When Jesus gave the substance of that great Sermon on the Mount, He gave a formula, or recipe, for a “blessed” life, the “attainment of life’s ideals,” true peace, joy, contentment and lasting happiness. However, the list of ingredients for that happy state includes some that may not seem to harmonize with bliss and joy. For some, the most puzzling is found in Matthew 5:4: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:4 that life includes a “time to weep...a time to mourn.” By the time we reach our adult years, we have learned that life is made up of many things, including tears and sorrow. What did Jesus mean when He said “Blessed are they that mourn”?

Not all grief is profitable
First, Jesus is not encouraging us to wallow in grief, to grovel in pain and affliction. Strangely, some are not happy unless they are sad. They can talk about their troubles as long as someone will listen. Give them a chance and they will make you as miserable as they are—and that will be the source of their joy. But Jesus did not encourage self-pity.

Nor are we encouraged to mourn over a drop in the stock market, or a rise in the interest rate. These may have an impact in our life, but there are more important things in life than material gain or loss. Nor has He given a green light to those who carry a chip on their shoulder, hoping and expecting to be offended. Neither is there “blessing” for the one whose sin has been uncovered. Who then is blessed in mourning?

Mourn for your own sin
The word here translated mourn is the most severe word for sorrow and lamentation in the Greek language. It is used in 1 Corinthians 5:2 to show how those Christians should have responded to the sin of adultery within their congregation. Instead, they were puffed up with pride.

Sin is such that it must be mourned before it can be removed or forgiven. “Godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death,” 2 Corinthians 7:10.

Those who acknowledge their sin, exhibit godly sorrow and then turn from that sin, will be forgiven.

Mourn for world’s condition
Care must be exercised here, for the coffee shops are full of people who cluck their tongues at our wicked world. But not until we are willing to do something about evil will any meaningful changes take place.

Jesus saw the condition of His own people and wept tears of sadness, Luke 19:41. Jeremiah 9:1 describes the mind of God’s “weeping” prophet: “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!”

But neither the tears of Jesus nor Jeremiah removed evil from the world. That took the preaching of the prophet and the blood of Jesus to reveal the way and provide the means for real hope. The only hope for man today is through Jesus Christ, John 14:6.

Paul recognized this when he wrote:

“I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and the unwise…I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek,” Roman 1:14-16.

There it is—the solution to man’s sinful condition: the Gospel of Christ.

Mourn the suffering of others
Much suffering and grief exists in this old world, and much of it is right before our eyes. Men, women and children are innocent victims of abuse. Disease and pain confront us all at one time or another. The loss of one’s capability to provide for his family is a common problem. The suffering and death of children cause all of us to grieve. Discrimination and injustice of all kinds are observed.

Jesus commanded us to “love one another” and to “bear one another’s burdens.” He instructed His disciples to “weep with them that weep” [See John 13:34, Galatians 6:2, Romans 12:15].

John Donne once wrote: No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

The Holy Spirit revealed similar thoughts by Paul in Romans 14:7.

“For they shall be comforted”
No one is promised a problem-free life. Mourning is not its own comfort, but though we grieve and weep, a time awaits us in which there will be eternal comfort. Like salt and baking soda in a cake, life includes sorrow. Mourning is for a brief moment in time. In all this, never forget: God’s promises never fail!

Carl B. Garner