“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4.
Recall that the Sermon on the
Mount gives characteristics and lifestyle of a Kingdom citizen. The spiritual, emotional or physical losses
resulting from sin should lead the Christian to be sincerely repentant of the
wrongdoing that leads to mourning. We
have also come to think of this beatitude as relating to those who mourn the
loss of a loved one to severe illness and then death. Jesus is teaching here, “You are blessed when
you mourn (are sincerely sorrowful), for there is comfort for you.”
Any sorrow of the acutest kind,
for that is the idea behind the Greek word for mourn here—klaio—to weep, to wail, to sob, can indeed be comforted. As used here in Matthew, it also carries the
strong meaning of our mourning in this present time on earth but in the
end-time we will know complete comfort.
Luke tells those who laugh and live lightly now should beware, because
in the end-time they will wail and mourn (see Luke 6:25).
Christians should grieve when
they go astray from God’s principles, for they stain the name of Christ and
greatly weaken the influence they should be bearing to others. Likewise, when sin infiltrates the church and
members are at odds with each other and with church leaders, they weaken the
influence of the church and its work in the community. Mourn about these conditions, both personally
and corporately. And for comfort, turn from
rebellion and wickedness so that the Lord’s comfort and blessing can come
again. Those who mourn for sin with a
godly sorrow saying in the heart like the publican, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” can experience God’s forgiveness
and be comforted.
Perhaps you have known persons,
as I have, who had a family member unsaved.
I have heard testimonies of a Christian family member praying and
mourning for years for a wayward and unsaved person within the family circle. Then comes the miracle of grace as the person
turns to Christ and experiences salvation.
What joy and comfort come on such occasions. Have we lost our concern for unsaved
souls? Do we fail now, in our lack of
focus and busyness to seek God’s salvation for lost souls? The promise of this beatitude is that God
will hear our intercessions and move upon persons for whom we pray to bring
them to Himself. When we sincerely,
earnestly and faithfully pray for another’s salvation, we are growing in the likeness
of the great Sin-bearer Himself who came to “seek and to save the lost.” Let
us not fail in this important Christian responsibility to those outside the
fold who have not accepted God’s grace.
And what of those who mourn over
the loss of a loved one by death? Is
this type of mourning not also covered
in this beatitude? We certainly repeat it in the time of such
sorrow. And personally, in my own life I
have experienced, time and time again, how the promise of Matthew 5: 4 applies
when I mourn a loved one’s passing. I
found it to be true when I was a youth of fourteen and my mother died. What a lonely and difficult road lay ahead of
me without the presence, love and guidance of a loving mother. But I found Christ to be all sufficient and
fill the void. I have lost a dear
father, two brothers, and most recently a beloved husband. Mourning is real and it hurts from the depths
of the soul. But the promise of God in
Psalm 30:5b is steadfast: “”Weeping may endure for a night, but joy
comes in the morning!”
Mourning is inevitable and the
conditions for mourning are innumerable.
But the God of all comfort is ready to come to our assistance and right
our emotional and spiritual turmoil that
cause mourning, whether for sin and rebellion or for major losses. “And
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for
the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:4) Even though this verse
speaks of future glory, it comforts and alleviates our tendencies to mourn,
even now. To God be the glory!
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