Throughout the sermon on the mount we will be encountering the glorious and penetrating message of Jesus about mercy in the kingdom of God.
The good news is that there is mercy. The gospel of the kingdom proclaims to every sinner and every sufferer in this world that THERE IS MERCY!
There is a merciful one who came to relieve the misery of sin and suffering.
The classical scholar Erasmus described the merciful as one “who, through brotherly love, account another person’s misery their own; who weep over the calamities of others; who, out of their own property, feed the hungry and clothe the naked; who admonish those that are in error, inform the ignorant, pardon the offending; and who, in short, use their utmost endeavours to relieve and comfort others.”
This is who our Savior is for us.
And this is who our Savior is through us.
The good news of mercy comes with a demand – there is no getting mercy without giving mercy. Mercy makes us merciful.
Today we will answer several questions as we look at Matthew 5:7:
What is mercy?
What is the connection between getting and giving mercy?
Does our mercy save us?
What are the limits of mercy?
Is mercy cheap?