This beatitude is more difficult to see in the antithetical parallel of the previous sayings. In this case, we have the rather direct pairing of merciful and mercy. What creates the antithesis? It is the need for one to be merciful. Part of what we must understand is the nature of the mercy intended:
“…Merciful refers to the act of judging rather than to the acts of kindness.” (Robert Guelich. A Foundation for Understanding the Sermon on the Mount. Word Publishing, Dallas. 1982, p. 89)
The act of judging is our response to circumstances in the world. In the case of mercy, one must be merciful only when the human situation would typically demand a different response. When we are wronged, we have the option to respond, and the most typical human response follows the Biblical injunction to require an “eye for an eye.” (Exodus 21:24). This is not the gospel of Jesus Christ, however. Jesus is moving the requirement away from vengeance and into mercy. He does not judge with punishment, but with forgiveness and lenience.
Those who are merciful in this life are those who have been wronged. Since they have been wronged, that is the condition that is transformed through the gospel. The effect will be that those “wrongs” are taken from them. However, this particular contrast does have a parallel theme in the nature of being merciful. The idea that the mercy we show becomes the mercy we receive has other parallels in the New Testament.
The most obvious passages are those that link your judgment to the way that we judge:
Matthew 7:1-2
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
In this saying we have a direct connection between the way that we judge and the way that we are judged. This is then transferred to another concept, that of measuring (a different type of “judging.”) The rule by which we measure will the that which measures us. This is easily understood as a reference to anyone who would sell something that is measured. Those who measure precisely on, or a little short, in what they provide to their customer are setting up a rigid standard. Those who are generous and provide more than the “measure” are setting up a more generous standard. We are being told that it is by those standards that we use to judge, or “measure” others that we will be judged and “measured.”
Luke 6:37
37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
The Lukan passage repeats the proscription against judging, and adds one about condemning. In both Matthew and Luke we have the specific statement about judging, and then a secondary statement that restates the meaning of the “judging” statement with another term that is seen to be a parallel concept. In Luke we get two of these, condemnation and forgiveness.
In all of these cases the prohibition is not really against judging, but rather in judging too harshly. Indeeed, it is not so much a prohibition as a caution. Perhaps the meaning might have been more easily understood had it said “Be careful how you judge, for you will be judged by the same standard you use on others.” It is in this context that we see the more easily understood “forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”
In all of these passages there is a connection between our actions to others and God’s actions to us. Jesus sets us up as a microcosm of the heavenly world, and places us in the position of earthly “gods” who are constantly passing judgment on our fellow beings, a literary parallel to God the Father who judges us from heaven. We experience the attributes of Godhood and learn to live them as we learn to be merciful and to be forgiving. As we learn these principles, God may be more merciful and forgiving toward us, not because we earn “points” toward salvation, but because we become more closely attuned with the spiritual nature we are to be.