The Mercy

New Testament

Mercy in the New Testament

In the Gospel were revealed the various aspects that His Mercy assume.

In Luke it is described by the deep emotion of the father of the prodigal son when he sees his lost son: "When he was still far off, his father saw him, he ran to meet him, embraced him and kissed him "(Lk 15, 20). Even Jesus was taken by great compassion, "When he came near the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried to the grave, the only son of a widowed mother, and many people of the city were with her. Seeing that, the Lord was moved with great compassion for her and said: "Do not cry!" He walked over and touched the casket, and the bearers stood still. Then he said, "Boy, I tell you, arise." The dead man sat up and began to speak".
(Lk 7,12-15)

In Matthew the search of the lost sheep: "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go to seek that which is gone astray? If he will find it, I say unto you, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. So is the will of your Father who is in heaven, that not one of these little ones astray".
(Mt 18, 12-14)

The merciful Samaritan: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of bandits, who took everything away from him, beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he kept going. Likewise a Levite came to the same place and saw him, he too kept on. But a Samaritan, who was traveling, saw him and had compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and loaded him on his own horse, brought him to an inn, and took care of him".
(Lk 10, 30-34)

The unforgiving servant: "So the servant, down to the ground, begged his master, saying: Have patience with me and I will pay thee all. The master of that servant had compassion, set him free, and forgave him the debt. After having been set free, the servant found another servant like him, who owed him a hundred denarii. He took him by the neck and choked him, saying, Give me what you owe me! His companion, prostrated on the ground begged him, saying: Have patience with me and I will give you what I owe you. But he would not, he went and casted him in prison, till he would be able to pay the debt. The other servants saw what was happening, they were very sorry, they went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master summoned him and said to him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have compassion on thy fellow servant, as I had pity on you? Angrily the master handed him over to the torturers until he would pay all his debt. My Father, who is in heaven, will do the same to you, if you will not forgive your brother".
(Matthew 18.26 to 35)

Christ not only taught the Merciful Love of God, but He Himself was mercy and made it the essence of the mission of salvation. Since the beginning of His mission, referring the words of the prophet Isaiah, told the people of Nazareth that he had been sent to proclaim good news to the poor, to release to the captives to restore sight to the blind, to release the oppressed and to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord.

To the question of the disciples of John the Baptist: "Are you He who is to come, or should we wait for another? In that very moment he was curing many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. Then he gave them this answer: Go and announce to John what you have seen and heard: the blinds receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news".
(Lk 7.19 to 22)

The Merciful Love of God was revealed more fully by His Son in the hour of His Passion, His death and His resurrection.