ELEOS (Mercy)
WRITTEN BY DREW MATZ
What is the Word?
In the Bible there are words that are descriptive of how God loves all people. The scriptures are clear that God is holy, and we are sinful and deserve his condemnation. However, in his love and righteousness, he elected to show mercy to us all by sending his only son to die so that we all might live. The Greek word that is used for mercy is eleos.
How does the Bible use this word?
In Greek, the term eleos is a noun that conveys the idea of pity or mercy. While mercy in English is accurate, the Greek imports undertones of loving kindness and good will toward those who are suffering – a desire to alleviate the suffering of those in misery. Thus the term eleos shows us the tenderness of God’s heart toward those who are in need of redemption. When God looks upon the world, he is moved by what he sees and he acts accordingly to save us.
Where in the Bible?
Over and over again in the scriptures, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their hard hearts and “law above all” mentality. They could only see the letter of the law and did not understand the spirit of the law. God is not interested in handing out laws just to hand out laws – he is merciful:
At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy (ἔλεος), and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
As Jesus explains, the Pharisees do not understand the meaning of the Sabbath, which is a gift of God to man, not a stringent law which must never under any circumstances be broken. His desire is for mercy, to feed the hungry and heal the world. He doesn’t want a sacrifice for its own sake.
Extending God’s Mercy
In the ministry of Jesus we get a glimpse into the heart of God. It is clear from the scriptures that he desires to be merciful to all people, that his heart is broken from the sin and destruction that we bring upon ourselves in our rebellion against him. Yet, he loved us so much that he let the penalty of our rebellion fall upon himself. And now, redeemed by his blood, he teaches us to also extend this same kind of compassion to those we encounter in the world (Luke 6:36).