The Story about Mercy: A Journey Through Transformative Biblical Stories

Hello, good morning. I'd like to welcome you once again as we journey together on this path of faith, and today we're going to look at a topic that is very, very dear in the heart of God, and also it is a reminder of what Jesus resurrects to reveal to us. It reveals the life of Jesus, it reveals the heart of the Father, and also it is going to help us to be able to see, believe and open our hearts to also be partakers of it, and this is a story about mercy, the story about mercy. So the question is, what is it for me, what is it for you? And to answer this question, we're going to look at different stories in the Bible that the Lord reveals to us of his mercy and see who actually is eligible or what it is about, what is the requirements and how he did it and when it happened and the circumstances upon which the people presented to him in order to receive. So we're going to look at two stories today, but just before we do that, there are other learning lessons that we are going to take out of this series, and this is we are going to see different categories of people in the Bible who were partakers of the mercy of God and now the story about the mercy of God that was revealed to us when Jesus walked the earth, a part of the journey of these individuals, and through their lives, through the moments when this happened and probably the circumstances upon which they would have been in their lives, we will clearly see that the intention of God behind this whole story was for each one of us to be able to experience the mercy of God and to speak out and literally ask. They asked Jesus to have mercy on them, and we see that from the story of someone like the blind Bartimaeus or the 10 lepers. We have another category of those who did not ask for the mercy of God, who had probably no idea about what they would need to ask at that time, but somehow the Lord showed up in their lives and he showed them mercy and their lives were transformed. One of them we see, the invalid who was sick for 38 years. We also know a story of a man who was blind not the blind, but another man who was born blind, and they did not ask for it, but Jesus gave to them anyway. There's also those who could never have had an opportunity to ask for the mercy of God because of what was happening in their lives. 

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And one major story in the Bible that we have is about Lazarus. We know Lazarus fell sick and died and when he was already in the tomb he could not. He could not ask for the mercy of God. He did not even know what was going on, he already died. It took the family to ask for this mercy, it took friends. And we also know the story of the man who was brought to Jesus on the mat. This man was brought by his friends and Jesus healed him because he saw their faith, but not just healing, but forgave his sin. Lazarus was restored to life because, even if Jesus did not show up when he was sick, he came after he had already died and was already in the tomb. But then he revealed to then the people then and the world today of a nature of him that we could never have known. So he didn't just receive mercy, but he became an example of what it would mean when Jesus dies, because he rose again. So it was about the resurrection of Jesus. 

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And then we have those who were condemned by the society, but they were presented to Jesus as condemned. Remember, in John 3, 16, it says that, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. So in this passage, when we look at it, the next verse says that he did not come to condemn. So it is about eternal life. So Jesus came and through his life and whatever he was going to go through, suffering and dying on the cross, he was meant to resurrect so that he can also reveal to us and the world about eternal life and that he is the life-giving presence of God. So he already had the power to rise from the dead, and so we have these people who are condemned by society brought to Jesus. So this is not of him. So he had to come up and reveal his mercy to the religious leaders, then the Pharisees, the scribes and probably all those who are watching when a woman was caught in adultery was brought to Jesus and they wanted the law of Moses to be applied, that she would be stoned according to the law of Moses. But what they missed is the fact that when mercy shows up, there's no condemnation, it changes everything. 

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And then we have a woman, a sinner woman, who appears and comes to wash the feet of Jesus with her tears and wipe with her hair. And this woman was judged by those who are watching, but in the presence of mercy it is not the same. So Jesus did not judge her. In fact, she happened to be doing something that externally would seem unfit, but the Lord could see her heart, could see her heart, and the role upon which she was playing was actually going to be crucial. And then we have another category of those who were rejected and broken. One example we have is the Samaritan woman. She was rejected by the society and she was broken, so even the nature of life that she was living would have been summarized by the society. But when the Lord showed up at the well and waited on her, he actually had a different plan for her. He was there to teach her something that he had not taught anyone and to reveal himself to her so that she would be healed and restored to wholeness. 

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We have another category of those who are silent and distant, and this is from the story of people like Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a prominent man, a rich man, a tax collector, whose life was very lonely, wanted to see Jesus and was already considered as a sinner and would never have had a chance to be close to Jesus. When the Lord passed by and saw him on the sycamore tree, he knew that this desire that he had to see the Lord was not just a physical thing. He was already considering himself as distant because of the nature of the life that he lived, and probably he wanted to come out of it, and he did not know how. But when mercy showed up, his life was transformed. Jesus did not mind or did not care about what the others, who are religious and those who are watching, would say or do, but he knew that he was ready to have his life transformed. He was ready to receive the Lord in his heart. So mercy changed his life. We have another category of those who, like the centurion, would have connections because of the top ranks, of who they are and where they are at. But even though that is the case, they did not consider themselves as eligible to be the ones to receive mercy more than anybody else, but humbled themselves and, through humility, received the word that the Lord gave him. This is the word that brought transformation in his life, in his family, and today we know how powerful that word is, because he only said say a word. So he did not consider his status quo as important, but was also counted or given an opportunity to receive the mercy of God. 

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Another category that has been presented to us is a category of persistence, asking and seeking God for his mercy. And we know of the story of the persistent widow who was went to the judge and kept persisting to ask for an answer to a point that it was too much to hold back, and her answer was granted. And so it is the same why the Lord gave this story. It is the same way that when we are persistently asking, he already said in Matthew 7, 7, that's what we ask, then we keep. If we ask, we don't get, we knock, we don't get, we seek and we shall find. So that means that when we desire the mercy of God, sometimes we have to be persistent to receive. And the category number nine. 

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We have another category of those who were rejected and given a death warrant. A death warrant and accepted by the society. That is what they deserve. Yet the sickness that they bear, which is leprosy, was not a choice that they made, so they were given a death warrant in this way. Once they got leprosy, they were rejected and separated from the others and technically they would live in the outskirts of the community and they were not allowed to go near anybody. So when they would see someone coming, they were meant to scream and shout at that person that they have leprosy to protect the other person. But for them nothing was done by the society. So on top of the sickness or the illness that already has come to them, the society now added salt to the wound, to the injury per se. And that means because of that condition or situation, they would not have even imagined that there were also a category that would be partakers of the mercy of God. But the good news is actually Jesus showed mercy to 10 lepers and they were healed. So their faith in Jesus healed them, despite their condition and situation. 

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The 10th category is those who received mercy when they touched Jesus. Now we have one story that has been given to us about a woman who had the issue of blood for 12 years, and this woman must have suffered a lot and gone through so much, and it is not a very interesting situation to be in. It is self-demeaning, it is self-humiliating. Her dignity was robbed off. And then remember Jesus. Jesus had disciples with him. At that time, even women would not have been allowed to be so close to Jesus. But this woman, with conviction that Jesus had what she needed, with conviction that she had enough, and she was determined to get it from Jesus in faith. I still don't know how she managed to push through a crowd, but she did. And when she did, she actually managed to touch not Jesus, not his hand, not his face, not his leg, but the hem of his garment. The funny thing about this moment she received the mercy in that she was made whole. Jesus said that your faith has made you whole, not just healed her, because healing is physical. Mercy transforms and changes. 

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Now, that is just a few, few instances that we are looking at that Jesus really revealed and reveals to us here and now, that his mercy is available for each one of us. I've looked at different categories just to probably reveal to us, or remind us, that none of us is excluded. And it is not about us, it is about God, it is about who God is, it is about his nature, it is not about what we are, but about whose we belong to. So Jesus comes to reveal to us the image of God, the heart of God. He comes to reveal to us the will of God, and he does the will of God. And when we read now the Bible, we see all the many instances that he revealed deeper of the Father's plan for us, which is not just to heal but to restore to wholeness. So we are talking about wholeness, because wholeness means receiving a new life. If you look at all these categories of people, they received a new life, a new outlook, a better life, a bright new morning, like you know, one of those moments that we wake up to a bright new day and even we can relate to. 

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I believe each one of us can relate to one of these stories, or even more than one, because in life we are created in a way that we grow up going to school learning different things and we all have desires to fulfil our goals in life, our goals in life. So God has put in us different kind of potential and talents and gifting that help us to live each day to the best of what we know or we desire. And sometimes we don't have that probably contentment, because we are still pursuing one thing. When we get it, we want to pursue another one. When we want to pursue it is because this life does not give us the wholeness that we need, it will give us. They call it, Stephen Covey, calls it actualization. 

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But I look at the Word of God and I see Jesus giving wholeness, because the restoration that Jesus brings it is not just to help us to do our job well or go to work well or take care of our family better or take care of our children better, but it also restores the original image that God had when he created us or when he chose to create man in his image. So in the image of God man was created. So wholeness means that it is not just one area of our life, not just physical. It is every area of our life is restored, and especially that area of our life that would otherwise interfere with the other areas or the performance of the other areas of our lives. You see, if in an office there is one employee who is lousy in a team of 10 or 5, that means the results would not be the same with another team, that everyone is working hard. 

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So this kind of restoration that we are talking about, when you look at the mercy of God, it is mercy that completes us, and mercy completes us because we receive the fullness of the love of God. So this is love in action, because God is love. So this is love in action. Jesus came to promise eternal life and he spoke about eternal life coming to us after his resurrection. But, do you see, eternal life is living in the fullness of who he created us to be, of who God created us to be, and that doesn't have to start when we die, it can start when we are still alive, because, you see, when we live in the fullness of the joy and the peace and the love that will help us to fulfill our daily tasks, our role, our purpose in this life, we are living in the eternal promise of life that Jesus died to give us, the fullness, because that fullness, according to Colossians 1, was pleased to dwell in Jesus only. So we can only live in that fullness if we have a relationship with Jesus, if we have Jesus in our hearts, if we accept Jesus in our hearts, if we believe, then we receive. 

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So mercy shows up the story about mercy. So the society, the pharisees, the scribes, they rejected the mercy of god. They were determined to block and eliminate jesus, the mercy of god, so that he doesn't show his mercy, and that is why they were looking at every area. They would judge him on, you know, doing a miracle. On the sab Sabbath, they would bring a woman like that and talk about condemnation and he would tell them about eternal life. That is the bread of life, the truth of where he's coming from. And they say it is blasphemy, and so they killed him. But the good news is, even though they killed Jesus, because he came not just to talk but to demonstrate the fullness of the mercy of God to us, so that we can know and prepare our hearts and be open to receive it, because we need it, it is so essential. But even though they did all that, they did not stop it. So, here and now, we can still prepare our hearts and be partakers of this mercy and receive, because when he chooses to give nothing and nobody can stop it he is faithful, and so we pray that the Lord will help us to be able to open our hearts to receive it and to receive it as he gives it to us. 

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And as we summarize, we are going to read a story about a man who is in the first category of what we talked about. He knew that he needed the mercy of God, so he was able to verbalize and to ask for it, and he did not allow anything to silence him. He did not allow any intimidation from the silencers, even though he was blind and the ones who were trying to silence him could see. Even though he was a beggar, and the ones who were trying to silence him were not beggars, his condition and situation could have spoken to him louder, but he chose to silence all those inner voices, to silence the outer voices and focus on one thing to ask for the mercy of God. This is Luke, chapter 18, verse 35. 

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Now, as he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside backing, hearing a crowd going by. He inquired what was happening. They told him Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. He shouted Jesus, son of David, have pity on me. The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more son of David, have pity on me. Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him. 

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When he came near, jesus asked him what do you want me to do for you? And so today, as we finish this meditation reflection, you're going to meditate on this word what do you want me to do for you. He knew what he wanted, but that was not enough for him to receive why? Because he had these people who were silencing him. His condition was already silencing him. We don't know how long he was there, we don't know how long he was calling, but we just know that he refused to be silenced. So what do you want me to do for you? He knew what he wanted Jesus to do for him and he replied Lord, please, let me see. Jesus told him have sight, your faith has saved you. So the end of this summary of the story of mercy, saving faith. He verbalized his need. Jesus answered to his need and his life was transformed. Can you imagine? Even this condition of begging was because he was blind, and the Lord has shown him mercy and healed him. So he didn't just get a healing, but he got a restoration, and so he went on with his life. 

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So let us pray that the Lord will help us to be able to open our hearts and to believe that he has what we need and that our needs, our situation, should not limit us from receiving from him. 

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Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, we thank you, lord, we honor you, we praise you and we worship you, we enthrone you above every situation and circumstance of our life. Thank you, lord, for this word you have given us. Thank you for revealing to us deep mysteries of your kingdom and teaching us something new about your mercy. Lord, I pray for every listener of this podcast as you open our hearts, that as you seek to know which category we could find ourselves in, that we could not summarize our lives or accept when others summarize us, but know that each one of us is freely and openly welcome to receive your mercy, which brings along transformation and complete change in our lives. We might not even know it, or we might know it. We honor you, we praise you and we worship you. It is in Jesus' mighty name we pray with thanksgiving. Amen, have a wonderful day and God bless you.