The Blessing of Comfort

This morning we continue our study through the Beatitudes by considering the second beatitude from Matt. 5:4. Let’s begin by reading that together. From this text, I want you to see two points: the calamity and the comfort.

First, notice the calamity for which God’s people mourn. Remember, the beatitudes are a sort of announcement. In them, Jesus is announcing who it is that the kingdom of God is for. We saw last week that the kingdom of God is for the poor and broken – the ones who recognize that they are sinners and need a savior. In the second beatitude, Jesus doubles down by extending the blessing of the kingdom to those who mourn. But, both of these blessings echo the promises of an ancient prophecy. In fact, that ancient prophecy was the text of the very first sermon that Jesus preached in Luke 4. It is the prophecy given in Isaiah 61:1-3: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor… to comfort all who mourn.” Isaiah’s prophecy looks forward (some 700 years) to this very moment in Jesus’s ministry. So what does Isaiah (and Jesus) mean when he says that the Messiah will bring comfort to those who mourn. There are four reasons in Scripture for why we mourn: guilt, death, injustice, and judgment. First, the people of God mourn because of our own personal guilt and sinfulness. James 4:9-10 says, “Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” You see, those who are broken by their own sin, those who recognize that they cannot earn their way to heaven – they mourn for their own guilt. They mourn the offense given by their sins. They mourn the ways their sins have contributed to the corruption of the world.

Second, the people of God mourn the fact that sin leads to death. In Mark 16:10 we read that the resurrected Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene as she and others mourned his death. It is quite telling that humans mourn death because, if we are to believe the atheists, death is a natural, meaningless thing. Everything dies. In the most basic of ways, in order for you to live, something else must die. And, everyone faces death. So why do we mourn when it happens? We mourn because it isn’t supposed to happen. We mourn, because as Eccl. 3:11 says, “God has put eternity into man’s heart.”

Third, the people of God mourn because of injustice. In Esther 6:12 we read that Mordecai was standing at the king’s gate and overheard a terrible plot devised by Haman to commit genocide against the Jews. It says that, when he heard it, he went home and mourned. Sin has not only brought death on this world, but it has also brought injustice. There is the injustice of racism, which devalues those who are made in the image of God simply because of the color of their skin. There is the injustice of lust, which values people only for the pleasure they can bring. There is the injustice of greed, which takes from others so that we might have more. There is the injustice of deceit, which conceals or distorts the truth so that others believe a lie. Injustice abounds in our world in these and many other forms, and we mourn the ways that it destroys our humanity.

Finally, the people of God mourn because of judgment. In Lamentations 1:4 we read that the very roads leading to Jerusalem mourned because God had judged the nation of Judah and driven its people into exile. Those who recognize the severity of their sins - who mourn the guilt of it – also mourn because they know that those sins must be punished. They mourn the impending judgment that is to come on the world because of sin. They mourn their unrepentant friends and family members who will be judged and cast into everlasting darkness.

Considering these reasons to mourn, it is hard to imagine how the mournful could be blessed. But, take heart in seeing the comfort that Jesus brings for those who mourn. Jesus announces that those who mourn will be blessed with comfort. Now, our English word for comfort doesn’t fully realize what Jesus means here. Comfort can mean anything from a pat on the back to a compassionate embrace. In the Greek, the word is parakaleo, which means “to bring alongside.” It envisions the act of recognizing someone’s pain and embracing them to offer consolation. In the coming of the kingdom of God, Jesus has brought us the kind of comfort that addresses every reason that we mourn. Jesus offers comfort for the guilt of our sins. Rom. 10:11 says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” Because Jesus has paid the full penalty for our sins on the cross, we are now reconciled to God. There is no more guilt. We stand before God as children who are welcomed by their father.

Jesus also brings comfort in death. 1 Thes. 4:13-14 says, “[We] do not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” In Christ, we have hope for those who have died in Christ, and we have hope for our own death as well. Because Jesus rose again from the dead, we know that he has defeated death for us. And there will be a day when Christ will return in all of his glory to call us to a new life in him.

Jesus brings comfort for injustice, too. Rev. 21:3-4 says, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man… He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” In this world, we will face persecution and injustice, but we can do so knowing that there will be a day when justice will be done. Every wrong will be righted. Every wound will be healed.

Finally, Jesus brings comfort for judgment. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Because of Jesus’s righteous life and sacrificial death, and through faith in him, we have been declared right before God. The great judge of the universe looks upon us and declares, “not guilty, by the work of another.” Actually, he doesn’t just declare “not guilty”, but “righteous, by the work of another.” Jesus has taken the full force of the wrath of God for guilt and injustice. So now, we have peace with God through him.

Friend, would you have comfort for the guilt of your sin? Would you have hope for life after death? Would you know the comfort of a future complete justice? Would you have peace with God? If you want this comfort, you must turn to Jesus Christ in faith. Won’t you do that today?

Brothers and sisters, we have comfort in guilt, death, injustice, and judgment because Jesus has overcome all of these for us. We have the comfort of God with us in the presence of his Spirit. And, we are called to be a comfort to others when they face these trials in life. May we leave this place and carry the comfort of the kingdom of God with us as we go.