“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Matthew 5 v 7

We have already established that the man in focus here has himself received mercy. He knows what is is to have a huge debt lifted. This is the position of everyone who has truly been born again. The judgment that was due to you and me was poured out onto Jesus, he received the just penalty for sin. I can experience mercy because He experienced judgment & punishment.

The thrust of the beatitudes, and the passage in Matthew 18 where Jesus expounds this teaching(v7), is that because of God’s mercy our response will be to show mercy to others. This not simply because we should but because we have been changed. The working of His mercy within us has made us new creatures, us in Him and, wonderfully, Him in us.

With the life of Jesus now at work in us the expectation is that we will begin to act and react like Him. Just as He shows mercy to those who need mercy so we, with increasing passion, will do the same.

So who needs mercy?

The biblical list includes:

1. The poor – from the earliest teaching of the old testament there were instructions to care for the poor.

2. Widows – those who have been disadvantaged, often through tragedy.

3. Orphans – Again the provider has been removed through tragedy.

4. Aliens – Dispossessed people who have had to leave their homes and country.

This is by no means an exhaustive list but it gives food for thought, and action. It is particularly relevant to our society today which gives cause to reflect on most of these categories.

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