Blessed—Happy—Are the Merciful

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7, NKJV)

Of the many definitions of mercy, one that comes close to catching its meaning is “compassion that forbears punishment even when justice demands it.” The Aramaic word for mercy is chesedh and means the ability to get right inside the other person’s skin until one can see through that person’s eyes, feel with that person’s feelings, know that person’s experiences, and can suffer with that person. Jesus said in this beatitude that the one who is merciful will in turn receive mercy. There is nearly always a reason why a person thinks and acts as he does. If we know why, we can much more easily understand, sympathize and forgive. In showing mercy, Jesus who was God in the flesh, came among men to feel as a man, see as a man, think as a man. He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Jesus showed mercy in all areas of his life, physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. Being both man and God, He demonstrated mercy in all its depth. As Dr. William Barclay stated: “The supreme instance of mercy, chesedh, is the coming of God in Jesus Christ” (The Daily Study Bible: Matthew. Westminster, 1956, p. 100).

Dr. Barclay entitles this beatitude “the bliss of perfect sympathy” (ibid. p. 97).” He further states that this beatitude reveals: “O the bliss of the man that gets right inside other people, until he can see with their eyes, think with their thoughts, feel with their feelings, for he who does that will find others do the same for him, and will know that is what God in Jesus Christ has done!” (ibid. p. 100). In The Message Bible, Eugene Peterson renders Matthew 5:7 this way: “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.” The touching story is told of Queen Victoria of England whose King Albert had just died. She went to visit Mrs. Tulloch, also newly widowed, whose husband Principal Tulloch of St. Andrews had died. Mrs. Tulloch struggled to get up and politely curtsy to Queen Victoria, but the Queen told her: “My visit is not as a queen to a subject but as one widow to sympathize with another.” It is with this sense of feeling, identifying with another, that we show mercy and in turn receive mercy when we need it. It is what Jesus did for us. To follow His principle in exercising mercy, we must seek the mind and heart of Jesus. Only then can we have the bliss (blessedness, happiness) of mercy.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Friday, September 17, 2010