07/19/2024 – Moved to Mercy
Luke 10: 30 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
We must act like the good Samaritan. The Samaritan did not calculate the expense or the risks. He simply reacted according to what happened in the depths of his being when he saw this man beaten and on the verge of death. The Lord Jesus Christ tells us that the Samaritan was moved to mercy.
The Greek word, splagchnizomai, translated as “moved to mercy” literally translates as a compassionate reaction originating in the bowels of a person. This word appears twelve times in the Bible, all of them in the Gospels. It should come as no surprise that every time you this word is used, it is made exclusively in relation to Christ. On eleven of these occasions, this word is used to describe Christ’s reaction to the needs of others.
Christ demonstrated and taught that this aspect of God’s character to which little value is given in this world—mercy—turns out to be the most valuable in the kingdom of heaven: This characteristic of true love is considered an element of weakness in human relationships. Even among those in need, we sometimes here: I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me.
I remember when the Lord gave us the blessing to buy a house with our parents. For our family it was the fulfillment of the American dream. The real estate agent sat my mom next to her to advise her. In her strong Eastern European accent, she said to her: you must be bad, Mrs. Juan (with both incorrect name and advice). According to her, it was necessary to detach emotions from business. Tenants were to be treated without mercy. We had the worst tenants in the world. They practically destroyed the apartment, but everything was repaired. My mom did not follow the advice to be bad.
Thank God that the thoughts of our heavenly Father are so different from ours. God looks at our need and even when he sees us suffering because of our own sin, He is moved to mercy. He is compassionate. That mercy motivated Christ to come into this world, take our human nature and die for us. That compassion leads him to intercede for us continually before the heavenly Father.