American WWII pilot Charles Brown was returning from a mission. His B-17 had been damaged and was faltering over the skies of Germany.
Brown looked out his window and froze. A German fighter plane was just three feet off their wingtip, poised for a kill.
“This is a nightmare,” Brown’s co-pilot said.
Brown saw the eyes of the German pilot.
What happened next was remarkable: the German pilot did not pull his trigger. He nodded at Brown and proceeded to escort his B-17 through German skies, protecting it from anti-aircraft guns.
Years later, Brown set out to find the German who had spared him. Remarkably, he found the man of mercy, Franz Stigler. When the two men met, they hugged and cried.
Life-saving mercy is what the thief on the cross experienced too. This man knew he would die but understood Jesus could offer him eternal mercy for his sins: “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom” (LUKE 23:42).
Jesus extended that mercy to him: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (V. 43).
We who believe in Jesus know we’re likewise saved by God’s loving mercy. But do we show mercy to others?
The power of mercy stems from what Jesus did on the cross. Ephesians advises us to be “merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave [us] because of Christ” (EPHESIANS 4:32 CEV). May God help us extend mercy to others today.
