By: r. nial bradshaw
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)
You’ve come to the right place for a comment on this Beatitude. Again Jesus hits us with contrast: to be blessed when you mourn. Mourning in my opinion feels like the opposite of blessing. What’s Jesus driving at? First, I think Jesus is saying ‘blessed is everybody’ because everybody mourns. God knows that on a planet where there is both love and death, mourning is going to be the common experience of all people. If you are in it, you know what I mean; if you’re not, get ready to be in it. Jesus is saying that everybody that mourns under the umbrella of the love of God “will be comforted”. It doesn’t say they will be made ‘all better’, but comfort comes through time and friendship. I have a wise friend, who shares my experience of loss, who got me to think about my circumstance like a teeter-totter, with sadness on one end and gratitude on the other. Comfort came when I decided to tip it and be more grateful for what I had with my wife Lori than sad for what I’ve lost. Jesus is building a movement, not of the exceptional, but of regular people who are dealing with the common difficulties of life in the way God wants. It’s good to mourn so you can receive the comfort God installed in the world for just such an event. Over time, gratitude conquers sadness and death. I believe it!
Lord, thank you for my unique path of comfort. May all my grieving friends find theirs. Amen.
—
Steve Moore
