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Hesed is the Hebrew word commonly translated by the English word lovingkindness in the King James Version.  In 1535, Miles Coverdale “invented” the word lovingkindness to translate the Hebrew word hesed.  The KJV borrowed the term.  The KJV uses fourteen different words to translate hesed.  However, lovingkindness is a favorite among scholars.
Twice Jesus used the word hesed in quotations from Hosea 6:6, “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”  Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 in Matthew 9:13 and 12:7.  Matthew 9 and 12 are separate occasions, but both involve conflict with the Pharisees.  Both occasions give Jesus an opportunity to show men  the heart of God.
Jesus’ First Use of Mercy
In Matt. 9:9-13, Jesus is in Matthew’s house after He called him to become a disciple.  Matthew readily answered the call.  He invited Jesus to his home along with some of his friends and associates.  The Pharisees criticized Jesus for eating with publicans and sinners.  The Pharisees were separatists who would not associate with sinners and kept a safe distance from them.  However, Jesus was on mission.  He came to seek and to save that which was lost.  Jesus’ response to the Pharisees was to quote from Hosea 6:6.  They that are whole have no need of a physician.  Jesus is the physician of men’s souls seeking through compassion to extend mercy and advance spiritual healing.  Sin sickness has a cure and Jesus can provide it.  Jesus’ use of Hoses 6:6 is an attempt to transform the hearts of the Pharisees. The Physician is in the house and He is working on the hearts of men to change them.  Jesus said, “Go and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice.”  One may know what the scriptures say and not understand what they mean.  Understanding transforms the heart which is shaped by the truth embraced by faith and volitionally implemented.  Mercy is compassion or lovingkindness.  The condition of one’s heart is more important than sacrifice.  The status of the heart of man determines the acceptability or unacceptability of the sacrifice (Matt. 5:23-24).
Jesus’ Second Use of Mercy
In Matthew 12:1-8, Jesus and His disciples are walking through a field of grain.  They pick the heads of grain and rub them in their hands and eat the kernels.  They did this on the Sabbath day, but they were well within the bounds of the Law of Moses (Deut. 23:25).  The Pharisees condemn Jesus and His disciples for violating the Sabbath.  Jesus’ response was to quote Hosea 6:6, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.”  Jesus responded to transform the hardheartedness of the Pharisees aiming to improve their hearts with lovingkindness.  Their inability to see brokenness and hunger in people around them is a result of the fact that they did not understand the heart of God.  God revealed His heart to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7 after Moses requested to see God.  “And the LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.  Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”  Behold, both the goodness and severity of God (Rom. 11:22).
Lovingkindness Reshapes the Human Heart
Lovingkindness:  mirrors the heart of God; opens up one’s life to others, is willing to bestow everything to those who are worthy of nothing; and combines two of the greatest virtues of the human heart:  love and mercy.  Go and learn what that meaneth, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.”