BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4

In my previous article I explained that Matthew used a Hebrew literary construction called reverse concentric symmetry to record Jesus’ teaching on the Beatitudes. The first three beatitudes in Matthew 4:3-5, deal with the attitude of humility. Verses 3 and 5 form the “bookends” enclosing the middle thought which is blessed are those who mourn.

There are four ways in which Hebrew people expressed mourning.

1. They put on sackcloth – they wore rough and shapeless clothing to denote self-abasement.

2. They sprinkled ashes on their heads – a symbol of humbling themselves to come alongside the person who had suffered a loss. To wear sackcloth and cover oneself with ashes was to identify with and suffer the pain of grief with the person who grieves. It was an act of humbling oneself to bring life to someone else. 

The word “lovingkindness” (God’s covenant love) –  which is the Hebrew word  CHESED, is derived from the word CHESEDAH which is the picture of a mother swan plucking out her own feathers to make a soft nest for her young. The idea is that God creates a soft place for us through His own suffering. As we identify with someone else in their grief, we are creating a soft place for them by suffering with them.

3. They sat shivah – sitting for seven days with someone who was in emotional pain, in silence unless they were spoken to – eg, Job’s friends. The silent support was all that was needed to bring comfort to a grieving person.

4. They tore their garments – which meant exposing themselves for the good of some else.  In the temple, the veil was regarded as God’s clothing, hiding His glory from the general public.  When Jesus died, God tore His clothes to mourn the death of His Son, exposing His glory to bless His people, providing access to His throne and sending the Comforter to bless us.  When God mourned, it comforted everybody.

Blessed are those who mourn would be viewed as someone willing to humble himself to bring comfort to someone else.

The Apostle Paul picked up on this thought in 2 Corinthians 1:3. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

We can summarise Jesus’ words like this:

You will be truly happy when you choose a way of life that is not full of pride and self-promotion. Instead, by humbling yourself and to coming alongside others who mourn through grief or loss, you will discover that God will comfort you in your trouble when you comfort others by your presence and your support. In this way you will find real and lasting happiness where you least expect it.