Blessed are those who Mourn

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

When first reading this verse it may seem like it is saying that Jesus will comfort those who are mourning the death of a loved one. Though this is true, this verse means so much more than that. It is referring to spiritual mourning. Spiritual mourning could be the mourning of our sins or mourning for the Kingdom.

Mourning is an expression of deep sorrow for someone who has died. When we sin we are separated from God so we are spiritually dead. When we mourn our sins we are mourning the spiritual death of ourselves. We mourn our sins because we feel deeply convicted for what we have done and we desperately want to return to God. The Holy Spirit convicts us so that we will repent and turn back to Jesus. Jesus promises he will comfort us when we mourn our sins.

We can also mourn for the Kingdom. This could range from seeing a good person make a bad choice to seeing someone reject Jesus. We should feel mournful when we see something unrighteous happening. Sometimes there isn’t anything we can do about it which makes us feel worse. Jesus will comfort us in this.

To be comforted is to have your grief relieved. Jesus relieves us of our grief that is caused by our sins. He forgives us and loves us unconditionally. He will bring us back to him no matter what we have done. He comforts us when we mourn our sins so that we can be redeemed and walk with him again. Jesus also comforts us when we mourn for the Kingdom. When we see an unrighteous act take place and it makes us feel terrible, Jesus will comfort us.

Even though Jesus does comfort us when we are mourning the death of a loved one, that isn’t necessarily what he is referring to in this verse. He is referring to the mourning of our sins and mourning for the Kingdom of God.