the king... or God... reneging on his forgiveness.
It’s Jesus’ Beatitude that speaks directly to the central idea of this parable.
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Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
People who live in the kingdom of God... people who live with Jesus as king of their
lives... people for whom Jesus is truly their shepherd, are people who have received the
blessing of God’s mercy. It’s a present gift, it’s ours now. Yet it’s a gift that we will
experience in greater measure when all that God has purposed and promised will be
fulfilled. There is the mercy of standing in his unveiled presence that we cannot know
now... but we will.
But here is the point of Jesus’ story. If you are true recipient of God’s mercy, it’s no
superficial transaction... it is a gift that impacts us to our soul... that soaks into our
bones... into our nerves and muscles... if we have truly received the mercy of God... the
gospel... Jesus... there’s no alternative for us. Mercy is not about the legal aspects of
justification – it is about how the gospel has shaped the contours of our hearts. We’ve
been transformed, and we find ourselves moved with the very heart of God Instead of
living for self, we find great joy in living for others. If God has been merciful to us, we
become merciful to others. We are the mercy of God to those we serve.
If the gospel is our life: in him we live and move and have our being. If God has
poured out his mercy on us and lavished his kindness upon us, how can we not be his
agents of mercy? How can we not be merciful? It is the way of life in the kingdom of
God.
Remember the path Jesus has outlined for us in the Beatitudes
We are poor in spirit – we come empty handed to Christ. What can I do, I have no
money to buy what I need most desperately
We mourn for sin – it is a nearly unbearable sorrow. What shall be done for this
incurable malady
We are meek – we are powerless, humble before God, wholly dependent on his
grace
We are hungry and thirsty – we long for righteousness, we long for justice, we long
for ourselves and the world to be right, to be as we should be.
We have received mercy – we have been found by God. Our lives no longer curve
inward, as Luther describes sin... the life turned in on itself, consuming itself. No, our
lives are turned out toward the world, toward our neighbors. We are sent into every
area of culture and every part of the world to show mercy. To be the mercy of God.
With our lives as a fragrant aroma, as a delicious sacrifice we say, Come taste and see
that the Lord is good.
So, let’s consider 2 questions:
1. What is mercy?
2. What does a mercy-filled life look like?
1. What is mercy?
As I’ve already suggested, a good way to understand mercy is by contrast.
What is the difference between mercy and justice?
What is the difference mercy and grace?
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Mercy – compassion, tender-hearted kindness, pity
Justice – what is right, giving each one his due
What is the difference between justice and mercy? The call to follow Jesus, the life that
has been captured and humbled by grace, is a life of mercy. By contrast we do not live
with one another as our lives deserve... or as we think our lives deserve.
In Mark 10 we find Jesus walking on the Jericho road, the road which is the setting
for that story Jesus told which we know as the parable of the good Samaritan – the
most unlikely of neighbors showing great generosity, kindness, and mercy to one in
great need. But in the conversations he has as he is walking along, Jesus asks the
same question twice:
What do you want me to do for you?
The first question is asked in response to the disciples once again arguing about their
status in the kingdom of God – who is the greatest disciple. Jesus is once again
teaching them that if they would be great, they must be the least. So Jesus asks them,
“What do you want me to do for you?” Their answer is all about justice. They want their
due – they want what they think they’ve earned. They want Jesus to honor them for all
they think they’ve accomplished.
But Jesus continues – can you drink the cup that I’m about to drink? Are you willing
to endure what I’m about to suffer? Are you able to do those things that merit being
seated in the place of honor in heaven?
The disciples’ response reveals that they do not know themselves or the real nature
of what lies ahead for them. So, they say with great hubris, with great bravado – oh,
sure, no problem, we can drink that cup – we’ll endure anything for you. We’ll show
you. But... they will fail. They will all betray their Lord and Friend.
What do you want me to do? Do you want to justice? Do you me to give you, God
says... do you want me to treat you solely based on what you have earned? On what
you deserve?
The 2nd question is asked to blind Bartemaus sitting by the roadside calling out to Jesus,
“Lord, have mercy on me.”
He wants mercy – he wants kindness... albeit supernatural kindness, a tenderhearted generosity. He wants help.
And before we read the rest of the story, we already know what Jesus is going to do.
Who has he ever turned away who came to him for kindness. We know what Jesus is
going to do... and he does – he heals Bartimeus. He heals the man let down through
the roof. He heals Jairus daughter... he even raises her from the dead. He heals the
woman who simply reached out and touched the edge of his clothing. He heals the
Gasarene man who lived among the tombs like an animal.
Will he be any less kind when you and I come to him today? Has his heart changed
over the past 2000 years. No, he is the same yesterday today and forever. This is who
he is, who he has been, and who he always will be.
There is no attribute of God that is not a cause for terror when separated from mercy
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We praise God for his justice, but his justice will crush us and destroy us if it
becomes detached from mercy.
We give thanks to God for his love, but God’s love has existed forever in the perfect
communion of the Triune Godhead – the Father loving the Son loveing the Spirit loving
the Father... forever unbroken. Yet, it is mercy that draws that love down, that moves
God to send Jesus to rescue us, that moves Jesus to come and be our Shepherd and
Saviour, our brother and friend. Without mercy, the love of God will never escape the
country of the Trinity.
Then there is the contrast of Mercy and Grace
Thomas Watson, one of the great Puritan pastors, says that “Grace has to do with
man’s merits; mercy has to do with man’s misery”
Justice points to the character of the law, of God’s covenant – it is what is due, and it
deals with the terms of the covenant being met and being put to right when those
terms are violated.
Grace points to the character of the action – it is unmerited, undeserved.
Mercy points to the character of the heart – there is nothing legal or forensic about
mercy. In fact, there is a kind of extravagant wastefulness about mercy – not
foolishness, but generosity
God, the Father of mercy
He is the source, author, originator of all mercy
God sees us... he knows our frame, our condition, our situation... and as a result, his
most eloquent act of mercy is giving us Jesus
According to our sin and miseries, his mercies stream out, says Richard Sibbes
God’s mercy is free – it arises from his own character and is never given out of duty or
desert
Again, Sibbes puts it this way: “There is not more light in the sun, there is not more
water in the sea, than there is mercy in the Father of Mercy. God is always more ready
to pardon, to show mercy, than we are to seek mercy”
Notice what Paul says as he is explaining the gospel in his letter to the Romans:
“Know this. The kindness of God leads you to repentance.” (Rom 2:4)
God’s mercy is at work in our lives long before we are able or willing to recognize it
as his love and kindness. Until our hearts are made new, we will not see his mercy for
what it is – we will call the Lover of our souls the one who hates, crushes, and destroys
us. We will blame him for who we are.
2. How is it that the quality of mercy as way of life may be cultivated?
Gratitude
I will never fully grasp how much he loves me.
But I do see his mercy and kindness, and I say “thank you.”
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Dependence
Awareness
I will never fully grasp how completely I need him.
But I do see his mercy and kindness, and I trust him.
I will never fully grasp the full extent of life’s sorrow and suffering
But I do see his mercy and kindness, and I have hope
A hope that give me courage to offer mercy and kindness, to live
With a gentle tender-heartedness that reveals the heart of God
Until we know our need is great, we cannot expect to see the mercy of God
While our need is great, it takes so little to move God to act with mercy. For those of
you who are parents, you remember how vigilant you were with your first born – every
little wobble or fall, every little hint of possible trouble, would catapult you into action.
Watch that corner, catch that fall, don’t eat that bug. How little it takes for us to move
quickly to show mercy. How very like God who is the author of mercy.
But while our need is great, we need not fear that his mercy will ever be exhausted
These forgiving mercies are unlimited mercies; there is no bounds of them. For he
being the Father of Christ, who is an infinite person, and having received an infinite
satisfaction from an infinite person, he may well be infinitely merciful; and himself is
an infinite God. His mercies are like himself. The satisfaction whereby he may be
merciful is infinite. For this reason he may pardon, and will pardon all sin without
limitation, even if they are great, even if they are a multitude. – Sibbes
Our need is so great that we will never be beyond our need for his mercy
Yet, while our need is great, we must not doubt that God will be anything but merciful
when we cry to him for mercy in Jesus’ name.
The affection in our heart grows as we come to believe the Gospel more richly and
deeply – that there is more mercy in Christ than sin in us (Sibbes)
The heart of mercy is cultivated as we become deeply convinced not only of our own
desperate need for God’s grace but also his provision of grace. We will grow to live
with that kind of conviction as we become confident that God’s grace is sufficient to
provide all that we need, as we become touched by the enormity of human misery
that touches our lives. Our actions, then, flow from a heart of mercy informed and
strengthened by God’s grace, believing that God offers to be gracious and merciful
to every aspect of our human neediness, a misery of neediness that results (Keller)
from 4 kinds of alienation.
1. Misery that results from alienation from God (the core of everything else)
2. Misery that results from alienation from self (shame, guilt, the new self)
3. Misery that results from alienation from others (hatred, injustice, unforgiveness,
revenge, selfishness, loneliness)
4. Misery that results from alienation from the world (poverty, ugliness, disease,
famine, decay)
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The more we are convinced that we are wholly dependent upon his kindness and
generosity in every area of life... the more we are convinced of the trustworthiness of his
character... the more we will learn to live with mercy... the more we will long for all who
suffer and struggle to know the kindness and tender mercies of our God. Paul explains
the process this way
2 Cor 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we
may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which
we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's
sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are
afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your
comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that
we suffer.
The very center of our lives is the mercy of God
Tabernacle – the place where God meets man is the Mercy Seat
Heb 4:14-16 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have
a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every
respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence
draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in
time of need.
If you have cast yourself upon Christ for his forgiving grace, you have in fact received
his mercy. He has brought you to himself, not because you are worthy. Quite the
opposite. This is all of God’s eternal and omnipotent kindness, lavished extravagently
upon us.
How then do you respond to your own weakness, sins, and failures... which are
more than you can count. He was merciful to you when you did not know his love, and
his love is unchanging. He gives his mercy more and more because without it we are
helpless and hopeless. He is always merciful because of our weakness, not because of
our strength... because of our failures, not because of our successes.
How then do you respond to the weakness, sins and failures of others? Do you
have the eyes and heart of Jesus to be moved with compassion? Does the trouble of
the world trouble you, even for a moment? Do you believe in resurrection?
The mercy to which Jesus calls us... the mercy which Jesus says is a mark of his life
among us... this mercy is not merely a humanitarianism that is detached from grace and
the gospel. It is a living of the gospel. It is a love of the beauty that comes from God
himself and which colors all he has made and all he is doing. It is a delight in his
goodness, in the overflow of his glory. So that when we show mercy, when we offer
that cup of cold water because of the mercy shown to us, we reveal the presence and
goodness of God – we even, Jesus says, return God’s mercy to himself.
To live lives of tender-hearted mercy is to live a life that breathes the prayer for
everyone we meet and for the whole of creation, “Lord have mercy. Lord, have mercy.”
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