Good morning and a blessed Thursday morning to you would you. 

We gathered last evening for Ash Wednesday worship. That's such a meaningful time of worship, as we enter into this rich season. As part of the service the choir sang a beautiful, beautiful anthem, “Kyrie Ellison”, translated: “Lord have mercy.” We hear that cry for mercy throughout Scripture. 

In Luke 18 there's two individuals. And on one of the individuals lips is that cry of Kyrie Ellison… Lord, have mercy. 

Luke 18:9-14

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

We hear in those two quite different prayers. We hear the cry for mercy from the tax collector. The most common word for mercy is the word that's used a little bit later on in Luke 18:38.  The context here is that there's a blind man. He's told that Jesus is coming, and he cries out to Jesus. and in verse 38 it says:

Then he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

That’s the most common word for mercy in our text. 

With regard to the Pharisee and the tax collector, and the two quite different prayers, that prayer of the tax collector crying out for mercy, that word mercy is actually rare in the New Testament. It's only used one other time. It's a meaning that when the tax collector cries out for mercy he's crying out to the Lord to provide an atonement for his sins. 

That's exactly what Jesus does. Jesus goes to the cross and dies in our place bearing all of our sin upon himself, paying the debt we could never pay. And atonement is affected as God brings us back into relationship with him.

What a beautiful prayer here of the tax collector, crying out that there would be an atonement provided for his sins. And that is exactly what Jesus does. That's our joy we have each day of this Lenten season, each day of our lives we can live in the reality of the atonement, through Jesus Christ.

Gracious God, we thank you for this time in your Word. Your word is truth. We praise you for your grace and for your mercy. We thank you Lord for the atonement provided for us through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. In his holy and precious name we pray. Amen.

God bless you this week. Encourage someone.

Pastor Eibel