我們要繼續研究八福──有關耶穌教導我們怎樣才能成為「喜樂的人」。今天我們讀到著名的第五福：「憐恤人的人有福了！因為他們必蒙憐恤」（太五7）。

主耶穌用「憐恤」這個詞兒是什麼意思？牠背後的思想是憐憫和關心別人的困苦。原來，在第五福所使用的希臘詞語，亦是希伯來書二章17節用來形容基督的大祭司事奉所用的詞語。權威學者瓦因（W.E.Vine）說，「憐恤的人不單擁有同情心，也積極地憐憫別人」。

然而，我們必須再次強調──主耶穌所說的憐恤這性情，不是源自我們自然的個性，而是當我們住在基督裡時主所給我們的賞賜。正如鍾馬田博士（Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones）說：「福音並不是為某些特定氣質的人而設，當我們與神面對面時，沒有人會比別人特別有優勢。」再者，憐恤並不是無視道德的淪亡，而採取一種假裝看不見的態度。當我們發現「憐恤」這個形容詞，也特別和特定地用在神自己身上的時候，就可以說明，無論這詞語怎樣運用在神身上，亦同樣可運用在人身上。神是憐恤的，但他也是真理，這便是「慈愛和誠實彼此相遇」的意思。如果我們需要以犧牲真理和律法來達成憐恤，那就不是真正的憐恤，那隻是一種諷刺。

We continue our study of - the study of Jesus' declarations of how to become "the happy ones". Today we come to the fifth of Christ's famous sayings: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" (Matt. 5:7).

What does our Lord mean when He uses the word "merciful"? The thought underlying the word is that of compassion and concern for the plight of others. The Greek word used in this fifth Beatitude is also used to describe the high priestly ministry of Christ in Hebrews 2:17. One authority, WE. Vine, says that a "merciful" person is "not simply possessed of pity but actively compassionate".

It is important to stress once again that the characteristic of being merciful of which our Lord spoke here is not something that arises from our natural temperament, but something that is endowed on us when we abide in Christ. As Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones said: "This is not a gospel for certain temperaments - nobody has an advantage over anybody else when they are face to face with God." Again, mercy is not turning a blind eye to moral violations - the attitude that pretends not to see things. This can be seen most forcefully when we consider that the term "merciful" is an adjective which is applied especially and specifically to God Himself. This means that however the word applies to God, it applies equally to man. God is merciful, but He is also truth: "Mercy and truth are met together." If we think of mercy at the expense of truth and law, then it is not true mercy, it is merely a caricature.