THE BEATITUDES (5)

THE BEATITUDES (5)

Let us consider the second Beatitude: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted”. Each beatitude is in opposition to what the world believes, for the foolishness of God is wiser than men. That which seems like foolishness to the worldly-minded - such as the Beatitudes - is actually the epitome of divine wisdom. Those who have embraced the Beatitudes and all that is involved in them can testify that they do result in blessing, peace of mind and great happiness.

Human wisdom sees little value in mourning and sadness. Few like to weep. We pay comedians to make us laugh. Nevertheless, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn.” “Those who mourn” is from penqe÷w (pentheo), which means “to mourn for, lament.” This is “one of the most striking words for mourning in the ancient Greek language, portraying sorrow of the acutest kind. It was “commonly used for mourning for the dead.”

Concerning this verse, Jesus did not intend that blessedness be pronounced upon people simply because they weep. There is no special virtue in the act of crying. God always wants His people to be happy. Proverbs 17:22 says “A joyful heart is good medicine” and Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4). Further, the Bible definitely teaches that some mourners will not be comforted. This is mourning because of the consequences of one’s actions, with little or no mourning for the action itself. This idea might be illustrated by the student who is sad when he receives bad grades because he did not study. Jesus did not promise that lazy students who fail and are “mourning” will be blessed and comforted.

Another group of mourners who will not be comforted are religious mourners unwilling to accept God’s revelation in the New Testament. An example of this is the Jews who gather at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the wall known as “The Wailing Wall.” The last category of mourners who will not be blessed is a group closely related to those already listed: those who mourn over their sins but do nothing about them.

Who are those mourners then that Jesus is talking about? The verse itself does not say, but the context indicates that Jesus had in mind spiritual mourning, spiritual concern. Mourning over our own sins should also cause us to mourn over sin in general: to mourn over the effect of sin on the world, to mourn over the sins in the lives of others that will send them to hell. When Paul thought about His Jewish brethren who were lost, he said, “I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:2, 3). When we have this intense kind of mourning for the lost, it will cause us to reach out to them with the gospel (Romans 1:14, 16). There is nothing funny about sin!

“Mourning over our own sins should also cause us to mourn over sin in general: to mourn over the effect of sin on the world, to mourn over the sins in the lives of others that will send them to hell.”

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