Week of September 29th

     The Beatitudes are beautiful words, but what do they mean?  Furthermore, what do they mean for our own spirituality?  I will begin a series, answering these very questions.  Let's begin by looking at the text:

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

The word "mourn" means to lament.  It was used in the context of lamenting for the dead.  The word is used in Mark 16:10 of the disciples who mourned and wept after Christ's crucifixion.  It is used in Luke 6:25 of grief that should consume one's whole being.  The question that comes to mind is this:  What are we to weep over as     believers?  If you look at Scripture, apart from the obvious uses of the word in the context of physical death, there is a godly sorrow that should be expressed in the context of sin---either in our life or that of another person's life.  Paul talked of a godly sorrow that always accompanies true repentance (II Cor. 7:10).  Is it not the truly humble, the poor in spirit, that mourn?  We mourn when God's will falls short in our life or that of another's.  Jesus wept over Jerusalem's rebellion and Samuel wept over Saul's (I Sam. 15:10).  There is of course another kind of mourning that is not sin related.  When we are persecuted of the sake of righteousness (Matt. 5:10), we are not to worry.  We can expect God to comfort us during such times.  The Greek word for "comfort" is "parakalew".  It is a word that is used in a similar form of the Holy Spirit (parakletos).  The Holy Spirit, Jesus says, is our comforter, our helper in time of need (Joh 14:16,26).  The word has the idea of being encouraged or to cheer up.  In II Cor. 1:4, this word is used 4 times meaning "to comfort". So regardless of the reason for our mourning, when we are desiring His working in our lives, we can expect Him to come to our aid for divine comfort. 

     Take time to ponder over this for the week.