Why would one who mourns be blessed and comforted?

Question

Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
-Jesus

Answer 1

Being comforted is the blessing. We mourn for different reasons, and Jesus is able to ease the pain for all of them. If you hold to Him, you will have peace, and that's a blessing.

Answer 2

The blessing that will come to those who are mourning is that they will be comforted. Their mourning need not last forever. In God, they will find the comfort they need. That is a blessing.

Answer 3

"Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

Saint Gregory of Nyssa taught that the Beatitudes built one upon another. Thus if we are humble and appreciate that all of our gifts and blessings come from God, we grow in love and gratitude for Jesus Christ our Savior. But this can only produce mourning and regret over our own sins and the sins of this world, for we have hurt the one who has been so good to us.

Answer 4

Personally, I don't see the difficulty.
If you lost your best friend in death, would you care to carry on alone, or have someone try to comfort you...as you mourned.
Although, Jesus was referring to those who mourn because of the terrible things happening on the earth.
He said they would be comforted ....meaning, there is hope.

Answer 5

If you are not mourning, you do not need to be comforted.

Answer 6

Hi!

Because God loves us and will comfort us in our grief..... He doesn't leave me very long... and I am sure it is the same with others..... He is always right there .... and if you draw very close to Him, He keeps you there..... God is Love


Peace and Love

Answer 7

love thy neighbor

Answer 8

because Jesus says, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Jesus is not speaking of those mourning those who have died. He is speaking of those who have seen their spiritual poverty. I say this flows from the first and you can see why, can you not? A man who sees his spiritual poverty, realizes how far short of the glory of God he has fallen. He sees what he ought to receive from God and then realizes what a wretch, what a worm, what a sinful creature he is, and he mourns. He sees further what afflictions his sin has thrown him into-the harm his sin has done to his own life and the lives of those around him, and he mourns. Even as a Christian, one who has trusted in Jesus Christ alone as his only hope of salvation, he mourns-he mourns for the lost and for his remaining sin; he mourns for the church and its still too sinful condition. Yes, he mourns at the death of a loved one, but his mourning is more profound than mere self-pity or the sense of loss. Rather death is mourned because of the death sin has brought upon the world. Think of Jesus at Lazarus's grave. He mourned, but we do not understand him rightly if we do not see this as a result of despair or a sense of missing Lazarus or regret that he did not come to heal him-no! He mourned because of the harm the sin of Adam and his posterity had done to this pitiful creature, man, and those he loved especially (Mary and Martha). Perhaps the sense Jesus has in mind is best summed up by Psalm 119:136.

Have you ever mourned over your sin and the sin of the world? Have you ever seen the offense your own iniquity is to God? How a gracious Creator has lovingly formed you in the womb of your mother and then caused her to give birth, ever seen that he has provided you with life and breath and all things? And have you seen how profound your sin is in that it offends this holy and just God, that you are like the child who sits on Daddy's lap and slaps him in the face or spits on his chest in disgust at him? Or have you ever considered that this world of humanity will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ and that the vast majority of them will be cast into hell for all eternity for their hatred and sin against the Almighty? And what of your own appointment at that own judgment seat? When the book of life is opened, will your name be there? What Jesus is telling us in this second beatitude is this: that the one who truly is his disciple will understand all of this, especially his own sin and it will move him to grief, grief for his own sin and grief over the lost and broken condition of his fellow man. The heart that is broken over such sin and its devastating effect is the heart of Jesus given by his grace to the one who has seen his spiritual poverty and has nought but tears to give in return. And if you do not have such a broken heart, how can you possibly be his disciple, how can you possibly call yourself a Christian believer?

Now it seems again a contradiction, even more here, to say that one who mourns is blessed or happy. But Christ says it is so, and why? Because such a one is comforted. He mourns for his own sin, but he is comforted to know of the mercy and grace and forgiveness of Christ. He mourns for the afflictions he suffers because of his sin, but he is comforted to know that God works all things together for good to those who love him and are the called according to his purpose. He mourns for the calamities sin brings upon others, but is comforted to know that God can bring good to them by his mercy, especially as that mercy is revealed in the gospel. And he mourns for the calamities of sin in his own life, but he is comforted by the sympathy of his High Priest, Jesus Christ who prays for him and supports and bears him up. The one who mourns will not always do so. He will find ultimate consolation in his Saviour and in heaven-and here we simply want to note the future tense, they shall/will be comforted. We who serve Christ do not mourn and will not mourn without hope and a promise of relief from our sorrow. When we see him we shall be like him, and his hand shall wipe every tear from our eyes. Sorrow and sighing will flee away.

And perhaps no statement so sums up what Christ is speaking about when he speaks of comfort, better than the answer to the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism: Question 1: What is your only comfort in life and in death? Answer 1: That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and redeemed me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that all things must work together for my salvation. Wherefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live unto Him. And I simply ask you this morning, do you know something of this only comfort in life and will you know it in death?