“Mercy isn’t mercy if it’s earned.”
I can think of three distinct situations in my life where I sincerely believed that I was betrayed and didn’t deserve the sort of treatment I received. Even though I’m at peace with those situations now, when I revisit those memories, I remember being stunned by the news, severely hurt that someone I loved and who loved me could do that much wrong against me, and very confused as to why they did it. While I thought for years that nobody I knew could really relate to me, I recently rediscovered that Jesus Christ had always known, but more so; He fully understood.
I was reading the Bible on the bus and LRT last week while I was on my way to a meeting at my couple coordinators’ home. I was reading the Gospel of St. Matthew and I was also incredibly stunned, hurt, and confused as to why or how these events occurred in this order:
1) Judas betrays Jesus Christ with the sign of a kiss, and hands him off to the chief priests. (Matthew 26:47-50)
2) Every single disciple deserts Jesus Christ and runs away. (Matthew 26:56)
3) Peter denies Jesus Christ three times. (Matthew 26:69-75)
All of this occurs in one single chapter, Matthew 26, after the Lord so graciously gives Himself in body and blood through humble bread and wine (Matthew 26:26-29). I am amazed because although Jesus Christ foretold that all of these instances were going to happen and that He must have been absolutely hurt by those He was closest to and loved, He never ceased to love them fully.
1) At the moment that Jesus Christ saw Judas at the time of His betrayal, He refers to him as “my friend“. (Matthew 26:50)
2) Although every single disciple deserts Jesus Christ, for the only one who sees Him crucified, He gives him (and us) His mother, Mother Mary (John 19:26-27). After His resurrection, Jesus appears to all of his disciples many times, giving them the ability to believe in Him, and then later gives them the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).
3) Jesus Christ then forgives Peter before He asks him if he loves Him three times. (John 21:15-19)
In these various situations, I recognize more that Jesus Christ is True God and True Man. On a personal level, I see Jesus as True Man simply because He seems to have experienced everything I have, but in greater extremes. He not only knows, but fully understands what it feels like to be betrayed and mistreated for no reason at all. Jesus as True God is illuminated in the way He loves unreservedly. As the Father so loves perfectly, the Son does as well. His love abundantly flows out of Him in founts of kindness and mercy. Furthermore Jesus doesn’t just show His love by forgiving, He continues to give more and more of Himself until He has given Himself fully, to the point of death — even death on a cross. And then — there’s more — He gives us the Holy Spirit.
How loved are we? How loved am I?
As I journey onward during this Lenten season, I pray that I remember that in all instances Jesus Christ remains True God and True Man. With this, I pray that I may be inspired and moved to forgive and give of myself totally, without question, even if others don’t deserve it or “earn” it. If my God can forgive the inexcusable in me, I can certainly make the sincere effort to forgive the inexcusable in others.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Amen.
