The Spirit of Mercy

A Reflection on this Friday’s Gospel - John 1:29-34 – 3 January 2025

The descent of the Holy Spirit is the conveyance of divine mercy in Baptism which renews all of us through grace. It is the only way we can stand before a “just” God with any hope of heaven. (Titus 3:4–7)

St John the Baptist tells us that Jesus baptizes with the Spirit and every Gospel speaks to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus at His Baptism. This descent of the Spirit does not mean that the Holy Spirit was not one with God the Son until His Baptism. Instead, it is a sign for us of God’s mercy in Baptism which descends upon us, a washing. What is caked with the dirt of sin cannot clean itself, washing must come from without.

Isaiah prophesied about the descent of the Holy Spirit as the inaugural moment in the mission of the Messiah:

Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased. Upon him I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1)

The Messiah’s mission is justice. Through the Spirit, justice is anointed with mercy.

We often view justice as a judgment imposed. In Isaiah 41:1, the Hebrew word used for “justice” is “mispaṭ” (מִשְׁפָּט). “Mispat” denotes the judgement of a King upon his subjects.

That the Messiah’s mission is justice should come as no surprise. How often do you hear an injured party demand justice against a perpetrator? Isn’t justice what our politicians promise and the mobs demand … as long as it is for someone else? We are often all about justice until we are the party who commits injustice, and judged accordingly, beg for mercy. The problem is that in perfect justice there is no room for the gift of mercy. How many cry out, “injustice!” when the perpetrator of a heinous crime is shown leniency?

Because of the pervasive sin of humanity, our own inability to genuinely love God and our neighbor, we are all under judgment (Ecclesiastes 7:20). God is the injured party, and we are the perpetrator. Don’t we deserve justice? Recall Jesus’ words from Matthew 25, often titled, “The Judgement of the Nations,”

“Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me. And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:45-46)

In the people of Israel, we are intended to see ourselves. We too seek God and holiness and thus feel “justified” when it comes to condemning others as godless and unholy. Just so, Israel looked forward to a Messiah as one who would impose judgement on their behalf; one who imposes justice upon all who are “not” Israel.

Messianic justice is not an imposition of divine punishment but a gift of mercy. St John the Baptist proclaims something unusual about Jesus; “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) The Son of God does come to establish justice, not as an avenging Warrior-King but, as a merciful redeemer.

Through the Holy Spirit, the Lamb of God comes as a sacrifice to satisfy justice by paying the price, redeeming us, taking our punishment, in the eyes of God. As Isaiah tells us; God is “just”, yet mercy prevails; “by His wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) This is not just for some but for the whole world. (John 1:29) “We had all gone astray like sheep, all following our own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

I was once asked how can a loving God allow hell to exist? I answered that God allows hell to exist because we demand it. St Faustina puts it clearly,

“Some are under the rule of love, others under the rule of justice. It depends on us under which rule we want to live, because no one is refused the aid of sufficient grace.” (Saint Faustina, 1315)

It is for each of us to receive or refuse the mercy Jesus obtained for us on the cross, the mercy He offers to every person past, present, and future through the Holy Spirit. Today, we celebrate the Holy Name of Jesus. In His name, we can live under the rule of love, mercy, for it is through God the Son, filled with the Holy Spirit, that God satisfies justice with overflowing mercy.

Through Baptism and Confirmation, we are carefully created bearers of mercy into the world. Judgement is God’s job. Instruments of mercy, we are not those who pine for the punishment of others. When we do so, we turn our back on our true vocation. We bear the name of Christ, “Christian.” In His most precious name, we must do no less than love. Jesus told St Faustina,

Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart.
(St Faustina, 1588)

Baptized in the Spirit, bearing Christ’s name, be Christ’s vessel of Divine Mercy.

Endnotes:

Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul. Marian Press. Kindle Edition.