Matthew 7 and 18: Growing in mercy

Captain Julia Cozens considers the depth of God’s forgiveness.

Key texts

Have you ever watched one of those TV programmes where people face a panel of judges – The X Factor, The Masked Singer, Strictly Come Dancing and the like? The contestants offer their talents, and the judges decide who can continue in the contest and who must leave the programme.

One of the most viewed TV auditions of all time is that of Susan Boyle, who appeared before the Britain’s Got Talent judges in 2009. Unlike the many young starlets who graced the show, viewers first saw Susan as a somewhat frumpily dressed, slightly eccentric middle-aged woman. The judges spoke to her before the audition, and it was evident that their expectations were low. Then Susan began to sing. Everyone was stunned by her wonderful voice. Her album I Dreamed a Dream became one of the fastest selling debut albums of all time.

Our first study passage, from Matthew 7, encourages us not to judge ‘or you too will be judged’ (v1). In 1 Samuel 16:7, we read: ‘The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’

This verse is taken from the story of David, who was chosen to be the king of Israel, despite only being a boy and the youngest of his brothers.

Pause and reflect

Have you ever judged someone and later found out you were wrong?
Has anyone ever judged you wrongly?

Matthew warns his readers not to be hypocrites (see v5). The word ‘hypocrite’ comes from the Greek hupokrites. Essentially, it means ‘one who answers or acts’. It developed into being used for an actor or stage player. In everyday use, a hypocrite is someone who says they have a certain set of beliefs, but their behaviour does not reflect this and shows a lack of sincerity.

Pause and reflect

Do your actions mirror your stated beliefs?

The passage encourages us to put ourselves right with God before judging others. When we recognise our own shortcomings and mistakes, the failures of others will not seem so significant.

Our second study passage, from Matthew 18, is known as the parable of the unmerciful servant. A man who owes the equivalent of millions of pounds begs for mercy, and his master writes the debt off. The same man then meets a colleague who owes him money and demands the debt is paid. What a foolish, greedy and unmerciful man!

Pause and reflect

Is there someone you find it hard to forgive?
Is there someone you need to ask for forgiveness?

It’s interesting that Jesus tells this story following a question from Peter: ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?’ (v21). Later, having denied him three times, Peter would seek Jesus’ forgiveness. Jesus showed him mercy and gave him a new start.

What picture comes into your mind when you hear the word ‘mercy’? I see a person kneeling before an angry master, begging for their life to be spared. The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘mercy’ as ‘clemency and compassion shown to a person who is in a position of powerlessness or subjection, or to a person with no right or claim to receive kindness’.

If you have watched one of the Gladiator films, you may picture an emperor in the Colosseum, with their thumb pointing either up or down, to indicate whether a person should live or die. An emperor of Rome had the power to show mercy. He could spare life or take it.

Just Mercy is a film that had a significant impact on me. It tells the true story of Walter McMillian, who spent years on death row for a crime he did not commit. With his attorney’s hard work and determination, he was finally released. The film ends with the shocking statistic that for every nine people executed in the USA, one person on death row has been proven innocent and released.

Pause and reflect

Have you ever wrongfully accused someone?
Have you ever been wrongfully accused?

God’s gift of mercy offers us a future eternal life.

In the last weeks of his presidency, US president Joe Biden agreed to show mercy to 37 of the 40 prisoners on federal death row. Rejon Taylor, one of the pardoned prisoners, responded: ‘I will not squander this opportunity of mercy, of life.’

As Christians, our ultimate example of mercy is shown by God sending his son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our wrongdoing, offering forgiveness and a new start to us all. The Salvation Army’s doctrines state that Christ’s death has ‘made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved’.

In families, friendship groups, churches and corps all over this territory and the world, there are people who have not spoken to each other for many years due to some argument or disagreement that happened, sometimes a very long time ago. God’s gift of mercy offers us a future eternal life, rather than the shadow of death. When we consider all that we have been forgiven of, how can we respond other than to show forgiveness and mercy to others!