Divine Mercy: The Heart of the Gospel

34 Divine Mercy: The Heart Of The Gospel she possesses personality and emotions. Relating to the Father is differ­ ent from relating to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Jesus throughout the Diary expresses His response and actions in emotional and personal terms. We tend to respond too quickly to His anger, but overlook the depths and nuances o f His Love. And His Love is very emotional. I believe the reason the parable o f the Prodigal Son is embedded in the memory of so many Christians is precisely because it is so personal and emotional. Even though the English translations do not do justice to the nuances in the Greek which come from the Hebrew, each of us has an innate spiritual perception that there is more depth to the Father’s response then we can read in the English text. This is absolutely true. When I covered the four different Hebrew words for Mercy and their Greek counterparts, I purposely avoided one Greek word for compas­ sion and mercy which first shows up in Luke 1: 78: “because o f the faithful love of our God in which the rising Sun has come from on high to visit us,” (Luke 1: 78). This is the next to the last line in the Benedictus. Some translations will use mercy here. The Greek phrase translated as one word is “ splagchna eleous .” O f course, eleous is a form o f eleos which I have discussed, but the word “ splagchna” (4697) adds a nuance of meaning in the Greek that is rarely conveyed for us in English. Literally translated, splagchna eleous, “through the bowels o f mercy.” Our Puritanical ears are offended by this gross phrase. But we must understand that to the Jews the bowels were the center o f all the emotions of the human being. It is the realm of the gut that we don’t show to others. Here Zechariah, his voice restored, tells us of the emotional love, compassion and Mercy God the Father has for us. He has opened the womb o f his barren wife, and sends him as a herald for the Messiah, the King o f Mercy! Commenting on this, The Dictionary o f Jesus and the Gospels says this: In Luke 1: 78 he employs the striking phrase splagchna eleous, “bowels o f mercy.” Splagchna expresses the idea of “feelings” (see 2.1.2 below); the genitive eleous is one o f kind: the kind of feelings God has are merciful. The thought has moved from hesed (in so far as there is a distinction o f meaning) to raham im.... The