The Active Nature of God’s Mercy

April 23, 2025/Ayrian Yasar/
Photo Credit: Mystockimages / iStock.com

Photo Credit: Mystockimages / iStock.com

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Does anyone mention the word “mercy” anymore? It certainly doesn’t seem to make an appearance in regular conversation. While “love,” “patience,” and “kindness” are common vocabulary, even in non-religious environments, “mercy” is left out. But mercy is very important.

The mercy of the Lord results in actions of love and healing.

The Greek word translated “mercy” is defined as “to be greatly concerned about someone in need, have compassion/mercy/pity” (BDAG). This word shows up in many places, one of which is Mark 10:47 where we read about a blind beggar who is calling out for Jesus and pleading with him for mercy:

And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

But the blind man was not simply crying out for Jesus to have sympathetic feelings for him; rather the man wanted Jesus to do something for him.

The mercy of the Lord results in actions of love and healing. Perhaps this is why mercy is used in some places to translate the Hebrew word hesed, a word having to do with faithful, covenantal love. The word hesed is active. Psalm 23 is one such place:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever. (Ps. 23:6)

God’s commitment to his people chases them down (i.e., follows) and results in personal fellowship with God, dwelling in the Lord’s house. This pursuing of God in mercy is also reflected in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…” (Eph. 2:4-6)

God’s mercy pursues us and brings life—Paul testifies to it, the Psalmist testifies to it, and the blind beggar certainly testified to it. The mercy for which the blind man begged for was bestowed upon him, and he was healed and given life.

As God’s children we are called to pattern our mercy after our heavenly Father.

How are we then to go about bestowing mercy on others? How do we get in the right mindset to be able to offer mercy to others? Should we even attempt to offer mercy, or is it just something that only God does?

Jesus makes it clear that we are to pattern our mercy after our heavenly Father. The parable of the unforgiving servant ends with these words concerning mercy:  

“Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.” (Matt. 18:32-34)

Mercy has pursued us in the Person of Jesus Christ.

The wicked servant had been showered with love and kindness. The master had pity and so gave this servant a new opportunity at life by extending mercy to him. Because this servant had received mercy, he should have extended it to another. We too have been showered by love and kindness. Mercy has pursued us in the Person of Jesus Christ, who left his heavenly place to descend into our sinful, corrupt world filled with ugliness and pain.

Let us dwell on the great mercy of God to us—the sacrifice of Christ for us, the humiliation and pain that Jesus willingly suffered in order to bless us with forgiveness of sins and inclusion in God’s family and a glorious future. With these things stirring up our love for Jesus, we certainly will be better able to extend mercy to others.

This article was originally published in Beautiful Christian Life’s November 2024 monthly newsletter, “Mercy.”

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