Matthew Chapter 5 (Part Four)

Verse 7: The fifth Beatitude is found in verse 7: How blessed are those who show mercy for they will be shown mercy. The idea is that mercy is reciprocated between God and Man. This is not a new idea Jesus is teaching. There are a number of Bible passages which express this concept. When we show mercy or have pity or compassion upon our fellow man, it is God who will reward us.

He who despises his fellow, sins. But he who shows compassion to the humble is happy. (Proverbs 14:21)

In this passage, it says the one who shows compassion to his fellow man is “happy”. The Hebrew word translated as “happy” is the Hebrew word esher. Esher can also be translated into English as “blessed”. Being blessed and having blessings are gifts from God. So, another way to translate Proverbs 14:21 is: He who despise his fellow, sins. But he who shows compassion to the humble is blessed from God.

Another verse of Scripture which emphasizes how our kindness with be reciprocated with God is Proverbs 19:17

He that has pity upon the poor lends unto the LORD, and that which he has given will he [ay his again. (Proverbs 19:17)

We see God repays everything measure for measure. If we are kind to others, He is kind to us. If we are cruel or unfair to our neighbor, God will be cruel and unfair to us. This is one of the most fundamental principles of life among Jews.

Christianity sometimes makes small this God-principle or even says that it no longer applies to Believers today. However, this is not so. One of the most famous statements of how God operates His justice system is called “eye for an eye”. It is a statement of proportional justice. If I hit my brother, I deserve to be hit back. If I steal from my brother, I deserve to be stolen from. The same is true in the positive sense. If I am kind to my brother, I should be shown kindness back. If I lend to a neighbor, a neighbor should willing to lend to me.

For Believers, it translates into our faithfulness. If we are faithful to God, He is faithful to us.

King Saved speaks of this concept in Psalm 18.

The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.
21
For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not acted wickedly against my God.
22
For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23
I was also blameless with Him,
And I kept myself from my wrongdoing.
24
Therefore the Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
25
With the faithful You show Yourself faithful;
With the blameless You prove Yourself blameless;
26
With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute. (Psalm 18:20-26)

We see that King David remained faithful to God, and God rewarded him accordingly. King David writes if a person is faithful, God will be faithful. But if a person is crooked with God, God will also be shrewd with the man.

This concept is a re-iteration of the two great commandments: Love the LORD your God and love your neighbor as yourself. Many have argued this two commandments can really be achieved by simply loving our neighbor as our self. If we love our fellow, then we are also loving God. Remember, man is created in the image of God. If we cannot love man, we cannot love God.

In 1 John chapter 4, John speaks of this same concept:
20If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. (1 John 4:20-21)