“Blessed are those who mourn,” Jesus said, “for they will be comforted” (Matt. 5:4). We wonder if when he said that, his brow eased and his smile bent toward heaven.
Jesus isn’t calling for action here. He isn’t commanding mourning. This isn’t the antithesis to “Don’t worry, be happy!” If you are paying attention, there is plenty over which to mourn. If you care about what God cares about, your heart breaks. When you see hunger, injustice, unfaithfulness, oppression, and division – when you see the lost – you mourn. You mourn when you see the tragedy of division in families, too.
When husbands and dads, or wives and mothers walk away, we mourn. When a man gives into temptation and spends a portion of his day in lust over the 18 year-old misguided girl on his computer screen, we mourn. When a disappointed wife chats excitedly and secretly with the boy turned man that she loved in high school, slowly losing her heart and her inhibitions, we mourn. When promises to endure through sickness and struggling finances are broken, we mourn. When children have to move from home to home because their parents fight when they are together, we mourn. When abuse replaces love and respect, we mourn.
Then this promise from Jesus, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” What he means is that with him, there is hope. For those who care about what he cares about, when we continue to follow him though we may be weeping now, comfort is coming. We’ve seen it. We’ve seen
Comfort is coming because the life lived according to the Spirit still leads to joy and peace. Comfort is coming because the life lived according to the Spirit still leads to eternal life. When you are saddened by surveys that tell us that 39% of people believe that marriage is becoming obsolete, or when you are saddened because your own marriage is less than what you expected, you will mourn if you care about what God cares about. Keep following the Christ, remembering his promise from the mountain. Those who mourn now will be comforted. Those who mourn now will laugh soon because we live like Jesus.
Richard and JeannaLynn
Awesome. I have never thought of that scripture from that point of view. It makes a lot of sense. I think he was looking towards heavan when he said “they will be comforted”
Getting separated or a divorced appears to be a very simple process, but it leaves a high impact on personal and family life of your person.