The Constitution of God’s Kingdom Part 2

The Beatitudes (Mourning)
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Mourning is about holiness - not sinfulness! It should make you more God-conscious. Since a person cannot come to Christ unless the Father first changes his heart, one who is poor in spirit is also one whose heart God has already softened; therefore, anyone who acknowledges his sinfulness and helplessness before God naturally mourns his previous condition. This mourning is neither a general sadness nor an emotional upheaval, but it is a strong mental grief resulting from the realisation of your own frailties (and God's holiness). The righteous man does not wallow in carnal and self-centred depression, but he laments his sins because he cares about what God thinks, and now that he has started to see sin as it is, he is also learning how his rebellion offends God.

No doubt we have all known people who were deeply depressed with the way things were going in their lives. Perhaps we’ve been that way ourselves at some point. When we are dejected and despondent, we make efforts, sometimes very strenuous ones, to get rid of the heavy spirit that is stifling our sense of well-being. So great is the human desire to seek "happiness" that it seems as if the whole world is bent on finding as many entertaining distractions as can exist to divert the mind from the tensions of living in this fast-paced culture.

In the Bible “mourning” is a poignant image used to evoke the deep anguish that people experience when God judges or appears to be angry, distant or silent. It is a quality that is unpleasant to our spirit; as we are not naturally motivated to seek it. Since it is perfectly normal for us to seek to be cheerful and joyous, we shrink from suffering and sadness. For that reason, it seems paradoxical that Jesus calls those who mourn "blessed"! One commentator suggests that it’s as if Jesus is saying, "Happy are the unhappy!" This highlights how different God's perception of our well-being is from our own. One might ask, "If the he’s blessed, why does he mourn?" Or, "If he mourns, how can he be considered blessed?"

This beatitude is almost completely contrary to the world's logic. Indeed, at first glance it also seems to be contrary to another of Jesus' statements in John 10:10: "The thief comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have life more abundantly." To us, men are considered blessed when they are prosperous and happy, but Christ pronounces the poor in spirit and sorrowful as blessed. So does God confer some benefit upon the character of those who mourn? Is there something about the mindset of the sorrowful that helps them to see both self and life from a more stable and realistic view? Or, could Jesus be speaking of a certain kind of mourning different from the mourning associated with death, catastrophes, frustration of dashed hopes and other tragic events?

Yes, the mourning Jesus calls a ‘blessing’ in Matthew 5:4 is most assuredly not the highly visible and dramatic kind seen in Middle Eastern cultures, but it is a private, spiritual quality inseparably linked to the other Beatitudes. It is a special kind of mourning. Evidently, it is this specific type of mourning that receives the comfort of God. Millions of mourners in the world do not come within the scope of Jesus' statement. However, they all need the comfort that God has promised!

The Bible shows three kinds of sorrow. The first is the natural grief that arises from tragic circumstances. The second is a sinful, inordinate, hopeless sorrow that can even refuse to be comforted. The third sorrow is godly sorrow. The apostle Paul writes, "For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted..." Mourning, grief or sorrow is not a good thing in itself. But what motivates it, combined with what it produces, is what matters. Therefore, 2 Corinthians 7:10 reveals this vital key: The mourning that Jesus refers to is a major spiritual component of godly repentance that leads to or helps to produce the abundant life of John 10:10.

This principle arises often in secular life because humans seem bound and determined to learn by painful experience (the university of hard-knocks). For example, only when our health is either failing or broken down, and we are suffering the painful effects of wilfully ignoring health laws, do we make serious efforts to discover methods that lead to recovery and relief from the pain of disease. At that point we truly want to bring the comfort of good health back into our life!

Often, pain or sorrow have an intrinsic power to draw you to consider the direction of your path and institute changes that will enhance your life. This general principle applies to virtually all of life's difficulties. Whether health or financial problems, family troubles or business hassles, in falling into them (and being delivered from them), we generally follow this pattern. But spiritually, in our relationship with God, some variations from this general principle arise because God is deeply involved in guiding our transformation into His image.

In this case not everything is happening "naturally." He intervenes in the natural processes of your life, revealing Himself and His will to you. His goodness leads you to repentance. By His Spirit you are regenerated, taught, guided and fully enabled. He creates circumstances in your life by which you are moved to grow and become like Him in character and perspective, but some of these circumstances may sometimes cause you a great deal of sorrow. By His grace He supplies your every need so that you are well equipped to meet any demands on your life and glorify Him. Remember, Jesus' teaching never detaches this principle of sorrow or mourning from God's purpose because the right kind of mourning properly directed has the power to motivate toward extremely positive results. God definitely wants results, fruit produced through your relationship with Him. As Jesus says, "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."

William Barclay writes this commentary, concerning the Gospel of Matthew: “It is first of all to be noted about this beatitude that the Greek word for ‘to mourn’, used here, is the strongest word for mourning in the Greek language. It is defined as the kind of grief which takes such a hold on a man that it cannot be hidden. It’s not only the sorrow which brings an ache to the heart; it is the sorrow which brings unrestrained tears to the eyes. Illustrating emotional power, and indicating that it can produce the resolve to accomplish more than merely feeling badly and crying.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son unveils a clear progression from awareness of pain, arising from want and recognition of sin, then on to sorrow for what he had become and done. Repentance, forgiveness and acceptance were the fruit. Also, the publican and the multitude who repented at Peter's preaching felt the plague of misgivings, each in his own heart. This mourning springs from a conscience made tender and a heartfelt awareness of hostility toward God's will (and personal rebellion against Him). It is grief expressed because one has become acutely aware that the morality one holds falls so far short of holiness that shame rises to the surface.

When Jesus gives this beatitude, He does not say, "Blessed are those that have mourned" but "Blessed are those who mourn." He states it as a present and continuous experience. Repentance is not a one-time experience, nor does human nature (the old man), simply disappear after we receive the new nature. Christianity involves a continuous learning and growing process. God has decreed that we must live by faith, and that requires time and experience. We are being transformed into the image of God through the fires of life's sorrows and adversities, as well as its joys. Even of our Saviour, Isaiah writes, "He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).

The true believer is one whose mind is attuned to God's through an ever-deepening relationship. He has much to “mourn” over because of a daily sense of grief, and will remain so as long as his conscience stays tender. The apostle Paul, whom all would consider a most mature Christian, writes...
“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate... And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway... Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (Romans 17:15, 18-19, 24)

Paul was not living a life of sin. His words reflect a keen perception into the deceitfulness of human nature by a man so close to God that he could recognise virtually every self-centred or evil subtleties of the carnal nature. A nature that still lurked in him! But Paul hated it - groaning and yearning for complete deliverance from it!

The only proper response to our sinfulness is deep mourning, and the only true comfort to our mourning is the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Thus when Isaiah cries, "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5), the passage continues, "Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for’." (verses 6-7). And when Paul exclaims, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24), he immediately answers, "Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (verse 25).

The mourning Jesus desires is the kind that exhibits a softness of heart that is ready for change (in a righteous direction), one that is eagerly willing to have it cleansed into holiness. We of this generation face an uphill battle because, through such media as the internet, television and movies, we have vicariously experienced the breaking of God's law in unparalleled frequency. On the screen life is cheap, property is meaningless, sexual purity is scoffed at, stealing is fine "if it's necessary," and faithfulness is nerdish and corny. Where is our God in it? How much of this world's attitudes have you unwittingly absorbed into your character? Is your conscience still tender? Is mourning over rebellion - yours and others - still a vital part of your relationship with God?

Godly mourning plays a positive role in producing the changes God desires to transform us into His own image. We need to constantly pray with David, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). Notice, he asks God to give him what did not exist before, that his affections and feelings might be made right, and that he might not have the callused attitude that led him to adultery and murder. A plea of this kind is one that God will not deny. If you are truly serious about overcoming (in this life), and glorifying God, it is well worth the effort.

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be COMFORTED! Comforted (in the Greek) implies that God will draw along-side you. Literally, God will be called to your side!

Chris Demetriou, 09/11/2009