Be ye therefore merciful, even as your Father also is merciful.
Jesus closes His teaching on loving enemies by pointing the disciple to the Father's own character. That raises the question every reader feels: is this a standard we must reach, or a family likeness we are meant to show?
One writer points to the small word the Lord uses — not with the Father, but as the Father.
What a blessed character of God comes out here! It is not righteousness, though surely there was that; but in the world where God had to do with the unthankful and evil, He shows grace. For the angels He has not grace, but love: but Christ in this world of sin is grace (that is, love to those who deserve it not). "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." It is not "with" but "as your Father." As He loves His enemies, so do you; He is merciful, be merciful also. ... It must cost us something; it cost the life of Christ. His love was a stream, which, if it met with hindrances in its way, only went on flowing over, and leaving them behind till it reached the cross.
Matthew's account of similar teaching closes with a call to be perfect. Luke closes with mercy. One writer finds the reason in the readers each Gospel had in view.
So the call in our Gospel is not the one in Matthew, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." It is "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." The perfection in Matthew seems to point back to the call on Abraham, whose perfection was to walk in integrity, trusting in the shadow of the Almighty. The disciple, taught by Jesus, had the Father's Name declared to him. His perfection is to display his Father's character in grace that makes no distinctions — not in the spirit of law. Writing for readers who were not Jews, Luke simply calls them to be merciful as their Father was merciful.
One writer calls this word merciful remarkable, and finds the whole of our salvation inside it.
Now this word "merciful" is most remarkable... They are all the mercies expressed in redemption — the unfoldings of the heart of God in the display of His grace in our salvation... So when our blessed Lord tells us to be merciful, as our Father is merciful, He reminds us that it is our responsibility to represent the Father. We are to tell out the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. We are to act towards others as He has acted towards us, so that the Father's heart and character show in our walk and ways. So we are to do good to all, to be givers who expect nothing back, and to love our enemies. Otherwise we would misrepresent our God and Father.
Before the command comes the relationship. One writer sums up the whole passage:
Verses 27-36. The character of God their Father, shown in the grace displayed in Christ, which they were to imitate. He reveals, note, the Father's name and puts them in the place of children.
So the behaviour that follows flows from within. It is not worked up from outside.
If hated, they were to love and to do good to them. Cursed, they were to bless them. Wrongly used, they were to pray for them. A gentle, yielding spirit towards enemies was to mark them. They were to treat others as they would want to be treated. They were to remember whose children they were, and to show by their behaviour the outflow of the Divine nature: they were sons of the Highest, who is kind to the unthankful and to the evil.
Mercy shows itself most when we have a right to press a claim and let it go.
Some people would not ask for a gift, but they would happily ask for a loan they have little intention of paying back. It would be wrong for us to encourage dishonesty in anyone. But so far as we ourselves are concerned, it is better to suffer wrong than to demand our rights. Faith on our part can leave such things in the hand of God. If we do, our reward will be great. In daily life we shall be children of the Highest, showing His character of kindness to all, whether they are thankful or not. The reason for our being merciful is simply that our Father is merciful (v.36).
- Received — the mercy commanded is first the mercy shown to us in our own salvation; we give away what we were given.
- Relationship — He reveals the Father's name and puts us in the place of children before He asks for any conduct.
- Reproduced — the standard is not a rule but a likeness: as He is merciful, so be merciful.
- Reach — His kindness falls on the unthankful and the evil, so ours cannot stop at those who deserve it.
- Real cost — mercy is never free; the same love met every obstacle and flowed on until it reached the cross.
And judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned. Remit, and it shall be remitted to you.
The Lord has just told His disciples to be merciful, as their Father is merciful. Now He turns that mercy into three commands, and two questions follow: does "judge not" shut down all moral judgment, and what forgiveness does He promise in return?
Luke's version of this discourse does not close the section on love with a call to perfection, as Matthew's does. One commentator marks the difference and then shows what the shift produces in verse 37.
So the call in this Gospel is not the one in Matthew, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect," but "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." … Any believer can feel the force of a command like "Judge not, and you will not be judged." What is set before us here is the habit of fault-finding, the charging of people with bad motives, and the danger that it all comes back on us.
One writer, looking at the whole passage, sees these commands as the Father's own character, copied by children He has named as His own.
In verses 27-36 we see the character of God their Father, shown in the grace that came in Christ, and they were to copy it. Notice this: He makes the Father's name known, and He puts them in the place of children.
What the Lord bans is an inward habit, not honest judgment about right and wrong. It shows itself in three ways. We give other people needless attention. We assume bad motives. We stay harsh even where the fault is real.
There is a wrong spirit of judgment. Suppose I spend my time needlessly thinking about others and giving my opinion of them. Suppose that, in unclear cases, I put wrong motives on them, even in my own mind. Suppose I do not even hope that the real motive was a good one. Then I am in the spirit of judgment, and away from God. And if I am bound to judge that someone is at fault, but hardness towards the person takes hold of me, that is not the Spirit of God.
The same words suit anyone who wants no one looking at his conduct. One writer warns against that use and marks out two senses of judging.
Selfish people can easily abuse this principle. Suppose someone is living an evil life and uses this passage to deny that anyone has a right to judge his conduct. Clearly he has no conscience about it and no spiritual understanding. Self has blinded him, and he is only turning the Lord's words into an excuse for sin. … It is plain, therefore, that there is a sense in which I am to judge, and another in which I am not.
Even where a wrong is real, your aim decides how you speak of it. And how you treat others shapes how they treat you.
If we are to be merciful, we must drop the judging, critical attitude, even when others are wrong (v.37). We are not their masters. If we do speak of their wrongs, let it be from a real desire to see them restored and blessed, not to put them down. As a rule, if we hold back harsh criticism, we find others are less likely to criticize us. If we forgive others freely, they are more likely to forgive us. And we must remember that there are times when we need forgiveness too.
The third command turns from holding back to letting go. It runs straight on into the giving of verse 38.
On the other hand, the Lord says, "forgive, and you will be forgiven." (The older translation the writer used reads, "release, and it shall be released to you.") That is the spirit of grace when we are wronged. "Give, and it will be given to you." That is the spirit of large generosity. And who ever knew a giver who had nothing to give or to receive?
The forgiveness promised in return is not the settling of a sinner's eternal standing. Commenting on the matching promise in Matthew, one writer separates the two carefully.
The heavenly Father rules His children in holiness, and an unforgiving spirit brings His discipline. If someone wrongs us and we refuse to forgive, we will miss His forgiveness in the way He deals with us day by day. This is not about forgiveness for eternity. The Lord was speaking to disciples, and that great matter was already settled for them.
- Source. The measure is not fairness but the Father's own mercy. He first puts the disciple in the place of a child, then asks the child to act like Him.
- Restraint. The ban falls on a fault-finding spirit: needless opinions, bad motives read into people, harshness even where the fault is real.
- Discernment. The verse never cancels moral judgment; used to shield an evil course, it is turned into an excuse for sin. There is a judging we must do and a judging we must not.
- Release. Then comes action. To let a wrong go is the spirit of grace, and giving is that same spirit overflowing.
- Return. What comes back is the Father's forgiveness in His daily dealings with His children. The eternal question is already settled for them.
Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall be given into your bosom for with the same measure with which ye mete it shall be measured to you again.
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