September 17, 2022
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV)
“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:12-13 NIV)
Today is the 14th anniversary of when my eldest son was killed in an accidental shooting. For several weeks before his death, I was continually having the thought of “God is good, and his love endures forever”. When family friends came to tell me about his death, the very words I had been meditating upon, came from my mouth. The absolute truth of these words, and giving thanks in all circumstances, is what has carried me day after day through times of great loss and times of great joy.
The phrase “God is good, and his love endures forever” appears in many scriptures including Psalm 100 which states, “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
The Hebrew word translated as love in Psalm 100 is chêsêd, which is also translated as mercy, loving-kindness and steadfast love in other translations or scriptures. The Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, uses eleos which is typically translated as mercy in the New Testament.
An example of mercy is when Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. The word translated as mercy is used to describe the actions the Samaritan man took when he found a man who had been beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road. The action he took was the same as Jesus took whenever he encountered people who were suffering because of the sickness of sin that is in this world. The scriptures indicate that he was moved with compassion to make right whatever was wrong in people. He forgave sin, he fed the hungry, he cleansed lepers, cast out oppressive demons and healed all manner of sickness.
All of this leads me to asking, “What is meant by mercy?” In general, I think we equate mercy with being the opposite of whatever we mean by grace. With this line of thinking I would understand Hebrews 4:14-16, which is quoted at the start of this article, that because of Jesus, I can come to God my Father and not receive what I deserve (mercy) and receive what I do not deserve (grace). However, I can no longer agree with this understanding. Psalm 62:11-12 states, “One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love (mercy)”; and, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.”
The meaning of grace is for a person to lean towards someone with open arms to embrace them to impart to them something that is for their good. Jesus came from the Father full of grace and truth and from that fullness we have received grace upon grace. I define mercy as God our Father, who is love, doing whatever is necessary to enter into the suffering of humanity, which is due to our sin and brokenness, and making right whatever is wrong. That is why Jesus entered into our humanity. He came to seek and save the lost and to bring us all home to our Father, for we like sheep have all gone astray, there is no one who does good. That beautiful story is told in Luke 15 in the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it (Psalm 24). Calling something as lost means it has a home and it is an injustice for it not to be restored to its rightful owner. But for us to be restored to our Father we must allow Jesus to pick us up as a lost sheep (grace), and carry us home to our Father.
We tend to think that justice is served whenever a law breaker receives the due penalty ascribed by the law. Even though I deserve the punishment ascribed by law, my receiving the punishment does not equate to justice having been served. Justice occurs only when what is wrong is made right. Punishment and suffering may lead me to seeing the horror of my crime and my crying out to God our Father for mercy so that what is wrong in me to be made right. However, punishment and suffering by itself, for my breaking the law, must not be confused with justice. There is no justice that is not merciful and no mercy that is not just. God cannot be mocked, I will reap what I sow. There is no hope in praying for a crop failure from what I have sown, but there is great comfort in knowing that Jesus will be with me, giving me mercy and grace, as I reap what I have sown. For he has promised to never leave me or forsake me, even when I am reaping what I have sown.
You may be wondering what all of this has to do with the anniversary of my son’s death. It is simply this, I long for justice to be done for the death of my son. I picture that as looking like my embracing him after I leave this life and him telling me, “Daddy all is well, Jesus has healed me of all that was ever wrong in me or done to me. How I have longed for your embrace that you may know all is well with me.” And then some day in eternity, to see my son do likewise when the one who accidentally caused his death, receives the same welcome from my son and we all go hand in hand, led by Jesus to God our Father, who one day will be all in all and all be made right, and all will be well. That is justice. Our God is an all-consuming fire and the fire of his love, in his embrace, will burn up whatever in me is not of love. Come Lord Jesus and bring us home to our Father.
Blessings,
Kevin