Of Mercy, not Sacrifice

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Matthew 12:1-2,5-8

1

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them.

2

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

…

5

Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

6

I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

7

If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ a you would not have condemned the innocent.

8

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

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This understanding is not about the activities of the Sabbath. This understanding is about what the Father said through His authority. ' I desire mercy, not sacrifice'.

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Hosea 6:6

6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

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The Lord spoke through the Prophet Hosea. He explained that he desired to have mercy on a repentant nation of Israel, instead of sacrifices from an unrepentant nation.

Today, even though the Messiah has done the will of God, and left behind His Holy Spirit to guide believers, believers still consider the sacrifices they make as penance for their unwillingness to repent.

I myself have actively been charitable so that I could bury the guilt of my unrepentant flesh. I to something for someone, and I tell myself I am balancing the scales, making up for the sin I am aware I carry forward. This is folly, and this is how humanity is found guilty in its sin.

God the Father does not want sacrifices that represent our own need for atonement. God the Father wants us to instead repent and seek forgiveness from Him. Because to repent, we acknowledge to Him, we have been shown the truth of our misgivings. And having been shown our misgivings, we seek Him out to forgive us, and have His truth lead us into His mercy. To repent and seek forgiveness is for our sake, not His. He wants to have mercy on us. See?

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Psalm 94:11

11
The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

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We only deceive ourselves. The Father wants each of us, to grow in faith of Him through His authority. His authority leads us to do the Father's will. Everything we do that is not done in faith, is sin. For us to assume what we sacrifice atones for our sin, is presumptive. We were never capable of accounting for our sins, and we know, that none ever have, with exception of the one who was sent. And it was for this reason that he died for our sins, without him, none would have sought out mercy, but instead would have relied on sacrifice for atonement.

God is merciful. He wants us to recognize what we are placed in, and how we react to it. He wants us to grow to a point where, we see that our repentance brings honor to His truth. The mercy of God is to be rejoiced. There is no growth that is good from being unrepentant and self providing. The growth that is faith based, and humble, it the foundation of finding God's purpose in this existence and eternally. Mercy is for our sake, and understanding. Love is merciful. We learn to be loving, we learn to be merciful. We are children of Love, of God.

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