MERCY AND JUSTICE - by Karena Lout
Last Saturday, we continued our journey through the beatitudes, focusing on Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” As we receive the generous mercy of Jesus in our lives, we then begin to see his justice unfold as well. Mercy and justice are so interconnected. Without mercy, justice can be harsh, cruel, revenge seeking. There’s no room for redemption. And without justice, mercy can sometimes be forced, done out of guilt or obligation, reduced to just a nice gesture. There’s often no real transformation. Jesus doesn’t just execute justice. He IS justice. He made all things right on the cross. His kingdom justice looks so different than what we could ask or imagine. In Mark 10, Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” It seemed obvious that Bartimaeus was asking Jesus to heal him of his blindness. But Jesus asks him “what do you want me to do for you?” I believe that Jesus wants us to acknowledge our need and identify what it is we wa...