I found this excerpt from a Sermon by Brian Bill. He concentrates on two words in this beatitude: blessed and mercy.
As you contemplate this passage of the Sermon on the Mount, seek to understand what blessed would mean for you and in what ways you can be merciful throughout your day. Live each day in Christ, with Christ and for Christ.
-Dan Davis
The word “blessed” as used in the Messiah’s message means much more than “happy.” It has the idea of being “congratulated” or “completed” or “fulfilled.” If we listen carefully, we can hear the applause of heaven when we put into practice these eight character qualities, or “be-attitudes.” As we look at what it means to be merciful, we come to a transition from the first four, which focus on our need – we are bankrupt in spirit, and broken with grief, which leads to meekness and an insatiable hunger for righteousness. We now move from our need, to what we need to do; from belief to behavior; from our situation to our responsibility.
The principal Hebrew word for” mercy” speaks of an emotional response to the needs of others. It means to feel the pain of another so deeply that we’re compelled to do something about it. In fact, people in Bible times believed that the seat of emotions was found in the intestinal area. That’s why the King James Version uses the phrase, “bowels of mercy.” William Barclay defines mercy this way: “To get inside someone’s skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things with his mind, and feel things with his feelings; to move in and act on behalf of those who are hurting.” Mercy can be defined as: “good will toward the afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them.”
The principal Hebrew word for” mercy” speaks of an emotional response to the needs of others. It means to feel the pain of another so deeply that we’re compelled to do something about it. In fact, people in Bible times believed that the seat of emotions was found in the intestinal area. That’s why the King James Version uses the phrase, “bowels of mercy.” William Barclay defines mercy this way: “To get inside someone’s skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things with his mind, and feel things with his feelings; to move in and act on behalf of those who are hurting.” Mercy can be defined as: “good will toward the afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them.”
1 comment:
On dictionary.com the first definition of mercy is compassionate forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or or other person in ones power; compassion, pity or benevolence. The commentary I found is a also based on the Hebrew text and also talks about feelings of empathy or pity that move one to action to alleviate suffering. The commentator further states that "sacrificial love is the practice of mercy". As believers we are already the recipients of Jesus' sacrificial love. But I note the future tense of this beatitude and not the past which makes me truly wonder about the magnitude of the love which my limited human mind has trouble even imagining!
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