Hosea 6:6 “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
Matthew 9:13 But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.
Matthew 12:7 But if you had known what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned the guiltless.
What would you say to a person who had married in good faith, trusting in the commitment of another person to love, honor, and cherish “until death do us part”, but later becomes the victim of constant and unrepentant abuse?
Would you apply the law of divorce to this person and tell them that they must remain in the marriage relationship at all costs because this is the law of God? Was it the intention of God’s law to inflict suffering and torture on an individual who is trapped in a never-ending cycle of violence and anger?
Or is there a time and a place for mercy to be exercised?
In Mark chapter 2, there are various examples where Jesus applies mercy above the law, for the sake of the person who needs help.
Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus describes those who are well as those who are “righteous” and those who are sick as “sinners”. Because the context of what Jesus is saying deals with a great need for mercy, those who refuse to show mercy and instead apply the law, are seen by Jesus as being unrighteous.
The Pharisees condemn Jesus for healing a person on the Sabbath because this is “against the law”.
Later, Jesus is seen in the company of tax collectors and sinners. Again the Pharisees condemn Jesus for having contact with sinners.
Mark 2:15-16 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
By having contact with Matthew who was a hated tax collector, the Pharisees view Jesus as being unjust and a violator of their law. Throughout the second chapter of Mark’s gospel, there are various examples of Jesus violating the law in order to meet human need and to exercise mercy to those who are in great distress.
When Jesus and His men are hungry, He permits his disciples to walk through the fields of wheat and pick the grain to eat, on the Sabbath.
Mark 2:23 -28 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus is referring to a time when David was in constant fear of King Saul who was searching for David to kill him. David and his men were hungry as they come to the priest Ahimelech. David tells the priest an intentional lie: “The king has ordered me on some business…” The king had ordered David on no such business. Yet as Jesus recounts the story of David, He does not speak of David’s sin, only of his hunger and his need for food. Jesus says that David was justified in taking the showbread that was reserved under the law for the priests only.
1 Samuel 21:2-6 So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.” And the priest answered David and said, “There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread…” So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.
Mercy was given to David and his men, over the law, because there was a need that could not be met unless mercy was given. Jesus tells the Pharisees that “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” In other words, in cases where an individual is in great need of mercy, the need for that mercy supersedes the law of God.
Deuteronomy 23:25 implies that in the case of hunger, a person could eat the heads of grain from any wheat field. Work though was not permitted on the Sabbath. The plucking wheat from their stalks was considered the harvesting grain and therefore work, a violation of the Sabbath.
Jesus’ contention with the Pharisees was that although the law emphasized the requirement for no work on the Sabbath, it did not take into account the individual situation that a person might find themselves in. Though David lied to the priest to obtain the showbread, he did so because of his need to satisfy his hunger. Although the bread was set apart for the priests only, in David taking the bread and giving it to his men to eat, Jesus does not condemn David nor his men for eating the bread set apart for the priests only.
This is a correct application of mercy in a situation that warranted mercy and took precedence over the law of God.
A person who finds themselves in a situation where they are in deep need of mercy, say a marriage to a person who continually abuses them and creates an atmosphere of terror in the home, is in great need of mercy. To insist that they must stay in an environment where they are the constant victim of physical or emotional abuse, was not the intended purpose of the covenant of marriage.
In your daily walk with Jesus, you may encounter people who are in various situations that have caused them great distress and pain. We can look at the Bible as a list of rules to be enforced, or see the Law of God for what it was intended, to bring blessing, peace, design and order to the life of human beings. If you know someone who needs this kind of mercy, do not be afraid to emphasize to them that the purpose of God’s law was to bless man, not bring him under the curse of constant abuse at the hands of another.
Unfortunately, I have had the opportunity to see just such a situation as I have described above. My former view that marriage was an unbreakable contract between two people with God, changed immediately when the need for mercy was great. Other pastors have emphasized the point that the only permissible circumstance for divorce for a Christian was adultery by the other spouse. To insist that this is the only acceptable rule for marriage and divorce amongst Christian believers is to deny the possibility of mercy to be given in allowing an abused person the option of freeing themselves from ongoing abuse.
It should be further stated that this law of mercy cannot be applied to a situation where a person is in willful sin. We cannot excuse the behavior of a person or their chosen lifestyle of sin and say that this is a case for mercy to be shown. Willful sin was never an example given by Jesus as an opportunity to show mercy, unless of course that person was willing to turn from their lifestyle of sin, repent and surrender their life to Jesus Christ. In these cases, mercy is always to be shown to any repentant sinner.
I would personally state that divorce would be a decision of last resort and that all other steps should be taken to save any marriage first. Counseling by a qualified biblical teacher, time for the offending spouse to change their behavior, and forgiveness by the offended party when true repentance is being shown. Nevertheless, the need for mercy to be exercised towards those who find themselves in an unbroken and unrepentant cycle of abuse, must be given. This is unmistakably the intent of the law of God, and certainly the point that Jesus makes repeatedly in the Gospels. Mercy always trumps the law.
Something to think and pray about in your daily walk with the Lord.
Rob Robinson.
