Blessed are the merciful
Matthew 5:1-12
What causes us to be people of mercy? What does it mean to show mercy to those around us (vs 7)?
The blessings Jesus are talking about are not a recipe book, they are more about using our intuition – we are blessed when we behave like this. Jesus spends our expectations. These blessing operate like a plough in a field, breaking up our hard soil to prepare a new seed within us.
Mercy is a step beyond doing what is merely right. Three counterclaims in the world to being merciful are:
- Blessed are those who are never hurt by others
- Blessed are those who never make mistakes
- Blessed are those who always end up on top, so others don’t take advantage
What causes us to be merciful?
- We trust the One who judges justly – We trust in the King of all to do right and treat us justly.
- We have encounter the mercy of God for ourselves – We have recieved mercy from Jesus. As we confess our brokenness we recieve God’s mercy.
As we receive the mercy of God it flows out of us to others. We are called to have our minds transformed and to not be conformed to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:1-2).