ISB ~ Luke 6 v36

Be merciful:Mercy is the towering rule of Christ’s kingdom (10:36-37; Mt 9:13; CCC 1458).

• Jesus reformulates the teaching of Lev 19:2, replacing the command to imitate Yahweh’s holiness with a command to imitate his mercy. The subtle difference between these divine attributes points to the difference between the Old Covenant and the New. The quest for holiness in ancient Israel meant that God’s people had to separate themselves from everything ungodly, unclean, and impure, including Gentiles and sinners (Lev 15:31; 20:26). Jesus gives holiness a new focus, defining it as mercy that reaches out to others and no longer divides people into segregated camps or disqualifies some and not others to enter the family of God (CCC 2842).