Eight blessings (2):
The blessing of those who mourn
[Matthew 5:4]
What or who comforts you when you are sad and heartbroken? In Robert Strand's book, ‘The Spirituality of Comfort,’ in the foreword, Henry Nouwen says, 'The care of the soul is being with you (Strand). How many people around us need this kind of care? There must be at least one or two people around us who desperately need a comforter who prays to God as an intercessor and a ministry of comfort that weeps together when we cry together with the love of Christ. But personally, I think that when we are suffering and lonely, we also need to refuse to be comforted by those around us. The reason is to realize that God wants to be with us. The reason is to remind us again that only God is the true Comforter of our souls.
We have already read Matthew 5:1-12 and meditated on the blessing of the poor in spirit, the first of the Beatitudes that Jesus taught. If we review the meditated words again, it is that the poor in spirit are those who are spiritually poor, that is, those who feel spiritual need, and the blessing they receive is the kingdom of heaven. Here, we should not think of the blessing of heaven as only a concept of place and time, but think of it from the perspective of the Lord, the King of kings who rules and reigns over the kingdom of God. In other words, we learned that we should not think of the kingdom of heaven only as a place we will enter after we die. But we must remember that the individual saints, their families, and the church they serve are also heaven and the kingdom of God. We have learned three things about who the poor in spirit, that is, those who feel spiritual need, who receive this heavenly blessing: (1) Those who feel spiritual need know that they are unable to help and that there is no one to help but God. (2) Those who feel spiritual need are the ones who are persecuted by the arrogant because they lead a life opposite to the arrogant before God. (3) Those who feel spiritual need are those who are heartbroken over their sins and repent. In particular, in this third part, there is a Bible verse we need to meditate on again. This is what the Bible Psalms 34:18 and 51:17 say: “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (34:18), “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (51:17). The reason we meditate on these two verses again is because they have to do with the second blessing we will meditate on today, the blessing of those who mourn (Mt.5:4).
Look at Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Do you remember when you looked back on your life and cried (weeping) because it was so sad and painful? If so, then why did you weep so much? What was the reason? In Jerusalem, Israel, as we are familiar with it, there is a place called the “Wailing Wall”. Do you know why the name is Wailing Wall? The Wailing Wall is said to be the most holy place among the Jews. The official name of the wall is “Western Wall” and the reason it is called the Wailing Wall is because there is a story behind it. The story is that after the temple built by King Solomon was burnt down twice by Roman soldiers. The remaining wall was the western wall, and the Romans expelled the Jews to prevent them from returning to Jerusalem. They were sold into slavery in the Middle East and scattered for about 1,870 years, becoming a nomadic people who traveled from one country to another (Diaspora). After that, when Jerusalem came under Byzantine rule, the Jews begged to grant their one wish, that they could gather at the 'Western Wall', the only relic of Solomon's Temple, to worship at least once a year. This petition was eventually granted, and Jews from all over the world gathered every year to worship at the 'Western Wall' in August, when the temple was destroyed, and couldn’t help but cry as they thought about their fate. In particular, the western wall was the place where Abraham, the ancestor of the Jews, wanted to sacrifice his son Isaac according to God's command, and the place where King Solomon built the temple. It is said that the annual Jerusalem worship service at the western wall had no choice but to reach the Wailing Sea. But the reason to weep even more is that the temple built by King Solomon was gone, but there were two large mosques. From the point of view of the Jews, there could be no reason to weep. After World War II, East Jerusalem with the “Wailing Wall” belonged to Jordan, and Muslims banned even the annual Jewish worship here. So Jews were not allowed to set foot there for 19 years from 1948 to 1967. Then, when the ‘Six Day War’ broke out in 1967, the Israeli army dispatched special paratroopers to take over the ‘Wailing Wall’. It is said that it is because of the “Wailing Wall” here that Israel does not yield to the East Jerusalem Bay even if it dies, even though Israel has re-released the ‘Sinai Peninsula’, ‘Gaza Strip’ and ‘West Bank’ that it occupied in this war. So, before Israel's independence, Jews say they greeted each other when they parted: ‘Next year in Jerusalem.’ This greeting means ‘See you next year at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem’ (Internet). As I learned more from this Wailing Wall, I remembered when the foundation of God's temple in Jerusalem was laid (Ezra 3:8, 10), the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud (v. 12). I thought about why the older priests, Levites, and the family heads wept aloud while may other shouted with joy (v. 12). This thought came to me: ‘If the 38th parallel that divides North and South Korea is broken and South and North Korea are reunited, then the older people who have been through the Korean War will shed tears of emotion. But the younger generations who have not experienced the Korean War will shout with joy.’
As I look back on my life, I think there was only one time when I cried out loud. At that time, as I wept, I thought that people might run out of breath. I cried so loudly that it took my breath away. The reason I wept and cried so much at that time was because my first baby, Charis, who I held for the first time and last time, died in my arms. Even after that, the reason I was sad and heartbroken thinking about my first child was because I thought that the baby's death was due to my own sins. The words that came to mind at that time were the stories in 2 Samuel 12. In verse 14 of God's message to David by sending the prophet Nathan after David had betrayed, Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a loyal soldier, verse 14 says: “But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.” And as promised, David's child died on the seventh day (v. 18). So, as a result of my sins, I had no choice but to weep loudly as I thought that my first child Charis had died.
But isn't it interesting? In today's text, Matthew 5:4, Jesus is saying that blessed are those who mourn. Those who mourn whom Jesus is talking about here refer to those who mourn and suffer for their sins against God, and those who are contrite for their own sins (Park). The Apostle Paul referred to this contrition as God's sorrow in 2 Corinthians 7:10. And he said that sorrow and mourning according to God's will accomplish repentance that leads to salvation. Such mourning is different from worldly mourning (v. 10). Worldly mourning does not produce repentance that leads to salvation. That is why Paul said that he was glad that he had grieved them in a letter to the Corinthians. What was the reason? Look at 2 Corinthians 7:9a – “yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. ….” The reason Paul rejoiced that he grieved the Corinthian church members by letter was that their sorrow led to repentance. This is God's intention to give us mourning. This is to mourn according to God's will (v. 9b). I remember the lyrics of the hymn “My Soul in Sad Exile” verse 1: “My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea, So burdened with sin and distressed, Till I heard a sweet voice saying ‘Make me your choice’; And I entered the ‘Heaven of Rest.’” Although I don't fully understand the lyrics, one thing that is certain is this: It is our own sins that we too have to worry about in this world. Because of our sins, our hearts are heavy and we cannot help but suffer. And I think that this kind of heaviness and suffering is God's grace and blessing. The reason is that when our hearts are heavy and troubled because of our sins, we can humbly look to Jesus, who shed His blood on the cross, with faith. As we look at Jesus who died on the cross, we will mourn and not repent. In fact, how many times have we habitually confessed and repented of our sins to God, without any burden or pain in our hearts, because we so lightly regard our sins? I met a person a while ago and after talking for about 4 hours, I wrote this post on my personal website thinking about that person the next day: ‘A life at the bottom, a hard and weary life, a life with many tears, a life that has lost the will to live, a life with no future in sight, a dark and dark life, a life with no hope to live, return to the Lord ....’ In fact, from the point of view of unbelievers, that person is living a life of the bottom line, with no hope of living. In other words, from the world's point of view, the person would have no choice but to say that he met a crisis in his life. But I told him that this crisis is an opportunity. What kind of opportunity? This is his opportunity to return to the Lord. When I think of that beloved soul, I remembered the words of Psalms 32:4 – “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; ….” Just as the psalmist David said that after he sinned against God, when he didn’t confessed his sin and repent, the hand of the Lord was on him day and night, it occurred to me that the Lord is pressing upon him to turn to Him to repent of his sins and return to Him. Therefore, this pressing of the Lord is a blessing. It is God's grace and blessing that our hearts are heavy because the Lord presses upon us.
Then, what is the blessing of those who mourn that Jesus is talking about in Matthew 5:4? That blessing is “comforted”. Look at Matthew 5:4 again: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Blessed are those who mourn for their sins. That blessing is comfort. So, what comfort is Jesus talking about here? That comfort is the forgiveness of sins and the comfort of salvation (MacArthur). Look at Isaiah 40:1-2: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.” The blessing received by those who mourn for their sins is comfort, and the comfort is the forgiveness of their sins. So the psalmist David said in Psalms 32:1-2: “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed are those who are not condemned by God. It is by the grace of God that we who believe in Jesus have our sins forgiven in Jesus Christ, and we are free from condemnation by God. Look at Romans 8:1-2: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” There is no condemnation for us, who have been justified through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:16). In Jesus Christ, all our sins are forgiven, and there is no more condemnation for us. We are set free from all our sins. We are no longer slaves to sin. We are the Lord's servants and servants of righteousness. Nevertheless, there are countless times when we sin against God because we live for the world (the kingdom of Satan) and the injustices of this world rather than seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Each time we have to lose heart to ourselves because of the sins we have committed against God. When we look at ourselves, the sins we practice over and over can even make us feel hopeless. But the indwelling Holy Spirit makes us yearn for the Lord in that despair. Why? The reason is that our Lord is a God who comforts the downcast (2 Cor.7:6). Therefore, the Holy Spirit comforts us by making us look to the God who comforts those who are downcast. The Holy Spirit pierces our conscience with the sword of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and not only makes us aware of our sins, but also allows us to confess our sins. And the Holy Spirit makes us mourn and repent. As a result, we believe that our sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ and give us the assurance that we have been forgiven by God. Therefore, even if we fall seven times, the Lord will give us the grace to raise us up again (Prov. 24:16).
Today we received a message from Jesus. The message is, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Mt.5:4). What should we do? Let's all sing the hymn “Hover O’er me, Holy Spirit” our earnest prayer, and let's all sing praises to God together: (v.1) Hover o'er me, Holy Spirit, Bathe my trembling heart and brow; Fill me with Thy hallowed presence, Come, O come and fill me now. (v. 2) Thou canst fill me, gracious Spirit, Though I cannot tell Thee how; But I need Thee, greatly need Thee, Come, O come and fill me now. (v. 3) I am weakness, full of weakness, At Thy sacred feet I bow; Blest, divine, eternal Spirit, Fill with pow'r, and fill me now. (v. 4) Cleanse and comfort, bless and save me, Bathe, O bathe my heart and brow; Thou art comforting and saving, Thou art sweetly filling now. (Chorus) Fill me now, fill me now, Jesus, come and fill me now; Fill me with Thy hallowed presence; Come, O come and fill me now. Amen.