Pastoral Ministry and the Beatitudes: Blessed are the Merciful

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Followers of Jesus are to be different from people in the world. Jesus will make this point as sort of an epilogue to the Beatitudes when He tells His followers they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Worldly people crave riches, revel in their shameful acts, parade their arrogance, and commit injustice. Jesus, on the other hand, upholds virtues of God’s kingdom. These include humility, repentance, meekness, and a genuine hunger and thirst for justice.

Virtues like these may not get you hired in today’s cutthroat business world. But cultivating these characteristics will pave the way for you to enter God’s eternal realm and reign. Continuing His list of blessings, Jesus declares, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7). In what ways is this particular Beatitude distinctive? And how can pastors today emulate this kingdom trait and encourage it in the members of their congregation?

What is mercy?

In exploring the meaning of the term “merciful,” we may turn to the only other New Testament reference featuring this expression, found in the book of Hebrews. There, the author writes regarding Jesus, “For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:17–18).

Here we see that mercy presupposes knowing what it is like to be in a position of weakness. Jesus experienced the frailty of being human: “he had to be made like them, fully human in every way.” While being free from sin, Jesus could empathize with sinful humanity’s frailty and vulnerability to temptation. He knew what it was like to be truly and fully human!

In the same way, it is those among us who have experienced various struggles and trials— serious health issues, problems in our marriage and family, the loss of a loved one—and learned to depend on God’s strength and wisdom that can have mercy on those who are weak and needy. We see this clearly in biblical characters such as Peter or Paul, both of whom grew through struggles and keenly felt their own weakness, before God could use them effectively to shepherd His people.

Mercy is God-like

Centuries prior to Jesus’s coming, the prophet Isaiah envisioned the gentle and caring ministry of the Messiah as follows: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Isaiah 40:11).

As pastor-shepherd, God has called you to gently lead those in your congregation. Have you come to terms with your own weakness? And have you consciously experienced God’s mercy? Remarkably, the New Testament grounds the call for Christian leaders (and, in fact, all Christians) to have mercy toward others in none other than God himself.

Writing to the Romans, Paul appealed to them to surrender their lives to God “by the mercies of God” (Romans 12:1).

Writing to the Ephesians, Paul rehearsed their sinful past at some length before gloriously extolling God’s mercy: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4–6).

And writing to Titus, Paul declared, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy” (Titus 3:4–5).

Mercy is Christ-like

So we see that at the root of our salvation is not anything in ourselves that commends us to God. Rather, it is God taking pity on us in our desperate condition and saving us out of his sheer and abundant mercy. What is more, it is this merciful disposition that led God to send his Son, Jesus, to serve as “a merciful and faithful high priest” to atone for our sins.

Rather than take a regal position of power, Jesus opted to adopt a stance of weakness. He showed great empathy for those in need throughout his ministry and ultimately at the cross. By pursuing and exhibiting mercy toward others—as shepherds of God’s people and as ordinary Christians—we therefore become more like God and more like Christ.

How do we show mercy?

What, then, does it look like to exhibit Christ-like mercy toward others? Among other things, it means that “in humility [we] count others more significant” than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). It also means that we comfort others with the type of comfort we ourselves received when going through similar afflictions.

Paul articulated this truth poignantly when he opened his second letter to the Corinthians with these words: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4). He elaborated, “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer” (2 Corinthians 1:5–6).

Pastors, realize that when God allows you to sense your own weakness, and even failure, He is seeking to strengthen your faith and dependence on Him. He is also preparing you for more effective ministry. Like Paul, you will be able to empathize with others and to comfort them with the same comfort you received from God. So don’t aspire to celebrity status, and don’t crave being put on a pedestal. Rather, relate to the people in your congregation as their fellow pilgrim and struggler. Be their friend and confidante!

Conclusion

Being merciful comes with a promise. Like Jesus said, those who are merciful will themselves receive mercy from God. Heaven will be populated by countless recipients of God’s mercy. In this life, we have the privilege of extending the mercy of a merciful God. As those who have been shown mercy, we can act out of a heart of compassion toward those who are in desperate need of God’s mercy.

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© 2025, Andreas Köstenberger. All rights reserved. Used by permission.