Seeing others through mercy’s eyes

Jesus saw people differently than we do. When the disciples saw children as a nuisance; Jesus saw them as citizens of heaven. When the religious leaders saw the tax-collectors as despicable; Jesus saw them as reachable. And when men saw prostitutes as disposable; Jesus saw them as redeemable—women in need of healing and forgiveness.

Several times in the Bible it says that when Jesus saw a large crowd he felt compassion. That word compassion can also be translated as mercy. In other words, when Jesus saw people he had mercy. How might our relationships be different if we saw through Jesus’ eyes of mercy? Here are three ways.

When we see others through mercy’s eyes, we would see the needs that others don’t see.

When Jesus fed the 5,000 he saw that they were hungry, but the disciples only saw a shortage of restaurants.

Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves (Matt. 14:15).

When you’re looking through the eyes of mercy, people’s needs take priority over difficult circumstances.

When we see others through mercy’s eyes, we would go beyond what others would expect.

There was no promise of a free meal when the people started gathering for Jesus’ teaching and healing ministry. Neither Jesus nor the disciples had a contractual obligation to provide dinner. But notice Jesus’ words to the disciples.

But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” (Matt. 14:15)

When mercy is your motivation you will go beyond what is expected. Your overwhelming sense of their need will cause you to want to give. Tim Keller captures this unique difference between the culture and church.

The early church was strikingly different from the culture around it in this way – the pagan society was stingy with their money and promiscuous with their body. A pagan gave nobody their money and practically gave everybody their body. And the Christians came along and gave practically nobody their body and they gave practically everybody their money.

When we see others with mercy’s eyes, we will both depend on and participate with God in meeting others’ needs.

Jesus took five loaves and two fishes, prayed to the Father, broke up what had been given him, and started filling baskets. And after thousands of people were served, there were 12 baskets leftover—one for each disciple.  Imagine the story they had to tell when they brought dinner home at the end of the day! People’s needs will always be more than we can handle; that is why we call out to a merciful God to help us show mercy to others. But dependent prayer isn’t the end of our effort; rather, it should inspire participation. And, just like the disciples discovered great blessing in that participation, so will we when we do likewise.