Over and over again in the four Gospels, Jesus proves He is gentle and lowly in heart. He heals lepers (Matt 8:2-3), paralytics (Matt 9:2), the sick (Matt 9:35-36; 14:14). He forgives sins (Matt 9:2). He feeds the hungry (Matt 15:32). He comforts the bereaved (Luke 7:13). He weeps over the judgment of Jerusalem to come (Luke 19:41) and over the death of His friend Lazarus (John 11:35). Over and over Jesus shows compassion. He is the "friend of sinners" (Luke 7:34) and sufferers. As Richard Sibbes put it, "...the works of grace and mercy in Christ, they come from bowels [his gut, his inmost motivation] first." Jesus does not just love; He is love. This is good news for us sinners.

But we must also understand that the wrath of Christ and the mercy of Christ rise and fall together. When we understand the wrath we rightly deserve for our sin, we have a greater understanding and appreciation of the mercy Christ extends to us in the forgiveness of our sin. When it comes to God, wrath and mercy are not at odds with each other (John 12:47-48); they work together to display God's glory (John 8:50).

And we see a glimpse of this contrast of deserved wrath vs. undeserved mercy on display in the way Jesus heals and forgives sinners. Rather than running away from sinners because they are unclean, he goes to sinners to make them clean from their sin, to forgive them of their sin. Jesus performs miracles to display it is Him who reverses the "unnatural" order of the consequences of sin. He heals diseases and restores order. Where judgment is rightly deserved, Jesus grants forgiveness to the undeserving who trust in Him.

The Jesus of the gospels is the Jesus of today: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb 13:8, ESV). He extends this same mercy and love to repentant sinners today.