Mercy

Suppose you were a little boy who had an older brother who was your very best friend. Suppose you looked up to him because he was everything you wanted to be. Think of the time spent playing together, sharing secrets and laughter. Imagine knowing he loved you very much and was always there for you – always.

Now imagine that you and your brother are all grown up, and this one you have admired and loved all of your life suddenly begins saying and doing things that make you very uncomfortable. In fact, you are downright embarrassed about the way he has begun to behave. He is making claims about himself that you, frankly, just can’t believe. Perhaps you are hurt and confused. Perhaps you finally begin to distance yourself from this brother who once seemed so perfect to you.

I have been thinking much about this younger brother ever since I read about him while doing my Beth Moore study on The Fruit of the Spirit. I have been putting myself in the place of James, the younger half-brother of Jesus and wondering what it must have been like to walk in his sandals.

Growing up with Jesus as your big brother must have been a heady experience. Living with a brother who never hurt you in any way, never disappointed you, never showed you anything but kindness must have been very special for James. I like to think they were very close.

The day eventually came when this much loved older brother began His ministry. What must James have thought of the claims Jesus made about Himself? Could he even begin to understand that this one he had grown up with was the Son of God? It is evident from scripture that he couldn’t.

In John 7:5 it says, “For not even His brothers were believing Him.” They, James included, not only didn’t believe; they didn’t want any part of His ministry. How that must have hurt the heart of the Savior.

Fast – forward through time and we meet James once again. This time we find him in an upper room praying with the disciples and others. They have just seen Jesus taken up into heaven and have returned to Jerusalem. What happened between unbelief and faith? What caused this angry brother to have a change of heart?

In I Corinthians 15:7, Paul tells us that the resurrected Jesus appeared to James. Jesus didn’t show Himself individually to very many people, yet He took time from the limited time He had remaining on earth to meet this younger brother. What must that meeting have been like? What stands out most to me is the kindness and mercy of Jesus. There was no recrimination – only love and grace.

This same James went on to become one of the great leaders of the new church. He wrote a book of the Bible that contains these verses: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1: 2-4 NAS)

A merciful Savior reached out to touch this young man, this precious brother, and God used him to write living words that have blessed and changed lives down through the ages. It is His mercy that brings me to my knees in humble gratitude. He has always loved me – even when I wanted nothing to do with Him. He drew me back to Himself wanting nothing more than to give me everything I could possibly ever need.

He extends that mercy to each one of us. There is no sin too great that it cannot be taken to a merciful God who will cleanse and forgive. It was mercy that sent a beloved Son to die for a sinful people. It was mercy that led Him to a cross to pay the penalty I should have paid. In His mercy He is not willing that any should perish. In His mercy He waits for us to come.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ… and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7 NAS

Thank You Lord, for the richness of Your mercy.

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