When Matthew records Jesus calling on his followers to be merciful he could have used one of two different Greek words: one referring to a human feeling, the other meaning acting with mercy. Matthew chose the second.

Thus Jesus calls on us to act mercifully in our dealings with other people. Like all the other characteristics to be displayed in the Kingdom listed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, mercy is in contrast to what we see and experience in the world today. More often than not it is judgement that we come across, where one person judges another on their appearance, or their beliefs, or their work. Being critical of another puts us in a position of power over them – if only in our own mind. We see, we judge, and thus we have come over that person.

Things are supposed to be very different in the Kingdom. Instead of a harsh, critical attitude, we are to be and act mercifully. We are to exercise unconditional love. We are to look at people in the round, rather than make a decision on them based on some single incident or snapshot. And in all of this we are to remember that we are people who are in need of mercy ourselves. Being ones who mess up from time to time – or maybe that should be ‘all the time’ – we are in need of constant forgiveness and many, many second chances.