The statement “blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted” was stated by Jesus early in what is commonly referred to as the Sermon on the Mount.  It is one of the first of what are usually referred to as the Beatitudes.  It is a phrase that is often used at funerals and other instances where people are sad or grieving.  And it makes sense if you think about it.  If you are sad(i.e. mourning), this is something that can help to make you feel better(i.e. comforted).  But is that what Jesus was actually saying?

If we look at the statement, we need to break it down a little.  First, the word “blessed” means happy.  In addition, based on its usage, the word “for” effectively means “because.”  It is the response to why something is the way that it is.  With those two starting points in mind, the phrase now looks more like “happy are they that mourn because they shall be comforted.”  That starts to make less sense.  This sounds like people who are currently mourning will be happy because they will be comforted in some manner in the future.  That leads to the following questions:  (1) who is going to comfort them; and (2) what will this comfort look like?

The first question is easy to answer.  Who will comfort the mourner?  God.  This answer is nowhere provided in the beatitudes, but it is implied through many of the results.  The beneficiaries will see God(Matt. 5:8); they will be called sons of God(Matt. 5:9); and theirs is the kingdom of God(Matt. 5:10).  The idea that anyone other than God would provide the blessings that are being enumerated by Jesus would appear to make no sense, as these are all blessings for those who want to be a part of this new kingdom that Jesus was offering to people.

The second question is a little more problematic, but certainly understandable.  The answer to the question of what the comfort will look like will be based on what they are being comforted from mourning over.  So what are they mourning?  For this understanding, we need to take a bit of a step back and look at the beatitudes as a whole.  Matt. 5:3-10 consists of eight verses, each of which begin with “blessed are” and the latter portion of each verse begins with “for they/theirs.”  Each of these statement are effectively saying the people will be happy(i.e. blessed) because .  . . .    (fill in the blank).  If you read each of these from a physical point of view, they are happy because they have a physical, earthly kingdom(5:3), physical comfort from physical woes(5:4), they inherit the physical earth(5:5), they are physically filled(5:6), they obtain physical mercy(5:7), they will see physically God(5:8), they will be called physical sons of God(5:9) and they will receive a physical kingdom of heaven(5:10).  As nice as much of this sounds, it would all be temporary, as physical things do not last.  But what if instead of being physical, they were actually referring to spiritual things?  Spiritual things are eternal, so they last a whole lot longer than physical things.

If all of this is speaking about spiritual things, then the understanding of these verses is far different.  It is important to remember that Jesus was not bring a physical kingdom.  He told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world(meaning a physical kingdom) in John 18:36.  He went on to say that if it were a physical kingdom, His servants would fight to prevent His arrest.  And if the kingdom is not physical, why would all of the blessings that one receives be physical?  I am not suggesting that there are no physical benefits to becoming a member of Jesus’ kingdom, but it would only make sense that most blessings, and certainly the most important blessings, would be spiritual in nature.

With regard to those that mourn, they are not mourning over physical things, like the death of a loved one, but instead they are mourning over spiritual things.  [Note:  This is not to say that they do not mourn over physical things.  They do, according to Paul in I Thess. 4:13.  They just do not mourn as others do.]  And what spiritual things would they be mourning?  They would be mourning over the sins they have committed.  The fact that they had sinned would make them sad.  But how does that work out with regard to being comforted?

How does God provide comfort from sin, or what does that look like?  Well, when we sin(i.e. when we do something contrary to God or something that is ungodly), we separate ourselves from God(which results in death – Rom. 6:23).  And that might not sound that bad, but since God is the Creator and Sustainer of everything, when we separate ourselves from the One who sustains everything, we are effectively separating ourselves from the provider of life itself.  If looked at from a purely physical point of view, that would mean that we would die when we do that.  However, when someone sins, they do not immediately die(physically).  Instead, something much worse happens.  They die spiritually. That is not something that is obvious from a purely physical observation.  You cannot just look at someone and conclude that they are dead(spiritually).  To the untrained eye, the spiritually alive and the spiritually dead are indistinguishable from each other.  But the person who sins is dead, nonetheless.

One of the greatest things about this new kingdom that Jesus was bringing to people was the fact that they could have their sins forgiven; Jesus would be giving life to those who were dead(spiritually).   This is why Jesus told Nicodemus that anyone who believed in Him would not die, but would have eternal life(spiritual, not physical).  And if you think about it, why would you even want an eternal physical life?  People get hurt, sick, etc.  Why would anyone want that forever?  That is why what Jesus was offering was so much better.  He was offering life that is eternal, and it is a life that has a new body which will never have any of the problems that your physical body does(I Cor. 15:51-56).  Again . . . way better!  And this is exactly the comfort that comes from God when you are a part of His kingdom.  He provides the comfort that your sins will be forgiven, that you will be restored to a good relationship with God(no longer separated by sin) and that you will have a life(not physical) that will last forever.  What an incredible comfort that God provides to His people!  This is infinitely better than having a shoulder to cry on when something physically bad happens to us.  None of this is to discount any of the suffering that people experience as a result of physical things, be they the loss of a loved one or a serious diagnosis, etc.  Can God provide comfort in those areas as well?  I would say that yes He does, but that comfort comes from knowing that this life is temporary, and as bad as things may get, we have eternal life with Him to look forward to.  It is that knowledge, that certainty, that can help us to get through any difficulty we might have in this life.  What a blessing, indeed!  Let’s remember to thank God for this, and other, wonderful and amazing blessings that He showers on us each and every day of our lives.