Beckett: Blessed Are the Mourners

“Blessed are the mourners, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4; my translation).

We mourn the brokenness of the world, we mourn the loss of loved ones, and we mourn our own brokenness—that we are poor in spirit (v. 3). Like the quality before this, as well as in vv. 5-6, this is not a positive quality. How is it, then, that mourners are blessed? Simply put, in Jesus’ words, “they shall be comforted.” For consider the opposite: mourning one’s own brokenness or the death of a loved one and not being comforted; this is certainly not a blessed state. To receive comfort is to receive a blessing.

When someone you love dies and you attend their funeral and friends and family remind you that Christ is risen, and the pastor reminds you in the sermon that both you and the faithful departed will be risen from the dead to enjoy the fruits of eternal life in the new heavens and the new Earth, you receive the blessing of the comfort of the Holy Spirit as He brings this Gospel of Jesus Christ to your ears. Or when you mourn the brokenness of the world and thus hunger and thirst for righteousness (v. 6)—for God to make things right just as He promised He would—again the Word of the Lord reminds you of the life of the world to come when Christ comes to judge the living and the dead. This promise gives you hope, which is a blessing.

Or when you mourn your own brokenness, you go to your pastor, and you receive the blessing of the forgiveness of sins in private confession and absolution. However, remember that “comfort isn’t necessarily comfortable. Finding comfort doesn’t always mean we are released from suffering. Instead, it means we are not alone in our personal misery or pain; we have company when we hurt” (Senkbeil, 39). Jesus doesn’t necessarily make our pain and suffering go away, especially immediately, but He is with us in our suffering. He accompanies us as we bear our crosses just as He bore His for us, often in the form of our own Simon of Cyrene to help us bear our cross.

Nonetheless, our mourning is not eternal, whatever its cause. For when the new heavens and the new Earth come to us, God Himself “will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). In this life, it is quite impossible to “get over” someone’s death and “move on.” But in the life to come, the remnants of mourning will finally drift away because Christ will raise you and all the faithfully departed from the dead to enjoy eternal life with Him. This promise of Christ will always be your comfort when you mourn.

Bibliography

Senkbeil, Harold L. Christ and Calamity: Grace & Gratitude in the Darkest Valley. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020.