The Case For Mercy
By Zach Chronley
“Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy.” - Matthew 5:7
Mercy and forgiveness are complicated in our culture. We say that people who have gone through the prison system have “paid their debt to society,” but the truth is messier. Individuals convicted and incarcerated find that they are not simply forgiven once they return to the outside world. In our most important relationships, forgiveness is found to be even more difficult when trust is broken. We say we forgive one another, but often in the heat of arguments, we pull back the curtain to reveal our lack of forgiveness and throw past actions and failures in the other person's face. Bitterness and resentment often survive under the surface when true forgiveness is withheld. It’s difficult to forgive because real forgiveness is costly. Real forgiveness requires true mercy.
Our world bears the scars of a sincere lack of real forgiveness and Jesus’ day was no different. Tensions were incredibly high in Roman-controlled Israel. The people were being extorted by their foreign occupiers and different sects were vying for control of the religious and social leadership of their country. Dangerous zealots prowled the countryside. Feuds that went back generations were raging on and they were surrounded by hostile neighbors on all sides and with no border walls.
It was into this world that Jesus came preaching mercy. He clashed with the religious of his day. When they saw how easily Jesus welcomed their enemies, the very people that were extorting and abusing God’s people, they became irate and so he told them, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13).
Historically, the religious have always excelled at making sacrifices and struggled at showing mercy. No one sets out to be self-righteous. Many begin with a genuine desire to please God. You know this to be true if you grew up in church and you have chosen to say no to things on account of your faith. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, over time we’re always left with a lingering sense of superiority when we consider all that we have given up. Unless we are constantly recognizing ourselves as sinners that still need mercy we will always be drawn towards self-righteousness. Jesus knew that when we see ourselves as righteous, we stop truly believing that we’re sinners.
Our lack of mercy reveals one of two things: That we don’t fully comprehend the weight of our sins, or that we don’t realize how fully we are loved and forgiven. The cross answers both. The very existence of the cross reminds us that our sin carries terrible consequences, but also that Jesus paid it all. In regard to perfection, we have failed spectacularly. While the world’s failure to live perfectly was never in doubt, God fully revealed the price of our failure when Jesus Christ died for our sins.
Without the cross, we might believe that God might overlook some minor sins here and there, but how could God ever truly forgive the worst of the worst sins of the world? How could he forgive us for the things we struggle to forgive ourselves for? The answer is that God could forgive only at a great, personal cost. That the punishment we deserve was instead given to Jesus. Our sin-debt was paid in full by Jesus, as Colossians 2:14 puts it, “By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” This was not done because we deserved it, but simply because God has mercy.
John 3:18 reminds us, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Jesus’ death makes crystal clear that he has fully, completely, and forever forgiven us. When we struggle to extend mercy to others, it is a sign that we have actually failed to receive the mercy God has extended to us. You may struggle to feel forgiven, but God is greater than your heart. Your emotions are not God, and they are not greater than God. As painful as it may still be, Jesus has declared that your sins have been forgiven. Do you trust in that forgiveness?
Giving mercy is also God’s gift to us. When we withhold mercy, we’re attempting to stab our enemies with a spear that first pierces our own hearts. Our hearts become hardened. It’s not only foolish, but also dangerous. Jesus paid the cost himself in order to have mercy on our merciless hearts. We will always need God’s mercy. Our need for mercy doesn’t end at our salvation but is necessary daily for our sanctification. This is why God’s word promises that his mercies are new each morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Sanctification, or becoming more like Christ, means learning to have mercy. We need His mercy to have mercy.
Mercy defies our expectations of creating change. We see the unforgivable happening in our world and we want desperately to change it. Mercy feels counterproductive, but the cross proved that the real way to make change is to not cast stones. The world has and will always cast stones at those they judge guilty. But Jesus, the only one who could truly condemn the world, chose not to. John 3:18 informs us that we need not condemn anyone, for apart from Christ all stand condemned already. Jesus changed the world forever when he chose mercy. And we can change the world with mercy for today.