Be(come) Merciful

#mercy #greeknewtestament #biblestudy #ginesthe #

So just after the terrible events of the slaughter in the Tree of Live Synagouge in Philadelphi I'm flicking through pages trying to find a verse of usefulness and healing and I end up returning to the page in Luke I had tagged and rereading the passage I found myself drawn again and again to Luke 6:36

In the RSV translation BE Merciful

Going back up a few verses the passage talks about loving sinners loving your enemy and doing good EVEN when you can't expect a response.
Jesus speaks of doing this because the most high is kind to the ungrateful and evil though poneros could also be translated as wretched.

No I am not calling on people to forgive the shooter.
He's probably a psycho triggered by other people's violence
I'm not calling on you to forgive the owners and other users of the various social media platforms and sites  that allowed him to vent his hate and DID NOTHING TO STOP IT OR TELL HIM HE WAS WRONG.

But let us consider what he did was a lack of mercy or compassion !

The Greek verb translated as Be is actually a form of ginomai in this verse an aorist middle imperative GIVESTHE
Not just be but become happen make it happen

The shooter opted for violence not mercy and showed no pity that we know of ... perhaps he hestitated at the last minute and opted to show some mercy to younger members of the congregation but perhaps and probably not ...

He did not love his enemies do good or show mercy

BE MERCIFUL
We are all sinners but please strive to do good anyway !

Islamophobia and Mercy

#mercy #islamophobia #aussievalues #christiannation #gospel #whatjesussaid #bible study

I'm getting very tired of seeing people claiming they're defending "Aussie Values" and acting like bigotry is a value and virtue rather than a vice.

So a few reminders

Jesus started life as a refugee with his parents moving to Egypt to get away from a ruler who was paranoid and megalomaniac slaughtering children.

Jesus reached out to and healed  people who were not Jewish, including Romans, Greeks, Syrians, and others.

Jesus preached about the Good Samaritan who didn't stop to do background security checks on the wounded person by the side of the road but helped him get to a safer location where he could receive medical attention.

Finally tying this back to the classics remember the ancient greek tradition of XENIA hospitality to strangers.

MERCY is a VIRTUE

In the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 20  verses 29 - 34 Jesus stops when two blind men sitting by the roadside cried out HAVE MERCY ON US
The crowd  okhlos rebuked them and tried to silence them but they continued to call for help HAVE MERCY ELEEESON

Notice jesus doesnt just bless them and go on his way he asks them

ti thelete poieesoo humin
what do you want me to do for you ?

Jesus showed mercy by healing them

He didn't post xenophobic rants on Twitter or other social media.

Okay you say I'm sitting on a laptop balanced on my knees posting to a blog.

Teaching however is also a form of ministry and a gift according to Paul.

You don't have to fly over to Syria and volunteer as an aid worker or medical staff and its okay if you don't have much money for donations but at least remind all the xenophobes and haters out there that if Australia is a "Christian nation" then we have to support not just Justice by fighting against ISIS but  also MERCY via practical actions.

Calling on bans on migration is not going to stop ISIS or terrorist actions.

Expressing Mercy by letting in more refugees is or should be an "Aussie value"

ELEEESON HAVE MERCY

on a technical note the 3 eees I typed represent a short e followed by a long vowel which has become I in modern greek.

MERCY WORDS

Some Notes on words derived from the *ele stem in NT Greek.

* ELE MERCY * ελε WORDS

VERBS: ἐλεάω ἐλεέω to have pity mercy compassion on someone

NOUNS: ἐλεήμοσύνη ἐλεήμων ἔλεος mercy pity compassion

Rarer Forms such as Adjectives Ionic ἐλεητός

and Literary Poetic ἐλεεινος and ἐλείνος

Words used in the New testament for mercy using this stem are thought to be translation of Hebrew and Aramaic words from the HSD stem but also the R kh M or R H M  stem.

(C)HESED AND RACHAM.

ELE does not appear to be derived from an earlier Indo-European Stem or a borrowing from a Semitic language. 

Its usage in the NT indicates that mercy is seen as being not just a feeling but an action. 

Alms and Mercy

ALMS and MERCY

What do Alms and Acts of Charity have to do with mercy.

Before I discuss the next section of Chapter 6 I want to take an in depth look at one key word.

Ἐλεημοσύνη

Pity Mercy Compassion

the feeling that may move you to be kind to someone in a wretched pitiable condition

Related words are ἔλεος and ἔλεέω

This word was borrowed into Late Latin as eleemosina and then via Old French or directly into Old English the e changed to an a and the rest of the word shortened to aelmysse and then alms.

In Attic drama these group of words and other related terms are often used to encourage the audience to feel sympathy of the sufferings of characters.

Remember apart from the bread rations in some ancient cities there was very little organised charity. A disabled person with no job or family support would be reduced to being on the streets or markets or hoping to receive scraps from wealthy householders if the slaves or livestock didnt get them first.

Paid jury duty in cities like Athens was a form of welfare in some ways.

Donations were often person to person. Pity was not merely piety but acts of mercy towards the truly unfortunate.

How do we do it so the benefit is to others? That's what Jesus talks about next.

An apology to readers I had meant to blog about Apollo midweek but couldnt find the last couple of images I needed to describe how the iconography the ways Apollo was depicted were linked to other cultural memes like Sol Invictus and the development of halos.

Matthew chapter 5 verse 7 MERCY

(sorry this is late had computer problems ) 

Matthew Chapter 5 Verse 7

Blessed (are) the merciful for they will receive mercy.

μακάριοι οἱ ἐλεήμονες ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἐλεηθήσονται.

Read also Matthew 18: 33 and James 2:13

Quite straightforward but do note the link between showing and being shown mercy.

Ἔλεος the stem of ἐλεήμων merciful and the verb ἐλεέω be merciful show mercy is not just an attitude but an action ἐλεος is pity mercy and compassion or as James puts it faith AND works.

Read the parable in Matthew 18: 33