Those who are Merciful

  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.

 
Blessed are the meek. For they shall inherit the earth. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, For they shall be filled with mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called Sons of God

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake, Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Matthew 5:3-12

Blessed are the Merciful, for they shall be filled with mercy. (vs 7)

    I get the sense that some of the Beatitudes are much easier to comprehend then others. This one feels like one of those times. To be merciful means to be compassionate and forgiving to someone who deserves to be treated harshly or justly. But how can we as blood-bought, born again, Children of God treat our brothers and sisters with any less grace and mercy then the Father himself bestowed upon us? Were we once not lost and dying in our own sin before the love and mercy of God came down to meet us right where we were and save us by the blood of his son? It brings to mind the parable of the servant who owned a large debt to the king. Upon the deadline for when the payment was due, the king demanded the servant to pay all of his debt. When it was discovered the servant could not pay his due, the king, in an act of great mercy, forgave the whole amount that was owned to him. Within a short period of time, the servant came upon a man who owned him a considerably smaller debt. He demanded the man pay him, but as was the case before, the man could not pay his debt. Instead of choosing to model his master and forgive the man his debt, he had him thrown into prison until his debt was paid. Upon hearing this, the King became angry and threw the servant into prison as well until his collection had been resolved. 

    Before Jesus gave his life for us on the cross, we had a large debt that we also could not pay. In fact the only way to resolve our debt was to die to our sin. Jesus, after coming to earth and living a perfect, sinless life, took the weight of our sin, our debt, on his back, and paid it in full with his bloodshed sacrifice. How, then, can we as his followers, not do the same to someone who has wronged us? How can we walk with integrity and humility while at the same time harbor a grievance between us and our neighbor? God has so much more for us than the troubles of this life present to us, but only when we surrender our pride and in return forgive our brother of the mistake that was made. Then we can both walk in freedom and lead others into this same kind of life. 

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Journey Through the Sermon on the Mount