"By the teaching that I had afore, I understood that the mercy of God should be the forgiveness of His wrath after the time that we have sinned... I took that the forgiveness of His wrath should be one of the principal points of His mercy. But howsoever I might behold and desire, I could in no wise see this point in all the Shewing.
Julian of Norwich (Ch. 47)
We may have been taught that mercy is God holding back the wrath and punishment that we deserve for our sins. But Julian saw something different in God's revelation to her. She didn't see wrath anywhere in God. So if there is no wrath coming from God to us, then mercy must mean something other than "holding back wrath." Julian comes to see that God's mercy doesn't have any connection to anger, violence or punishment. God's mercy is instead connecting to His intense tender feelings of compassion for us who are hurting and suffering from sin and its effects in the world. The Hebrew word for mercy comes from the word for "womb," a place of connection, safety, tender care and love. God has the tender feelings of mother love towards us when we are hurting, even if we caused the hurting ourselves. He has no anger, only compassion. So Christ on the cross was not diverting God's anger against our sin onto Himself so we could be forgiven; there was no anger on the part of God at all, and He certainly didn't need to vent His anger in order to be able to forgive us. Instead, Christ on the cross was taking upon Himself all the pain and suffering and hurt that humanity has suffered from sin, feeling every hurt and pain that we feel out of intense love for us. With compassion, tender emotions, and kindness, He bore that pain away from us and into the grave, where it will stay forever. Mercy is compassion that knows no bounds, that suffers along with the hurting one, that cares for people like a mother would her tiny baby. Mercy has nothing to do with judgment or anger. It has everything to do with compassion and love. That is how wonderful our God is, a God who is pure love and nothing else!
He surrounds me with loving-kindness and tender mercies.
Psalm 103:4 (TLB)
A Prayer: Thank You for the mercy and tenderness You always show me!