The Merciful One

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. - Matthew 5:7

In the message yesterday we heard a lot about Jesus. We heard about how Jesus is the merciful one - who was constantly pouring out mercy on others, especially the undeserving. We hear about how Jesus was also one who received mercy (from people like Joanna, who provided for Jesus out of her own earnings). And we heard about how Jesus saw the world so differently than we do - he believed deeply in God’s economy, which wasn’t based on power-grabbing but on mercy-giving.

Where did Jesus get all these crazy ideas?

In his own teaching, Jesus said that we get to extend mercy to others if we’ve received it ourselves. In his words, “Freely have you received; freely give” (Mt 10:8). So where did Jesus himself get mercy to share?

The early church theologians, starting with Gregory Nazianzus in the 4th century and repopularized by theologian like Catherine LaCugna in the 20th, used the Greek word “perichoresis” to talk about the Trinity. The ‘choresis’ part of that word is where we get ‘choreography’ - and they used the word to talk about the eternal, mutual dance of love within God’s own self. The theology of the Trinity had previously been structural (the Father does this, the Son does this, etc.), but with Gregory it shifted to the relational interconnectedness and delight within God’s own self.

So as Jesus had freely given and received for all the ages before showing up on earth, he had plenty of experience of receiving kindness, goodness, and mercy. No wonder that’s why he taught about this self-giving love in the kindom of God all the time!

Take a few moments to reflect and meditate on what it means that Jesus had lived in that constant dance of love before inviting us into it when he was born on earth.