On the Road to Jerusalem: Showing Mercy

“He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise.’"—Luke 10:37

While on the road to Jerusalem—where He knew He would be crucified and killed, Jesus was teaching others to be merciful. He didn’t have to. He could have refrained from ever teaching about mercy, but He didn’t. He wanted to show that God was merciful—even in the midst of great hostility and injustice, God was merciful.

He had just finished telling the parable of the Good Samaritan—the story of a man robbed, hurt, and bleeding on the side of the road, in need of help and medical attention, but no one stops as they all pass by. The first man to pass by was a priest—whom you would expect would stop to help, but he didn’t. The second man to pass by was a Levite—another one whom you would expect to stop and help, but he didn’t. Last of all, a Samaritan stopped by—the one whom Jews, who were listening to Jesus speak, would not expect to stop and help. He is the one who helped. It was inconceivable to the Jewish mind that a Samaritan would help. And while we have probably heard this story dozens of times, we still largely don’t understand how unpalatable it was to the Jewish mind.

Nevertheless, it was not either of the ones who had their theological ducks in a row who proved to be a neighbor to the man hurting by the roadside, but rather the one who showed him mercy. Jesus then tells them to “go, and do likewise”—Luke 10:37.

What can we learn about God from the Good Samaritan? Several things, but specifically today, we are going to focus on God showing us mercy in order that we might show others mercy. The Bible is clear that we were once God’s enemies, but He loved us anyway: “…but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”—Romans 5:8. Once, we were by “nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind”—Ephesians 2:3. God would have been completely just and right to destroy us, but He didn’t. Paul describes His marvelous mercy:

“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—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast”—Ephesians 2:4-9.

God was and is merciful to us and He desires that we be merciful to others. Or as James said,

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” —James 2:14-18.

O Lord God, help us to be merciful to others as You have been merciful to us. Help us to put our faith into action by helping others in need. Help us to see with Your eyes so as not to pass by the opportunities that are before us to help in cases of urgent need. And may You receive the glory because of what You are doing within us. Amen.