DEVOTIONAL

One of my favorite things about Jesus is He genuinely loves our hearts. And a profound statement my friend said a few weeks ago, “I love that Jesus allows us to change” magnifies the redemptive work Jesus shapes in each of our hearts. She is right. He came to heal the sick. He came for the needy. The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are filled with testimonies of people encountering Jesus and walking away forever changed. They are healed. They are made new. Do you notice the change is more than skin deep? Jesus reaches their hearts. This is mercy. Jesus talks about it in our passage today.

In Matthew 12, I will camp out on the part of verse 7 where Jesus says, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” This is the second time Matthew quotes Jesus making this statement to the Pharisees. Turn back to Matthew 9:13 to see the first time. For a year, I studied this phrase and read the Bible through this lens. It flipped my world upside down. I see Jesus in a new light because of it. I experience a lot of freedom because of it too. The statement is radical to the way of life for the original reader. Jewish traditions are steeped in sacrifices, rituals, and cleansings. The Law does not allow you to skip one of them. As a Gentile, Matthew hears Jesus say “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” as good news. The weight of the Law is lifted. After 2,000 years I read it as good news too. Jesus wants my heart to change more than He wants me to be in church every Sunday and serve in every ministry. Jesus makes this statement to cancel out the striving to earn my place in the kingdom of God.

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:6

When I break down “mercy” and “sacrifice” in the original context I see a visual contrast. The word mercy or “eleos” means compassion or pity, but not cheap pity like throw a dog a bone, but an emotion deep in your gut. You feel compassion with your entire being. We see Jesus have compassion on people all throughout His ministry (Matthew 14:14). And the word sacrifice or “thusia” means an offering in reference to the Old Testament to atone for sin. Priests killed bulls or rams to shed the blood on the altar to pay the price of sin in place of the people. Without a sacrifice your sin was not pardoned. Mercy is absent. There were a lot of rules that bound Old Testament believers. I wonder if I was a little kid growing up in the days of Moses how easy it would be to get caught up in the motions without understanding why. Well, we just do it because that’s what you do. What a scary thought to imagine missing the whole reason for the sacrifice which is a picture of the Messiah who would come one day to be the final sacrifice to atone for sin once and for all (Hebrews 7:27).

I love Matthew writes it out twice that Jesus desires mercy, or compassion. Matthew wants the reader to catch on to understand Jesus is flipping the script. The old way of living which says “earn your way to be good and clean” is replaced by Jesus who comes to make us clean because of His great mercy (Ephesians 2:1-9). Why? Jesus delights in seeing our hearts changed.

As I study this phrase from Jesus that encapsulates His ministry, a lot of conviction sets in. My scale weighs heavy on the side of rigid doing rather than fluid being. And when I read about the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35, I resonant more with the servant than the master. Jesus covers me with His mercy, yet I am quick to withhold mercy from others. The good news is Jesus continues to use His words and ministry to change my heart to be more merciful. My prayers are changing too. I want to see where I can feel compassion with my entire being for strangers and people closest to me. When I step into those moments, I participate in the mercy of Jesus shared with others that I have received. The change is much more than skin deep. The Pharisees missed it, but Matthew leaned in.

What about you?

Q: Is your natural response to give or withhold mercy? In what ways this year have you felt the mercy of God in your life?

Additional Reading: Hosea 6:6, Matthew 18:21-35