Remember Jesus, who is merciful

I'm going to be spending the next several days breaking down the descriptions of Jesus in the second half of this verse. Today, I'll focus on mercy.

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:17

Last year, I went to see Catching Fire. Maybe I take things too seriously, but when I think mercy, I always think of this quote from Katniss Everdeen,

"He could have killed me but instead he showed me mercy. That's a debt I'll never be able to repay" 

I just can't help but see Jesus in that. That is our story: deserving to die, and receiving life.

Mike Cosper recently wrote a book called The Stories We Tell in which he talks about how there is really only one story. The Story. Creation. Fall. Promise. Redemption. New Creation.

I think it's because when we mess up, we know it. Maybe we even hope for mercy from the one whom we've offended. But our sins are so bad that we were hopeless. We didn't deserve to be spared. We were No Mercy.

She conceived again and bore a daughter. The Lord said to him, "Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all." Hosea 1:6 

Reading Hosea makes me see the gravity of our condition. Spiritual adultery is a big deal, and it's at the core of who we were. We run. We pursue anyone but the God who made us. We love gifts and thank anyone but the Giver. We profane the sacred. And yet, what is God's response to us?

And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord...And I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, 'You are My People;' and he shall say, 'You are my God'. Hosea 2:19-20, 23. 

Jesus is the on who gives mercy to no mercy. He is rich in mercy and loves us with a great love (Ephesians 2:4).

We deserve nothing and He gives everything. We do nothing to earn anything but condemnation, and yet mercy is ours.

Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 116:5-9