Comfort For The Brokenhearted - Matthew 5:4 Series

Matthew 5:1-12 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you

Review

Would you ever say this to an unbeliever: “If Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead, then you would have to be out of your mind to live like I live”? I have heard Christians say the exact opposite. They are trying to persuade someone to become a Christian and they say, “You might as well, because even if Christianity isn’t even true – the Christian life is still so wonderful. It is a life of joy and happiness and positive things – so you really don’t have anything to lose.”

Living in a country where there is so much wealth and so much comfort and so little persecution is incredibly dangerous, because it lulls us into living lives of such comfort that there is no difference between us and the world. But the real Christian life is a life of voluntarily choosing so much hardship and pain that you would have to be insane to go that way if this life is all there is.

1 Corinthians 15:19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

13 if there is no resurrection … 30 why do we endanger ourselves every hour? … 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

Paul made decisions in his life because of his faith that resulted in so much suffering that only a madman would live that way if this life is all there is. So if you and I are living in a way that does not bring us any suffering, we are not living the Christian life. In this age, the citizens of the kingdom of heaven mourn.

We are studying the second beatitude.

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

That language is taken from Isaiah 61, and the primary idea there is the mourning of repentance. So we talked about that last time. However I think Jesus intended the application of this beatitude to extend beyond just the mourning of repentance. Jesus states this in a very general way. And if you read the beatitudes in Luke’s gospel you find them stated in a different form.

Luke 6:21 Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh 25 ... Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

In Luke’s account the emphasis is on the reversal that will take place in the age to come. Things are one way now and will be the opposite then.

And in this present age, the godly weep while the ungodly laugh. Here the focus is not limited as much to the weeping of repentance – although that is part of it; but here the scope widens, I believe, to encompass all the weeping that is associated with being one of God’s children in this present age. All the suffering and sorrow that the people of God experience because they are the people of God.

Wailing Wall

To belong to God in this age means to have special suffering. One of the most famous sites in Israel is a place called the Wailing Wall. That is not the Jewish name for it – they just call it the West Wall of the Temple. But it has become known by those outside Israel as the Wailing Wall because it is the place where the Jews gather and weep and wail and mourn over the destruction of the Temple. Can you think of any other people group in the world that is known for their wailing? It should not come as any surprise that it is the chosen people of God who are famous for their mourning. That has been true of the Jewish people, and it is also true of the Church.