Life-Giving Mercy

True mercy is putting our 'compassion into action.' Jesus is the greatest example of this kind of mercy. In his encounter with the adulterous woman(John 8), he not only physically saved her life, he also gave her the opportunity to embrace a new spiritual life she had seemingly never known. Also, in the story of the woman at the well in chapter 4 of John’s Gospel, we see how his power and presence transform the woman from a five-time divorcee to an anointed evangelist who reached her community with the gospel message. Christ clearly majored in misfits and outcasts. He healed the sick, made the lame walk, loved the lepers, gave sight to the blind, made deaf ears hear, gave life to the dead . . . We could go on and on, but the point is that he saw those in need, and he showed them compassion by intentionally choosing to do something about it. A truly awesome thing about Jesus’ mercy is that it meets us both physically and, better yet, spiritually. He loves and forgives everyone, from loose-living prostitutes to dishonest tax collectors to regular old sinners like us!