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Scripture

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" Matthew 5:4

At face value, it might appear that Jesus is saying that if you've been through hard times and are really sad, then you're the luckiest person on earth. Not so! He's not speaking of one who has only endured natural hardship that leads to deep sorrow or regret but rather of a brokenhearted person who has somehow, by some means, entered into the Lord's own view of the world and its people.

As R. T. Kendall describes this attribute in his book, The Sermon on the Mount, he shares the idea that Jesus is speaking about one who has gone through the trials and pains of life and that these were not wasted; they were not for nothing!

Kendall proposes that Jesus is teaching us that we all will encounter various trials and hardships, and we either allow them to be wasted, or we embrace them and the pain they bring, thus entering into the suffering of the Lord Himself. Through this embracing of the trial and submitting it to Jesus for His purposes, Christ's own worldview and heart concern is formed in us.

The word "mourn" has two fundamental ideas behind it:

To be grieved: I am convinced that Jesus is saying, "Blessed is the man who is grieved by what grieves Me." What if you and I brought all of the trials, adversities, and hardships that He allows to find their way into our lives back to Him for some redemptive purpose? And what if He used this pain that we experience to cultivate within us His own view of the world around us? What if we were grieved by the sin, the broken systems, and the lust-filled schemes and constructs of man enough to actually do something? What if we began to hate what He hates and love what He loves?

To be moved with compassion: The second idea wrapped into this word, mourn, is to be moved with compassion for others. One of the reasons Jesus allows pain to touch us is so that we might learn to feel the pain of others, and enter into their pain in such a way that we can no longer do nothing.

This is the mourning Jesus describes. This is the beginning of true, spiritual ministry, receiving both the grief and compassion of God, thus putting an end to self-advancement, selfish ambition, and self-love.

The Promise: Comfort, God’s own comfort. To comfort someone is to bring relief, consolation, or solace in the midst of affliction or pain. When you join the Lord Jesus in His great concern for the world, in some indescribable way, He releases His comfort, His consolation into your heart.

But the word, comfort, has a more primary meaning than to find consolation or solace in times of affliction. It literally means to call upon someone for aid or to do something. I believe that Jesus is also saying that we will be the ones He calls upon. If we cultivate this mournful spirit and gaze upon our world through those eyes, He will call for us and send us into the earth carrying His Spirit. Do you desire to be one He calls for? One He calls upon?

Prayer: Lord, break our hearts for what breaks yours. Give us compassion for the people around us and use our pain to show us your heart for people. Comfort our own hearts as we show compassion and love to those around us.