Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Good morning!

I hope you all had a great weekend celebrating Mother’s Day with your families! In my opinion, today’s verse couldn’t be more fitting because if anyone knows how to show mercy, it’s moms! The two people who have shown me the most mercy have been my mom and my wife… two wonderful moms!

As I mentioned last week, the Beatitudes are not just virtues that we are to pursue, but blessings to be experienced. In this chapter of scripture, I can almost see Jesus looking out at the crowd and seeing these different groups of people- the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek and so on… Let’s be honest for a second, there is no way our culture would ever describe these groups as “blessed.”  But in the “kingdom of Heaven,” they are indeed blessed! 

“Mercy” is a common word in our Christian circles… but for the sake of today’s devotion, I want to freshen our memory a bit.  If we were to “google it,” we’d see something similar: “Mercy- forgiveness or withholding punishment.” Though forgiveness and withholding punishment is a part of mercy, it also denotes a sense of compassion to those that are in a state of suffering, in need, or maybe even ill-deserving… those that need help! For example, when the blind beggar cries out to Jesus in Luke 18 saying “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” he is crying out for compassion from Him. 

So why is Jesus saying that those who show mercy are blessed? Because Jesus knew that mercy comes with a cost. Let’s be honest, showing mercy can be tough! It takes time… It can costs us financially, emotionally, and even physically…. We are forced to swallow our pride. 

I’ll never forget a conversation I had several years back with a student in our youth ministry.  This young man is blessed to have a Godly mom who is extremely involved with taking care of widows, caring for the poor, etc. The compassion that his mom was showing toward “the needy” began to cause frustration in his heart because he often saw her exhausted at the end of the day while experiencing heart ache caused by people she went out of her way to help, and so on. In other words, he saw that mercy and compassion  can come with  a cost. This led him to the question- why should she continue  going the extra mile to show mercy and compassion? 

Jesus answers this young man’s question in verse 7…. Because she will receive mercy! The cost is worth it! It’s going to get better because Jesus will show her mercy in return for the mercy she has shown! Can you think of anyone you’d rather have show you mercy than the King of Kings? Today’s reminder: blessed are those who show mercy because they will receive mercy!

Have a great Monday!

-Taylor