MERCY DELIVERS FROM MISERY

“As He entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have MERCY on us!” – Luke 17:12-13

The MERCY of God is the answer to the MISERY of men. Mercy is a vital part of God’s innate nature by which He feels and acts to dissolve and delete the miseries of men: “For the LORD God is a Merciful God…” (Dt.4:31a). Chuck Swindoll defines Mercy as “God’s ministry to the miserable.” The principal Hebrew word for mercy speaks of an emotional response to the needs of others. It means to feel the pain of another so deeply that we’re compelled to do something about it. In Bible times, the general belief was that the seat of emotions was located in the intestinal area; hence the phrase – “bowels of mercy.” William Barclay defines mercy thus: “To get inside someone’s skin until we can see things with his eyes, think things with his mind, and feel things with his feelings; to move in and act on behalf of those who are hurting.” In other words, Mercy involves empathy and compassion, followed by action. Mercy is good will toward the afflicted, coupled with a desire to relieve them.

Mercy is Compassion in Action! The meaning of Mercy is aptly captured in Matthew 14:14: “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.” The word “compassion” means that Jesus was so moved that His stomach churned, or literally, “his bowels yearned” for the crowd. What is significant to note is that this churning led Him to do something positive about it. He saw the need and then He went into action. Mercy in theory is absolutely meaningless. Just as God by His very nature moves in Mercy; we His children must yield to Mercy to move us. This refers to being inclined to show mercy as a lifestyle, not just being merciful on an occasional basis.

Our text today tells the story of ten men who in their miseries, cried out for God’s Mercy, and were answered and delivered (Lk.17). These ten were afflicted by leprosy, a disease that virtually rendered them to be “the walking dead.” Leprosy itself was awful enough: it bleached the hair white and triggered sores, swellings, and scales on the rest of the body, causing it to deteriorate from the outside in. In addition to the physical effects, the victims of leprosy were always social outcasts. The word leper literally means one who is stricken, which reflected the belief that the disease was a divine judgement. The lepers were to leave their outer garment torn as a sign of mourning, and to call out constantly “Unclean, unclean!” While they were permitted to live in open villages, they were never allowed to get too close to a clean person or even to greet them. Theirs was a lonely, bitter exile from all human contact with families or friends.

These ten men may have lived together in their misery, but somehow they heard that Jesus was passing by and probably had heard that He could cure lepers. So when He entered the village they broke the rules and went to meet with Him; even then, they “stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have MERCY on us!” (vv.12b-13). It is however ironically that, though ten men cried out for God’s Mercy, and all ten stretched out their faith to receive and benefit from His Mercy, only one man was truly transformed. Once the rest got what they wanted from Jesus, they were finished with Him. They was healed in their bodies, but remained leprous in their souls. Only one man returned to say “Thank You”! This unveils a great lesson: It is not enough to need God’s Mercy or to benefit from His Mercy. We must be transformed – molded by His Mercy!

As we receive and benefit from God’s Mercy, we must also be transformed into People of Mercy. God’s desire and design is that we become Vessels of His Mercy on earth, delivered from misery, and moved with compassion and mercy to deliver others from misery.