Pardon Me
“Excuse me. Pardon me.”
Familiar words, often used as we hurriedly push through a crowd.
When we’re the ones being rudely pushed, “Pardon me” seems more a demand than a request.
At the end of a president’s term in the United States, many are interested to see who is on the list of presidential pardons. Seeing a name, do we think, That’s great! Glad to hear it!
Or do we inwardly groan? I would NEVER pardon THAT person!
Granting pardon presumes one has the authority to do so. Anyone can choose to extend forgiveness for a wrong. But only one with legal authority can pardon a criminal.
Beyond the justice system, granting a pardon is a privilege owned by a nation’s top leader, be they president, king, dictator, or despot.
Having the power to pardon is only part of the equation. The catalyst is mercy.
Mercy is an admirable quality. We read in Proverbs:
A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger,
And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.
The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion,
But his favor is like dew on the grass.[1]
Shakespeare fans will recognize the eloquent plea of Portia as she masquerades in the courtroom as a defense attorney in The Merchant of Venice:
The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.[2]
Readers of poetry may labor long to mine hidden riches the author never intended. I’ll forgo that heavy lifting. To me, the quatrain above seems to intimate that mercy flows down rather easily (neither strained nor constrained), dropping like gentle raindrops from heaven.
The next lines highlight the reality that the greater one’s authority to rule, the greater the fearsome power to punish:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest, it becomes
The thronèd monarch better than his crown.
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;[3]
But even greater than the power to punish is the ability to forgive:
But mercy is above this sceptred sway.
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself,
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice.[4]
Mercy in its highest form resides with the greatest power: God Himself. Shakespeare’s “mercy seasons justice” echoes Habakkuk’s appeal to the Eternal Judge: “Lord…in [Your] wrath remember mercy.”[5]
And human beings never more reflect God’s character than when we extend mercy. It is not justice but mercy that all humanity needs if we are to be saved.
Portia references this reality in appealing for mercy from the accuser:
Though justice be thy plea, consider this:
That in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.[6]
The parallel is clear: we all are in desperate need of God’s mercy. And in beseeching heaven for mercy we have a powerful reminder that we, too, must freely administer mercy to those who need it from us.[7]
Those familiar with Shakespeare’s Merchant will remember the accuser is Shylock, the moneylender. Throughout the play, Shylock is repeatedly referred to as “the Jew.”[8] He is vividly described as a cruel, evil, hateful man who insists on exacting as payment a literal pound of flesh from the chest of Antonio, who through misfortune is unable to repay the loan.
The anti-Semitic tropes repeatedly invoked throughout The Merchant of Venice have stirred up ill will against the Jewish people for centuries. In one of the tragic ironies of history, these venomous descriptions are found in the very context of a stirring appeal seeking the divine quality of mercy!
And so it is in our day. Our sinful hearts cry out for justice against those we deem evil and who seek our harm. At the same time, our sinful souls cry out for mercy in the face of divine retribution for our own wickedness.
In an era such as ours when anger, animosity, and antipathy abound, I do well to remember, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”[9]
“Lord, please pardon me – for Your name’s sake. And to whom would you have me extend mercy today?”
Written by Wes Taber, LIFE’s Global Ambassador
Here’s a quick “heart-check checklist” for us today:
How quick am I to show mercy to others?
To whom would God have me extend this divine quality right now?
From whom do I need to seek forgiveness?
How deep is your sense of need for God’s mercy? The Holy One of Israel is the righteous judge before whom all mankind will give account one day. Scripture tells us we can have an Advocate, Messiah Jesus the Righteous (see 1 John 2:1) who is able to purchase our full pardon through faith in Him. We’d be delighted to help you in your journey of faith – just ask!
Footnotes:
[1] Proverbs 19:11-12.
[2] William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV Scene I.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Habakkuk 3:2.
[6] William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV Scene I.
[7] We see an echo of this in the Lord’s Prayer: “And forgive us our debts even as we have forgiven our debtors.… For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6:12,14-15).
[8] Indeed, the two words omitted from the above quotation are “Therefore, Jew” (immediately preceding “Though justice be thy plea…”).
[9] Matthew 5:7.