God's mercy is his tenderhearted, loving compassion for his people. it is his tenderness of heart toward the needy. If grace contemplates humans as sinful, guilty, and condemned, mercy sees them as miserable and needy. Words like . . . chesed . . . racham . . . and eleos give expression to this dimension of God's love. The psalmist said, "As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him" (Ps. 103:13). Similar ideas are found in Deuteronomy 5:10; Psalm 57:10; and Psalm 86:5. The attribute of mercy is seen in the pitying concern of Jehovah for the people of Israel who were in bondage to the Egyptians. He heard their cry and knew their sufferings (Exod. 3:7). It is also seen in the compassion Jesus felt when people suffering from physical ailments came to him (Make 1:41). Their spiritual condition also moved Him. (Matt. 9:36). Sometimes both kinds of needs are involved. Thus, in describing the same incident, Matthew speaks of Jesus having compassion and healing the sick (Matt. 14:14), while Mark speaks of His having compassion and teaching many things (Mark6:34). Matthew elsewhere combines the two ideas. When Jesus saw the crowds were helpless like sheep without a shepherd, He had compassion on them. So he went about "teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness" (Matt. 9:35-36). (322)
For more:
September 20, 2015 | Matthew 5:1-3 - If Your Happy And You Know It Your Impoverished
September 27, 2015 | Matthew 5:4 - I'm So Joyful I Could Cry
October 4, 2015 | Matthew 5:5
October 11, 2015 | Matthew 5:6
No comments:
Post a Comment