Blessed Are: Those Who Mourn

Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:4

This verse begs the thought, "But I wouldn't have to be comforted if I wasn't mourning!"

That's the whole point, though. We would never realize the need for a Savior, if we never felt the need to be saved. That is our great comfort: Our salvation. Once again we need to not look at our lives in cute little boxes of time that we can comprehend. We were created to exist for eternity. The mourning we experience here in this lifetime for the sins we commit will be comforted by the blood of Jesus Christ as we share in His eternal inheritance from the Father.

Don't get upset! We will have comfort here in this life as well through the joy the Spirit gives us. Jesus speaks of this kind of joy to the disciples just before His crucifixion. "I assure you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. When a woman is in labor she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will rob you of your joy." John 16:20-22

What a beautiful picture of our birth to salvation. When we are convicted of the sin within our own lives we are in anguish, but do not worry - our time has come! We will then be comforted with the joy of our new lives in Christ. Jesus promised the disciples that no one could take away their joy once He was resurrected. History tells us that they all lived difficult lives and died horrible deaths for the sake of the Gospel, yet they were comforted with the joy of their salvation to the end.

Does that count for everyone who mourns? Sadly, no. Remember Judas, Jesus' betrayer? He mourned his decision to betray Him, but did not accept the comfort of salvation. He tried to comfort himself by ending his own life. (Matthew 27:3-5) We must never forget that the only true comfort comes from the Comforter. It is nothing we can obtain on our own.