Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:5, NKJV).
Father in heaven, how grateful we are that you have left us instructions on how to live our lives for Your glory. Please help us to be obedient to Your will. This is our prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen
Today we continue looking at what I will call the Happiness Code. Yesterday we looked at the first characteristic of those who live by this code: “the poor in spirit.” Now let us consider another characteristic of those who live by this Code: “those who mourn.” At first glance our reaction would be to change the name of this Code; since so far we have not seen any happy campers; at least not by the world’s definition of happiness. But today, like yesterday, we will discover that their happiness or state of blessedness is not dependent on their condition – but in spite of it!
The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of divine grace, belongs to the poor in spirit. What do the mourners receive? They receive comfort. The happiness of those who live by this Code cannot be defined in human terms, neither can the comfort that the mourners receive be defined in human terms. Theirs is a comfort that the world does not know. It is not of this world!
There are two types of mourning presented here. The emphasis however, is on a very profound form of mourning. From the Greek pentheo (a very deep sense of mourning) that seems to describe the intense mourning experienced by the poor in spirit over their sense of unworthiness. It would seem that this second beatitude is to some extent a continuation of the first. These souls long to reach a higher standard of perfection. They mourn over their sinful condition.
But there is another kind of mourning included in this second beatitude: the mourning that comes from grief, lost dreams, frustrations. The good news is that for those who mourn, for whatever reason, there is comfort available! Those who mourn shall be comforted. From the Greek parakaleo, “to call to the side of”, “to console”, “to encourage”, “to comfort”.
By now you may have noted that the word for Comforter, parakletos, the Holy Spirit, the “other Comforter” that Jesus promised is derived from the same root word. Therefore, there is no mourning that the Divine Comforter cannot soothe. Whether it be the profound mourning over our spiritual unworthiness, or the almost unbearable mourning caused by the loss of a loved one, or the mourning that comes from disappointment, those who look to Jesus will be comforted. In every situation – Happy are You!