Christmas and its Mercies

The Birth of the Messiah Signals God's Mercy to the World

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

Well, it is advent, the season of joy to the world for the king who is born to us, the Son of God, Son of Man, destined to make all things new and to heal a weary world of its wounds.

One thing I’ve been struck by in the Lucan infancy narrative is how it mentions over and over God’s “mercy” (Lk 1.50, 54, 58, 72, 78).

“His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation” (Luke 1:50).

“He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful” (Luke 1:54).

“Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy” (Luke 1:58).

“to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham” (Luke 1:72-73).

“because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:78-79).

At one level, considering Israel’s Scriptures, this mercy is God’s hesed (חֶסֶד), his covenant-love for his people in their darkness and despair, his refusal to walk-away, and his determination to be faithful to them. At another level, across the Gospel of Luke, God hears the cries of those who call out for “mercy,” like a penitent tax-collector who knows he is unworthy (Lk 18.13) or a blind man begging for healing (Lk 18.38).

Mark proclaims Jesus as the Son of God who appears to Israel and is preached to the Gentiles. Matthew tells us that Jesus is “Immanuel” - God with us and God for us. John declares that Jesus is the Word made flesh. Yet Luke, I think, gives us glad tidings that in Mary’s son God’s mercy has visited us and so our hearts should be full of joy.

In Luke’s Gospel, the ocean of God’s mercy extends to the darkest depths where people thought that even God could not find them and it runs wide to include all the peoples of the earth who did even know the God who is rich in mercy.

Jesus is God’s mercy to a world that tired, torn, and terrified.
Jesus is God’s mercy to people who are full of fear, guilt, and remorse.
Jesus is God’s mercy to those feel that they are beyond hope or solace.

Pope Francis, in Misericordiae Vultus, notes how God’s mercy reveals to us the very nature of God. He writes that mercy is “the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us … the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness” (Misericordiae Vultus, no. 2).