If [the gift] is showing mercy (ἐλεῶν, a form of ἐλεέω),^[1] he must do so with cheerfulness.^[2]  This is my gift, the one given to me.  It is the way I see Jesus and his Father.  It is the way I see the world.  It is my bias.  Blessed are the merciful (ἐλεήμονες, a form of ἐλεήμων),^[3] for they will be shown mercy (ἐλεηθήσονται, a form of ἐλεέω).^[4]  Given that bias it is probably good to start with something I do not mean by mercy.

“Have mercy (ἐλέησον, a form of ἐλεέω) on us, Son of David!”^[5] two blind men shouted.  Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”  Then he touched their eyes saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”  And their eyes were opened.^[6]

The blind men asked Jesus for mercy, believed He was able to do what they asked, and received the mercy they asked for, according to [their] faith.  And I don’t want anything to do with this kind of faith or this kind of mercy.

Jesus sternly warned (ἐνεβριμήθη, a form of ἐμβριμάομαι)^[7] them, “See that no one knows about this.”^[8]  But they disobeyed Him; they went out and spread the news about him throughout that entire region.^[9]

As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy met him.  They stood at a distance, raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy (ἐλέησον, a form of ἐλεέω) on us.”  When he saw them he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”^[10]  It took some faith to obey Jesus, to go back to priests who were likely to tell them what they already knew, that they were leprous.  And as they went along, they were cleansed.^[11]  You see that [their] faith was working together with [their] works and [their] faith was perfected by works.^[12]

Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.  He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.  (Now he was a Samaritan.)  Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?  Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?”^[13]

Assuming that the other nine were descendants of Israel, they may have been too busy to turn back and give praise to God, too busy trying to make themselves worthy of the mercy Jesus had shown them, too busy obeying the law (Leviticus 14:1-20 NET):

The Lord spoke to Moses: “This is the law of the diseased person on the day of his purification, when he is brought to the priest.  The priest is to go outside the camp and examine the infection.  If the infection of the diseased person has been healed, then the priest will command that two live clean birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop be taken up for the one being cleansed.  The priest will then command that one bird be slaughtered into a clay vessel over fresh water.  Then he is to take the live bird along with the piece of cedar wood, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the twigs of hyssop, and he is to dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered over the fresh water, and sprinkle it seven times on the one being cleansed from the disease, pronounce him clean, and send the live bird away over the open countryside.

“The one being cleansed must then wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe in water, and so be clean.  Then afterward he may enter the camp, but he must live outside his tent seven days.  When the seventh day comes he must shave all his hair – his head, his beard, his eyebrows, all his hair – and he must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and so be clean.

“On the eighth day he must take two flawless male lambs, one flawless yearling female lamb, three-tenths of an ephah of choice wheat flour as a grain offering mixed with olive oil, and one log of olive oil, and the priest who pronounces him clean will have the man who is being cleansed stand along with these offerings before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.

“The priest is to take one male lamb and present it for a guilt offering along with the log of olive oil and present them as a wave offering before the Lord.  He must then slaughter the male lamb in the place where the sin offering and the burnt offering are slaughtered, in the sanctuary, because, like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; it is most holy.  Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.  The priest will then take some of the log of olive oil and pour it into his own left hand.  Then the priest is to dip his right forefinger into the olive oil that is in his left hand, and sprinkle some of the olive oil with his finger seven times before the Lord.  The priest will then put some of the rest of the olive oil that is in his hand on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering, and the remainder of the olive oil that is in his hand the priest is to put on the head of the one being cleansed.  So the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord.

“The priest must then perform the sin offering and make atonement for the one being cleansed from his impurity.  After that he is to slaughter the burnt offering, and the priest is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar.  So the priest is to make atonement for him and he will be clean.^[14]

Get up and go your way, Jesus said to the foreigner who returned to Him and gave praise to God.  Your faith has made you well.^[15]  This is better, perhaps, but still not the mercy I want.

The next example is found in three gospel accounts:

If someone wants to impeach the witnesses the discrepancies in these accounts seem very important.  They sound like the limited perceptions and faulty memories of eye witnesses who didn’t necessarily understand what they were seeing, and the alterations that naturally occur when favorite stories are passed on by word of mouth.  The more I want to know God, however, the less important they seem.

Though the accounts differ regarding when and how many blind men asked for Jesus’ mercy, they agree that the crowd scolded him/them but couldn’t silence him/them.

This is new^[19] relative to the first two stories of mercy.  In each of these accounts Jesus stopped (στὰς in Matthew and Mark, σταθεὶς in Luke) and called (ἐφώνησεν, a form of κελεύω) them (Matthew).  Mark offered detail to that call: Jesus stopped (στὰς) and said, “Call (φωνήσατε) him” to those who traveled with Him, presumably his disciples.  So they called (φωνοῦσιν) the blind man and said to him, “Have courage!  Get up!  He is calling (φωνεῖ) you.”  The blind man threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus.  Luke, the historian, resolved these accounts with, So Jesus stopped (σταθεὶς) and ordered (ἐκέλευσεν, a form of κελεύω)^[20] the beggar to be brought to him.

These are not the words Paul used to describe God’s calling, but together they form a vivid picture of what he meant by them.  And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called (κλητοῖς, a form of κλητός)^[21] according to his purpose, because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined, he also called (ἐκάλεσεν, a form of καλέω);^[22] and those he called (ἐκάλεσεν, a form of καλέω), he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.^[23]

In the first story two blind men thought it was more important to tell others about Jesus than to obey Him themselves.  In the second story obedience was not at issue.  There is no indication that the lepers were doing anything other than obeying Jesus’ command, Go and show yourselves to the priests.  At issue was the matter of gratitude, demonstrated in praise for God.  Jesus raised the question whether the other nine lepers were praising God or, perhaps, praising themselves for their adherence to the works of the law.  For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.^[24]

Yet the blind man/men called by Jesus followed Him, not because he/they were given a law.  Jesus did not say, Follow Me.  Yet the work of the law [was] written in their hearts.^[25]  They were doers, poets, of the law, speaking their own lines from their own hearts, as opposed to actors (hypocrites), wearing a false face and speaking a poet’s lines.  They not only praised God themselves, When all the people saw it, they too gave praise to God.

This is more like it, mercy that causes me to follow Jesus, praising God, a mercy that causes others, when they see me following Jesus, to praise, not me, but God.  I will have mercy (ἐλεήσω, another form of ἐλεέω) on whom I have mercy (ἐλεῶ, another form of ἐλεέω), and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.  So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy (ἐλεῶντος, a form of ἐλεέω).^[26]  This is the mercy I want to receive.  This is the mercy I long to extend to all around me.  This is the mercy Paul found in the Lord when he had great sorrow and unceasing anguish in [his] heart.^[27]

Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy (ἠλεήθητε, a form of ἐλεέω) due to their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy (ἐλέει, a form of ἔλεος)^[28] shown to you, they too may now receive mercy (ἐλεηθῶσιν, a form of ἐλεέω).  For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy (ἐλεήσῃ, a form of ἐλεέω) to them all.^[29]

This mercy is to be shown with cheerfulness (ἱλαρότητι, a form of ἱλαρότης),^[30] not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful (ἱλαρὸν, a form of ἱλαρός)^[31] giver.^[32]  I fall down here because of the gospel presented as law rather than grace handed down to me from my religion that still adheres to my religious mind: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ before you die, or burn in hell for all eternity.”  I am the dark side of the proverb, Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.^[33]  To counteract that darkness I want to look at two instances when Jesus didn’t want to show someone mercy.

A Canaanite woman from [the region of Tyre and Sidon] came and cried out, “Have mercy (ἐλέησον, a form of ἐλεέω) on me, Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!”^[34]

This woman was a living remnant of the people Jesus, as Yahweh, had commanded Israel to exterminate with extreme prejudice—because the Canaanites were wicked idolaters?  Yes, as a matter of legal justification, but more to the point, for the faithfulness of his chosen people: for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice; and you then take his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods as well.^[35]

So Jesus ignored the woman’s persistent plea.  Then his disciples came and begged him, “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.”^[36]

So Jesus began to explain to the woman the obligations of righteousness, the law He was under from his Father: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.^[37]

But she came and bowed down before him and said, “Lord, help me!”^[38]

“It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said.^[39]

The Canaanite woman might have said, “I’m as good as any Jew here!”  And Jesus might have agreed with her, but I don’t think that response would have moved him from the law of his Father.

“Yes, Lord,” she said instead, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”^[40]

When Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them,^[41] He meant what He said.  So He answered the Canaanite woman, “Woman, your faith is great!  Let what you want be done for you.”  And her daughter was healed from that hour.^[42]

So, did Jesus sin by disobeying the law of his Father?  No, because Jesus and his Father knew, long before Paul wrote any letter to the Galatians, that if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law,^[43] and regarding the fruit of the Spirit: Against such things (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) there is no law.^[44]

The second instance deserves its own essay.  I’ll conclude this one with Paul’s words of gratitude because it seems fitting in the context of the gift of showing mercy.  My religion teaches me to present the gospel with Paul’s words from his letter to the Romans (Romans 1:18-20 NET):

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made.  So people are without excuse.

But privately in his letter to the young preacher Timothy, Paul wrote (1 Timothy 1:12-17 NET):

I am grateful (Χάριν, a form of χάρις)^[45] to the one who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me faithful (πιστόν, a form of πιστός)^[46] in putting me into ministry, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor, and an arrogant man.  But I was treated with mercy (ἠλεήθην, a form of ἐλεέω) because I acted ignorantly (ἀγνοῶν, a form of ἀγνοέω)^[47] in unbelief (ἀπιστίᾳ),^[48] and our Lord’s grace (χάρις) was abundant, bringing faith (πίστεως, a form of πίστις)^[49] and love (ἀγάπης, a form of ἀγάπη)^[50] in Christ Jesus.  This saying is trustworthy (πιστὸς) and deserves full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” – and I am the worst of them!  But here is why I was treated with mercy (ἠλεήθην, a form of ἐλεέω): so that in me as the worst, Christ Jesus could demonstrate his utmost patience (μακροθυμίαν, a form of μακροθυμία),^[51] as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life.  Now to the eternal king, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever!  Amen.