For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:13
James just established that showing favoritism to others is a judgement (James 2:4).* In the Roman world of James’ time, favoritism was a social play to hold honor and power within society.* With 90% of society categorized as poor, it was common for the other 8% who were rich and 2% who were scaling the impossible mountain of social status to neglect the poor all together.* Favoritism could look like both 1) active implementation of efforts and finances to secure relationships and status as well as 2) a passive neglect of those of lesser means.*
James calls the church of Rome to live differently, and urges that those who show no mercy to others demonstrate that they have never truly received God’s mercy themselves.* Showing mercy to others and rejecting judgement was a revolutionary ask of the people in the culture of Rome. Roman culture, mirroring others in the ancient world, used a “retribution” formula to justice.* Effectively, their understanding of justice was that people ought to receive exactly what they had done to others.* To ask a person of the church to show mercy would completely fly in the face of the surrounding culture that believed that the poor could stay that way and the rich ought to as well (if they could maintain the right to stay honored and powerful).
Mercy involves a consideration for fellow man.* Mercy is given by God as the foundation of forgiveness.* It has never been merited, but always comes as a gift from God.* To whom do we show mercy to?
The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary points our that “in both OT and NT mercy is always extended by the larger to the smaller, the rich to the poor, the strong to the weak, and the Righteous One to the sinner.”* Jesus demonstrates the act of mercy reversed as well in “turning the other cheek,” “walking the second mile,” and “blessing those who curse you.”* Surely, Jesus, the victim in the crucifixion, showed mercy to those guilty of placing Him on the cross in saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).*
God instructs in Zechariah 7:9-10:
Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart
God invites each of us to repent of the sin of judgement as related to showing favoritism. It has no place in the community of God. Mercy should be extended in every direction, winning out over judgement. Many times, in seeing the gap between what is and what should be, we desire to see justice and then forgiveness.
Craig Blomberg and Mariam Kamell share,
A lot of political and religious rhetoric in recent years at home and abroad has insisted that forgiveness of heinous personal and institutional offenses or reconciliation between estranged parties can occur only after justice has been dispensed. But this will never come close to happening in a world as fallen as ours, so the order of events must be reversed. As Miroslav Volf has so powerfully demonstrated, forgiveness and reconciliation can lead to a more just system, particularly when offenders fully own the crimes they have committed and tell the truth in public contexts.*
Douglas Moo notes,
Believers, in themselves, will always deserve God’s judgment: conformity to the “royal law” is never perfect, as it must be (vv. 10–11). But our merciful attitude and actions will count as evidence of the presence of Christ within us. And it is on the basis of this union with the one who perfectly fulfilled the law for us that we can have confidence for vindication at the judgment.
We all want mercy, yet we are all guilty of sinning against the Law Giver. James tells us that if we want mercy, we should give mercy. We must own our faults and sins, tell the truth, and end discrimination as displayed by favoritism. When we engage in this kind of judgement, we invite the judgement of God upon ourselves. When we express mercy, we give evidence that we have received it as a gift from Him.
Who among us needs mercy? Each and every one of us.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to own a sin and confess it publicly. Perhaps today God wants you to show mercy and compassion to someone in need or even to someone who has harmed you. Maybe today God would have you stop showing favoritism based upon social status or honor or power. Perhaps today God would have you remember that mercy wins over judgement when Jesus is involved. Maybe today God wants you to bask in the revelation that the undeserved compassion of God called mercy is yours today. Perhaps today God would have you receive it.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!
*Blomberg, C. L., & Kamell, M. J. (2008). James (Vol. 16, p. 123-124). Zondervan.
Guthrie, G. H. (2006). James. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 237). Zondervan.
Stulac, G. M. (1993). James (Jas 2:8-13). IVP Academic.
Moo, D. J. (2021). The Letter of James (D. A. Carson, Ed.; Second Edition, pp. 150-151). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Nystrom, D. P. (1997). James (pp. 123). Zondervan Publishing House.
Parker, D. (2003). Mercy. In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (pp. 1105–1106). Holman Bible Publishers.
Miroslav Volf, “The Social Meaning of Reconciliation,” Int 54 (2000): 159–172.