THE MESSIANIC PILGRIMAGE

Mercy is an attribute of a merciful God, as it is written in the Book of Exodus: “The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.” (Exodus 34:6), and as it is also written in the Book of Psalms, “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.” (Psalm 103: 8-13) In Islam two of the beautiful names of God are derived from mercy. In Islam, God is Most Merciful and Most Merciful, indicating the breadth of His mercy toward His creation. “The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” is one of the seven repeated prayers without which no prayer in Islam is valid.

Mercy on the part of God Almighty is that He does not reward us with what we deserve, while on the part of man it is showing good feelings and compassion in our dealings with others, especially during periods of tribulation. But despite what we see of the cruelty of the hearts of people around us, we know that God did not create them as cruel, but rather He created them as merciful in His image! The truth is that we wonder where man came from with all this cruelty, which we often stand amazed at.

The answer is in the Bible, which says, “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.” (Romans 1:28) God is mercy and the source of mercy, and when people turned away from Him, the result was that they became “full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.” (Romans 1:29)

We know that Jesus Christ did not only teach his disciples and followers mercy, but rather he made their hearts a source of mercy and compassion for others, and this is clear in many different forms, including:

1. Compassion for the person who is suffering, as we read in the story of the Samaritan who showed mercy to the wounded man about to die and lying on the road, and how he bandaged his wounds with compassion, carried him on his animal, then took him to a hotel and paid him the hotel fee. Jesus Christ summarized this merciful act in the phrase “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus Christ also advised his listener, saying, “now go and do the same” (Luke 10: 33-37).
2. Having compassion for parents and ensuring their comfort and happiness, because blessed are the children who have compassion for their fathers and mothers. These people will have long days on earth, as we read in the Book of Exodus: “Honour your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12). Likewise, it is easy for faithful children who are merciful toward their parents to be faithful toward God, as God has used The human relationship is a symbol of our relationship with Him, whether in terms of His creation for us, or in terms of His grace and grace.
3. Compassion for animals: We read in the Book of Proverbs this proverb: “The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel.” (Proverbs 12:10). While we read in the book the story of the evil, cruel-hearted Balaam, who kept beating his donkey with ferocity and cruelty, and even wished he had a sword to kill her!! With the bitter mockery of the blindness and cruelty of the human heart.

But the Bible also tells us that lack of mercy has bitter consequences. Jesus told a story about a servant whose master forgave him ten thousand talents, which is worth millions today. However, this evil servant refused to forgive his colleague with only one hundred dinars, and put him in prison. Then the king brought that servant again and said to him, “You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?” And his master became angry and handed him over to the tormentors until he paid everything that was owed to him. Then Jesus concluded the lesson of this parable, saying: “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.” (Matthew 18:21-35). So whoever forgives and is merciful and compassionate toward his brothers, God will treat him in the same way. Let us be merciful!
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