Luke 23:39-43 — And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
We are in Lent and Easter is coming, and so I’m sure I’ll be writing some Easter-flavored devotionals.
Today my thoughts have been running on mercy. It seems to be that one of the unique elements in the Christian view of God that He is merciful. Actually, that’s slightly misstated. A. W. Tozer reminds us that mercy is not something God has it’s something God is. God’s mercy is infinite, unlimited.
The cross is the ultimate demonstration of God’s mercy. “All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God“. We are in a terrible fix. It’s not something we can do anything about. God is also Justice. The implication is that sin has to be paid for. There is no option. How could the universal sin of man be paid for? Only a perfect sacrifice could meet the need. Sacrifices must always be perfect: And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. (Leviticus 22:21) The only perfect sacrifice that could be enough to pay for all the sin of every person that ever was or ever will be is God Himself.
As I thought about this, an odd question occurred to me. “Where was the mercy for Jesus?” And that was when I remembered the two thieves. At His moment of deepest agony, Jesus received mercy from the most unexpected place — a sinner who knew His sinful state. You might question my thought. “Mercy”, you might say, “is surely forgiveness for sin?” That’s too narrow a definition, though. “According to the Old Testament, mercy has certain meanings: to stoop in kindness to an inferior, to have pity upon and to be actively compassionate. It used to be a verb form of the word compassion, but we don’t use it anymore—maybe because we don’t have the concept anymore. God actively “compassionates” suffering men—I like that wonderfully well.” — more from Tozer. The thief on the cross “compassionated” Jesus.
You might think the thief’s mercy was little enough but remember that Jesus said “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.” (Mark 9:41)
It is such a moving thought for me. The cross is God actively having mercy on His lowly people … And in the midst of that supreme sacrifice, one of the lowliest of His people extends a tiny gesture of mercy to God Himself!