Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture, but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.
One morning, not too far from Rapid City, South Dakota, I was driving down the highway when suddenly I blew the tire on my trailer. I had a really good spare with me, but for some unknown reason I could not find a jack anywhere in my vehicle. I had to be at work later that day and had a long drive in front of me so I decided to walk for help. About a mile and a half down the road, I saw a farm, and walked up to the house and knocked on the door. Although the owner didn’t open the door very far, he peered through the crack and asked me what it was that I needed. I explained to him my situation, and that I didn’t have a jack. He closed the door for a few minutes, and then eventually returned and handed me a bumper jack. He said that he had a bunch of them, and I could just keep this one for my van. I thanked him for his Mercy, and an hour later was back on the road again.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
One of the definitions for mercy is to show compassionate and kind treatment to those who are suffering. It is to aid them by relieving them of something that is unpleasant. It could have been the beginning of a very rough day for me that morning, but it got a whole lot better when a complete stranger reached out to help me, and showed me mercy.
Luke 10 ²⁵ And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? ²⁶ He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? ²⁷ And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. ²⁸ And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. ²⁹ But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? ³⁰ And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. ³³ But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, ³⁴ And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.³⁶ Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?³⁷ And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Although our God is to be feared, He is very kind and benevolent. He wants to help us, and even sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to save us. Through the power of faith and His Holy Spirit, his chosen servants have the ability to heal sickness and disease. Jesus was constantly healing people of their infirmities, reaching out to them to aid them in their suffering. I believe that God can heal us physically from all things and I’ve seen it happen numerous times in my own life. Whenever members of my family have been sick, I anointed them with oil in the name of the Lord Jesus and they were completely healed from whatever illness that they had. Mercy is to show somebody kindness in their time of need. It is to reach out to help somebody, when nobody else will.
Matthew 20 ²⁹ And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. ³⁰ And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. ³¹ And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. ³² And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? ³³ They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. ³⁴ So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
The reason why the Old testament has been abolished is because nobody kept it. It was simply put in place so that we would be convicted of our sins and accept the fact that we have come short of the glory of God. But many times the Pharisees and scribes were legalistic to a fault. They were so caught up in the law, that it completely clouded their judgment in showing Mercy to others. For example…
Imagine coming up on an accident on the highway, and someone is bleeding out. You manage to get them in your car, and take them as quickly as you can to the hospital. But on your way, you get pulled over for speeding, and rather than helping the injured man, the officer spends ten minutes writing you a ticket. I really hope that things like these never happen, but they actually do. Even today, many people will use the law to hurt others, which is exactly what the religious leaders did to Jesus and the disciples.
Matthew 12 ¹ At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. ² But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. ³ But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; ⁴ How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. ⁷ But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
So you see, people can legalistically observe the Sabbath, but at the same time are cruel, hateful, and merciless. They can religiously sit in a pew on a Sunday morning, and the rest of the week live in fornication and adultery. Go figure. Whenever the unjust wield the law, it is like handing a running chainsaw to a 3-year-old. They are immature, and unspiritual, using the law to persecute their opponents and crush those whom they hate. But God is not mocked, because those who are implacable will be shown no mercy from Him.
Matthew 12 ⁹ And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: ¹⁰ And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. ¹¹ And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? ¹² How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. ¹³ Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. ¹⁴ Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
Mercy is an attribute of God. It’s been thirty years since then, but I haven’t forgotten that merciful gift that I received out on a South Dakota back road. And I’m pretty sure that if we looked hard enough on our property, somewhere, tucked away in one of my old trailers, we would still find…..
…..…The Bumper Jack
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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