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Jesus speaks: “Yet I say to you [Pharisees] that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12.7-8).

There must have been something mighty special about the principle which Jesus quoted from Hosea 6.6 – the word from God which said, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” It must have been special because had the Pharisees grasped its concepts and applied them, they “…would not have condemned the guiltless.” However, the sad fact of the matter was just the opposite of the joyful meeting that could have occurred! The Pharisees did not grasp the concept about which Hosea wrote, or at least if they grasped it, they failed to apply it. Due to this failure on their part, they “condemned the guiltless.” That, dear reader, is a horrible indictment in any age and in any circumstance!

Literally millions upon millions of dollars are spent in our country and in our legal system so that the guiltless will not be condemned. In spite of this great care, it is an unfortunate fact that there are still quite a few innocent persons who are sentenced to serve a horrible and arduous prison sentence, or worse yet, some innocent people are even sentenced to die. Perhaps this is bound to happen where imperfect people are called upon to administer any system of justice, but it is a tragedy none the less. Recently, DNA evidence has been used to convict criminals, but thankfully it has also been used to exonerate some who otherwise were destined to serve prison time for a crime they did not commit. Hardly a month goes by that such a case does not make the headlines.

However, the case with the Pharisees and Jesus was much different. The jury of fellow citizens who finds an innocent person guilty after carefully considering all the evidence has nothing for which to be ashamed. They did their best, but they are humans listening to human testimony. However, the same cannot be said for the Pharisees! Yes, they were human, but they had something far above human testimony to guide them in this matter. God had spoken! That should have made all the difference in the world as to how deliberate they were in considering the evidence concerning Jesus and His disciples. Mercy is a trait to be accounted for in some manner that supersedes or is more important than the rites of sacrifice. That is exactly the sentiment of Hosea and that principle should have guided the Pharisees in their judgments – but it didn’t!

This flaw on the Pharisees' part led them to condemn the guiltless. On this occasion, it was Jesus’ disciples, but by implication Jesus was just as guilty as they were according to the reasoning of the Pharisees. When Jesus told them that they had condemned the guiltless, He was foreseeing what would eventually happen to Him at Calvary, except the stakes would be much higher. This time, it was only a confrontation; at Calvary it would result in the merciless beating and death of God’s only begotten Son.

Yes, this principle of mercy over sacrifice is a mighty important principle. It led to this confrontation, and it led to Jesus’ death. It is certainly worthy of further consideration!

Questions:

1. Where does mercy originate? Is it merely an outward act? If not, what is mercy?

2. How does mercy manifest itself? Can mercy sit idly by and watch injustice occur?

3. From whom do we as humans learn the concept of mercy? From the Bible, what are a few of the greatest acts of mercy with which you are familiar?

4. Finish this verse – “Blessed are the merciful, For ________ ____________ ______________ ______________ ." (Matthew 5.7).

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

Moralism