'Blessed Are Those Who Mourn'

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” — Matthew 5:4

To mourn is to feel or express grief or sorrow. The Greek translation defines it to lament and feel guilt. We associate mourning with death—and rightfully so. But in this context, Jesus isn’t talking about mourning over death. He’s talking about mourning over what separates us from Him—sin (Is. 59:1-2). God doesn’t take sin lightly, and neither should we.

Psalm 119:136 says, “Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law.” When’s the last time you wept over the sins of the world? News headlines are marred with murder, abortion, same-sex marriage, etc. When’s the last time you mourned over the sins of a brother or sister in Christ who turned their back on God? When was the last time you mourned over your own sin? To be in the kingdom, we must have a heart of mourning.

We must mourn over our sin because we realize we are spiritually bankrupt. We recognize the value of confessing our weaknesses. And we recognize we must fully depend on God. Without the blood of Jesus Christ, we are helpless. We can’t do it on our own. Thus, we must always look to the cross to be reminded of the pain and agony our Savior endured for us. What did that to Jesus? The sins we tend to treat so lightly.

We should never be nonchalant about sin — because of the consequences. A life lived separated from God on this earth will lead to eternity separated from God. When sin lies at your door, please think about not only about the immediate consequences, but think of the eternal consequences (Matt. 10:28: “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”).

Jesus closes Matt. 5:4 with a promise. The blessing is not in the mourning but the promise of comfort. Mourners aren’t happy because they’re mourning. They’re happy because they are comforted. What does comfort look like? It’s forgiveness, grace, mercy and blessing. Sin is always going to be around us. Comfort is found in going home to heaven (Rev. 21:4: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away”).