In order to understand God's mercy, let us start from the time of the Sinai Covenant to the time of Jesus, to see how people's understanding of God's mercy developed and became able to answer Jesus' invitation: “Be merciful as your Father is merciful.” ﹙Lk 6：36﹚

At the time of the Sinai Covenant, people believed that God's mercy was conditional. To those who obey the commandments God will be merciful, but God will punish those who do not revere Him.

“……you shall not bow down to these idols or serve them. For I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God and I punish the father's fault in the sons, the grandsons, and the great-grandsons of those who hate me; but I show kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” ﹙Exodus 20：5-6﹚ This kind of thinking was maintained until the time of the Babylonian exile.

During the time of the Babylonian exile, the Jews did not have prophets, kings, or the temple, therefore a culture of popular wisdom arose. Many wisdom books were written during and after the Babylonian exile. The Jews still remembered that God had established a covenant with them and they had the responsibility to abide by the commandments of the covenant; those who abide by it are blessed, but those who fail to abide by it are punished. However, the Jews in Babylon broadened their minds and saw that the same God who lives in their hearts manifests Himself in His mysterious and wonderful creation. He is the God who can turn woe into blessing.

There are seven books of wisdom in the Bible: Job, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Sirach, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Wisdom.

“People of influence, rulers, and judges will be honored, but none of them is greater than a person who fears the Lord.” ﹙Sirach 10：24﹚
“Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of a gift never given.” ﹙Proverbs 25：14﹚
“And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” ﹙Genesis 45：5﹚
“He put the fear of them in all living beings, and gave them dominion over beasts and birds. Discretion and tongue and eyes, ears and a mind for thinking he gave them.” ﹙Sirach 17：5-6﹚
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” ﹙Proverbs 1：7﹚
“The compassion of the Lord is for every living thing. He rebukes and trains and teaches them, and turns them back, as a shepherd his flock.” ﹙Sirach 18：13﹚

The Wisdom Literature books see the humility of man, who are unable to explain the mysteries of the universe. Suffering and death are also a mystery, but they are not God's punishment of people's sins. God is seen no longer as a ruler who gives orders. God is a Father who is always with His children. This Father will teach His children how to live in harmony with the whole universe in order to enjoy a happy life.

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When Jesus began his evangelization life, He also quoted from the Prophets regarding how God made a covenant with his people and how his people broke the covenant, received a punishment before receiving God's forgiveness and mercy. However, Jesus' clarification is that the Lord's covenant with His people is out of His charity and even after the people broke the covenant, God's mercy towards them was not affected. Jesus illustrated this important point through the story of “the prodigal son”. After the younger son had squandered all his money, he returned home. Without waiting for the younger son's repentance and promise of a new life, his father immediately ordered his servants to prepare a banquet to welcome his son back home. The eldest son was extremely unhappy with this and felt that his father was unfair and unjust. He could not understand and accept his father's mercy, because his concept of faith was wrong, and he believed that only those who obeyed God's commandment had the right to God's mercy. People who thought like the eldest son do not understand Jesus' message. They called Jesus “A friend of tax collectors and sinners”. ﹙Lk 7：34﹚ Jesus' answer was, “I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.” ﹙ Mark 2：17﹚

Jesus affirms that the Father's mercy is unconditional; it is not because of people's repentance that God grants forgiveness and mercy, on the contrary it is because of God's mercy that brings sinners to repentance. Both the sinners as well as the righteous can receive Jesus' miracles.

The second chapter of the Gospel of Mark ﹙cf. Mark 2：1-12﹚ describes how Jesus healed a paralytic. At that time, people thought that physical disease was due to a person's sins; so, Jesus first forgave the paralytic's sins, and then healed his body. Jesus did this to prove that sin had nothing to do with his physical disease. Moreover, Jesus did not ask the paralytic to repent or make amends. His healing was all out of Jesus' mercy. Jesus' mercy heals the heart of people and makes clean the unclean. ﹙cf. Mark 7：20-23﹚ Jesus says, “What I want is mercy, not sacrifice”. ﹙Matthew 9：13﹚ Love comes from a heart full of mercy. The mentality of the eldest son is to obtain forgiveness of sins through his own good deeds; Jesus tells us that those who have experienced God's mercy will do good deeds out of thankfulness and at the same time they will feel a deep joy.