How is Mercy understood in the New Testament?
In the New Testament, we deal with three groups of synonymous for mercy. The first semantic group is the verb eleein and its derived eleos and eleemon. They are mainly found in Synoptics. The verb eleein translates into English as pity, help out of pity, have mercy on someone. Whereas since the times of Homer, the noun eleos means emotion in the face of misfortune that befell another human being and the deed resulting from this feeling. The adjective eleemon is rendered merciful in English. Finally, eleein and its derivatives refer to the respect that is required by God, that people should feel for themselves. Interpersonal relationships should be based on mercy, compassion, forgiveness and kindness. The pattern of such behavior is provided by Jesus Christ in the teaching of the Gospel: I want mercy rather than sacrifice (cf. Mt 9:13).
The second group of meanings for mercy in the New Testament are: the noun oiktirmos (Rom 12: 1; 2 Cor 1: 3; Phil 2: 1; Col 3:12; Heb 10:28) and words derived from it, namely the verb oikteirein (Rom 9:15) and the adjective oikthirmon (Luke 6:36; Jas 5:11). Oiktirmos means affection and compassion. It is translated as mercy, compassion. The verb oikteirein means to show mercy, to have pity. On the other hand, the adjective oiktirmon is translated as merciful. These terms are derived from oiktos, meaning lamentation, a mournful cry over some misfortune. Therefore, this noun means compassionate lamentation, compassion, pity. Oiktirmos and its derivatives are most often used in the New Testament to denote God's Mercy, and less to denote human mercy.
Words: esplanchnisthē (Mt 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 18:27; 20:34; Mk 1:41; 6:34; 8:2; 9:22; Lk 7:13; 10:35; 15:20) meaning to be moved, have mercy and splanchnon (Lk 1:78) - guts, constitute the third semantic group that describes mercy. The verb esplanchnisthē in Jesus' parables means mercy, goodness, forgiveness.
Based on the above analysis, the concept of the gospel on mercy can be defined. Its content is compassion flowing from the divine or human interior to alleviate the suffering and misfortune of someone else. In this situation, a person tries to enter the state of the other, feeling sorry for him/her in what happened to him/her. Full of emotion, she/he is ready to deal with it through a specific act. Something necessary to be merciful is this co-compassion, co-participation, co-suffering, personal encounter with the misfortune of another human being.
When we look at the terms defining the essence of mercy in Scripture, we notice that they are dominated by a feeling of compassionate love, sensitive to human misery. Such love seems to be most necessary for man. Human nature, tainted by original sin, prone to fall.
Therefore, man needs merciful love on the part of God. In the encounter with evil, and in particular with human sin, it manifests itself precisely as mercy.
The New Testament, keeping the Old Testament, general concept of mercy, will give it a much richer, broader content. Mercy in the New Testament is expressed in the person and action of Jesus Christ. He takes up the Father's saving plan and fully fulfills it. In theNew Testament mercy is understood universally: no one is excluded from it, unless he himself opposes the grace that comes from God. This mercy is shown, first of all, in forgiving sins by God, although His providence concerns all matters of people and even the whole world.
The mercy shown by Christ always leads to the salvation of man and also to his inner transformation. Jesus first saves from physical evil, then heals the spirit. The New Testament emphasizes the importance of mercy as an attribute to which humanity owes salvation and sanctification through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
A typical example of the salvific character of Jesus' mercy is the parable of the prodigal son. The image of mercy known from the Old Testament is deepened here. Although the word mercy does not appear directly in the text of the parable, its essence is expressed by indicating the reason that prompts the father to forgive his son. This is emphasized by the use of the expression moving the bowels, which is the equivalent of the Hebrew raham. In this parable, mercy takes the shape of perfect love - agape, which is capable of leaning over every human being.
Summarizing the main truths about God's Mercy in the New Testament, the following conclusions can be made: God is a compassionate love, the Father of mercy, rich in mercy. The source of mercy is God's love for man who has sinned and departed from Him. However, “for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (cf. Jn 3:16). The fruit of God's Mercy manifested in Jesus' mission is: God's forgiveness, salvation, sanctification of man and glorification of God. And the means by which God accomplishes this is the washing that regenerates and renews in the Holy Spirit.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george