True Happiness through Mourning (Matthew 5:4)
In 6th Century
BC around 500 years before Lord Jesus Christ incarnated in Bethlehem, Gautam
Siddhartha was born in Lumbini at Nepal to the royal family. It is said that
his father King Suddhodana wished for his son to be a great king. Therefore he was
brought up in all kinds of comfort and pleasures of life. According to
tradition, when he was 29 years old, he went out to meet his subjects. On the
way, he saw an old man who was walking slowing with a stick. He asked his
charioteer of this old man, he explained that all men grow old and become
physical week. As they went further, Gautam Siddhartha saw sick man and a
corpse taking for funeral. Whatever he saw in the streets distressed him. He
found himself in despair, pain and sorrow. He began to ask Pundits and sages
for solution, but no one could calm his troubled heart. He mourned for many
days asking that who would save him from this worldly suffering. One day he saw
a hermit clothed in saffron coloured robes in him Gautam Siddhartha saw a life
of peace. Suddenly at one night, he quit his palace and became hermit. He went
into deep forest and practiced the extreme form of asceticism, but later he
realized that it is helpless to provide the answer for his quest. In his
despair, he came up with four noble truths: there is suffering in the world;
and our desires are the reason of sufferings; Nirvana (It is salvation in the
term of Buddhism) is the state of extinction of sufferings; and finally there
are eight paths to obtain the Nirvana. Gautam Buddha was right while he mourned
over that there is suffering in the world, but he concluded wrongly when he
said that our desires are the reason of this suffering; and then he explained
the state where desires are extinct; and developed the eight paths to end
desires. Thus Buddhism began.
Practically, it is not
possible to extinct the desire from our flesh. If it is possible, then why does
Dalai Lama desire the freedom of Tibet? We need to understand that suffering in
the world serve the purpose of God. Sufferings produce mourning and mourning can
draw us near to God, who is the source of all kinds of comfort (2 Cor. 1:3-4). Therefore,
our Lord Jesus Christ says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall
be comforted” (vs. 4).
WHAT DOES JESUS MEAN?
Vs. 3 – “Blessed are those who mourn ...”
The word ‘mourn’ is
translated from the Greek word ‘pentheo’
(πενθέω), which conveys the idea of the utter sorrow of a broken heart or
desperate ache of the soul. It is used
for weeping for the dead who was loved. In the Septuagint - the Greek
translation of Old Testament, uses the similar word for the grief of Jacob, when
mourned for Joseph (Gen. 37:34-35). It describes such kind of grief which
cannot be hidden; or such deep sorrow which brings the tears to the eyes.
In this verse, Jesus spoke
of those who mourn for their sin and repents. Apostle Paul spoke of two kinds
of grief which lead us to mourn. He writes to the believers in Corinth, “For godly grief produces a repentance that
leads to salvation ... whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Cor. 7:10).
The Bible tells about people who mourned, but never repented for their sin. Judas
Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed the Lord confessed “saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” ... And throwing
down the pieces of silver into the temple... he went and hanged himself”
(Matthew 27:3-5). He made an open acknowledgement of his sin; and returned the
money back, but instead of mourning over sin he committed the suicide.
In other side, Peter denied
Jesus three times while Jesus was being condemned by Jews. As Peter realized of
his own sin, he wept bitterly (Matthew 27:9). He repented and the Lord forgave
him. In the day of Pentecost, Peter preached and 3000 people believed the Lord.
Peter sinned, but mourned and seek the forgiveness from the Lord. Consequently his
mourning produced repentance which led them into salvation. Judas is the
classic example of worldly grief which produces death and Peter is of godly
grief which produces repentance leads to salvation.
Therefore we need to
understand that Jesus spoke about those who mourn for their sin. They are not
blessed who mourn for their dead whom they loved. It is natural to mourn for
dead, but when we mourn for our sins, it opens the door to divine mercy.
HOW DOES IT COME IN OUR
LIFE?
When we understand the
nature of sin and its effects on the world, it produces sorrow in us. The
Scripture says, “For all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) and “For the wages of sin is death ...” (Rom. 3:23). The Bible views
the death as a separation. According to the Holy Scripture, there are two kinds
of death: physical and spiritual. In physical death, the spirit is separated
from the mortal body. Every human being neither believer nor unbeliever will
die physical. Second, in spiritual
death, human beings are separated from God. Every human being is born in this
spiritual state. That’s why, Apostle Paul writes in the epistle to Ephesians, “And you were dead in the trespasses and
sins in which you once walked ...” (Eph. 2:1). He spoke of their previous
condition before they knew the Lord. King David also cried out saying, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and
in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). David spoke of the spiritual state when a
human being is born physically. We are dead spiritually, therefore we all need
to born again (John. 3:3). If we die physically without new birth spiritually,
we will be separated eternally from the presence of God and will throw into the
lake of fire, which is called hell. Therefore we need to mourn over our
spiritual condition which is dead and would be dead forever.
In other side, we don’t only
mourn to our own sin, but we mourn for other’s sin. Once Abraham Lincoln said,
“I am sorry for the man who can’t feel the pain when whip is laid on the other
man’s back.” Do you feel deep sorrow when you watch the news channels? Does it
ache your heart when you see people are addicted with drugs, teenagers are raped;
hundreds died in road accidents or in sickness each day in India? Does it
compel you to kneel down and pray when you see that a man died without knowing
Christ? Jesus mourned for Jerusalem (Mt.
23:37-39). Jeremiah grieved saying, “My
joy is gone; grief is upon me ...” (vs. 8:18) “Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I
might weep day and night for ... my people” (vs. 9:1). Why Jesus and
Jeremiah mourned for their people? Because people are dying in their sin, there
is no hope for them to escape from the wrath of God. Sin brings death and death
brings grief, which causes mourning. We should mourn for there is a bad news
for whole humanity, and bad news is this: the soul who sins shall die (Ezekiel
18).
WHAT BLESSING DOES IT BRING IN OUR LIFE?
Vs. 4 – “...
for they shall be comforted.”
When we mourn, we receive
the comfort from God. The word ‘comfort’ is translated from the Greek word ‘parakaleo (παρακαλέω)’ from which the
word ‘parakalet’ derived. The word 'parakalet' is used to Holy Spirit as our comforter. The word ‘parakaleo’ means to encourage and
strengthen by comfort. The word conveys the idea that those who mourned for
their sin will be not only received the comfort, but they will be strengthen by
God. Isaiah mourned for his own sins, and then God comforted him saying, “...
your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” (Is. 6:5-7). Similarly, God
encourages and comforts those mourn for their own sin and other’s as well.
CONCLUSION / APPLICATION
A young man named Martin
Luther wanted to be a lawyer, but an incident changed his life. One day his
friend when riding in the forest was killed by lightening. Luther shocked by
this accident; and he overwhelmed by the fear of death and hell; so he gave up
the idea of becoming a lawyer. He decided to become a Catholic monk and joined
the monastery. In 1507, he was ordained a priest and in 1512 he became
professor in the University of Wittenberg. Outwardly he was so busy and success
in his occupation, yet inwardly he was struggling with the question: how can I
be right with God? He had entered the monastery to put himself right with God;
but the methods of confessions, penances, prayers and fasting had failed to
bring him the peace he longed for. Luther was haunted for years the sense of
guilt and felt that he could not escape from the judgement of God. He recognized
his own ability to please God and mourned over the sin.
In 1513, he understood when
he read Romans 1:17 – “The righteous will
live by faith” the secret to be right with God. It is through and in Christ
we are right with God. “... When I realized this,’ wrote Luther, “I felt myself
absolutely born again. The gates of paradise had been flung open and I had
entered ...” Luther mourned for his own sin. As a result, Luther received the
encouragement and strength from the Lord through the Word.
In
the simple word, happy are those who mourn for their own sin and for the world,
they will find the joy from God midst their sorrow, for “…God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 7:17).
Let’s pray together!
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