If someone other than Jesus had spoken the second Beatitude, they would be accused of writing cheerful graffiti on the tomb of a person’s suffering. But it was Jesus who pronounced mourners blessed, so we have to wrestle with His words.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
You have most certainly heard the expression, “the five stages of grief.” This stems from a book by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying.
People who are facing their own death often bounce back and forth between denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. People who walk with their loved ones through the end stages of life also experience these states of grief.
While death and dying are the most prominent sources of grief, people can also mourn the loss of a job, physical abilities, a divorce, moving away from friends, the breakdown of society, just to name a few.
In his book The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker addressed how grief and mourning are behind many of our choices, whether conscious or unconscious.
To summarize Becker’s thesis: To cope, we subconsciously construct cultural “immortality projects” to give our lives enduring meaning. Therefore, the unconscious desire to deny death ultimately drives almost all human behavior and societal conflict.
Jesus enters the discussion with a simple message: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
With the five stages of grief and the unconscious drive to deny our death in mind, what can we learn from Jesus?
The people who followed Jesus up the mountain to hear the Sermon on the Mount had already heard His message that the kingdom of God is near. They knew they needed to change how they think and act because of this. The message about blessing those who mourn speaks directly to those gathered with Jesus.
How does being part of God’s kingdom change the way we mourn? First, we know we have a home in heaven and understand that this earth isn’t our final destination.
One of the most touching moments I’ve had as a pastor was visiting a woman with an incurable form of pneumonia. She was on a ventilator, had a tablet, and was conscious enough to write. She wrote, “I’m ready to go.”
We were waiting for the doctor to come and remove the ventilator so she could pass peacefully. The doctor, his nurse, family members, and I all prayed together. We then sang Amazing Grace, disconnected her ventilator, and in a few moments, she passed away.
She was ready because she was a member of God’s kingdom. She didn’t feel the need to cling to life because she believed in a better one waiting for her.
That story is touching, but I have many more I could share. Here’s something I’ve learned: people who live as part of God’s kingdom and experience His amazing power tend to face death more easily than those without a relationship with the Lord.
Paul explained the difference between those living in God’s kingdom and those who choose to live apart from it. There is a hope that comforts us during times of death.
“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
There is so much more to say about how blessed those who mourn are because God comforts them, but I need to stop here and move on to the next Beatitude.
Meek — Not Weak
All the Beatitudes can be misunderstood because Jesus turns our world upside down with them. A good example is the next Beatitude:
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).
Jerry Clower was a Christian comedian from Yazoo City, Mississippi. In college, he played football and faced a strong, powerful man on the opposing team who was also a preacher. During one play, this preacher drove Clower into the dirt.
Before the next play, Clower looked across the line and said, “Hey, I thought you were a preacher.” The preacher replied, “Yes, I am. The Bible says, ‘Blessed are the meek; they will inherit the earth.’“
Clower got a lot of laughs from telling that story. The message seemed to be that the strong can defeat the meek, leaving them in the dirt.
But Jesus says that in His kingdom, the meek—those who are humble or have been humbled—have a special place. The world may push them down, but God lifts them up.
One of the most encouraging verses in the Bible is in Isaiah, where God talks to people who follow Him but have been neglected, oppressed, vulnerable, abused, and broken. In other words, they are the meek of the world.
For thus says the high and lofty one
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place
and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble
and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57:15)
The meek often get overlooked or put down by society. However, those who rely on the Lord can be sure that He knows them. They might be unknown here on earth, but they are famous in heaven.
Here’s another example of how the Kingdom of God turns our world upside down. Those who mourn, the meek, and even the poor, as we saw in yesterday’s article, are blessed by God because they belong to Him.
They’re embraced by His power and live according to His rules. None of us do this perfectly, but when we follow His ways, we experience His blessings.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 