“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:4-5)
Mourning is a necessary expression of grief over loss, whether of a loved one, a tragedy or personal sin. It involves physiological and psychological reactions like weeping, fasting, and wearing sackcloth and ashes. It is not just a cultural or religious ritual but a spiritual act that turns the heart toward God for comfort and brings hope through the promise of divine presence and ultimate restoration in the afterlife. All humans mourn. Most humans do not mourn well. Mourning, we learn from Scripture, must be done in connection with God to find both meaning and solace.
Meekness is the counterintuitive quality of having power under control, characterized by humility, teachability and submission to God’s will, rather than weakness or timidity. A truly meek person, like a huge but gentle draft horse that has been broken-in, is strong but disciplined. By relying on God rather than their own strength, the meek can willingly yield their desires to God’s plan. In strongly individualistic cultures like our own, meekness is scorned and mocked. The proud person naturally tries to project strength or beauty that they briefly possess, to appear “better” than they really are. This facade, however, is the “fig-leaf” affect that our first-sinning ancestors Adam and Eve employed, and is naturally intuitive to our nature as humans.
Both mourning and meekness, as Jesus frames them in the Sermon on the Mount, don’t naturally make sense at first glance: “BLESSED (happy, fulfilled, contented) are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. BLESSED are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” How can this be? How can mourning deliver this desirable state of blessedness?
For example with the verse on mourning, this teaching would sound hollow to the wife who has just lost a husband or child on September 11, 2001. It would be in poor taste to try to comfort someone with “You are going to be so blessed to get to spend the rest of your life WITHOUT your husband and child … JUST WAIT AND SEE! JESUS PROMISED YOU THIS!” There is no way that this kind of meaning can be forced on the text. A tragedy like this is another unfolding of Adam’s curse — sin actualized in the human storyline. This is NOT the mourning Jesus is referring to in Matthew 5:4!
Instead, Jesus is talking about a very specific type of mourning. The context gives us the clue. Look at the first beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” When we recognize that we are personally bankrupt, and worthless in and of ourselves to be or to do anything of significance or eternal worth, THEN AND ONLY THEN are we ready to participate in the Kingdom of God. When we recognize we are nothing without God, then, and only then, can He begin to use us! The same focus away from self and onto God is projected onto the beatitude about mourning. It is only when we grieve over our broken and helpless personal state, that we can gain the capacity to be fully comforted by God’s grace. If I think that “I’m a pretty good person,” and “I have a lot to offer to God,” I lose all accurate and Godly perspective as to who I really am! Jesus and Scripture clearly expose all humans as broken sinners, selfish in every inclination, consuming the very resources of a gracious God while boasting that they themselves are the source. But when the Spirit of God in His grace, shows us our actual spiritual bank account balance, we recognize that we are POOR IN SPIRIT, and then we MOURN!
What comes next is a comfort that is inexplicably “gospel” in its application. We are comforted by the very presence of Christ. We begin to abide in Him instead of ourselves. (John 15:5) Paul would explain years later to the Colossian believers that “you have been given FULLNESS in Christ.” (Colossians 2:10)
Which takes us to the third beatitude of meekness. When we recognize our spiritual bankruptcy, Jesus merges His limitless account with ours. When we grieve over our sinful condition and choose to abide in Him in desperation, we experience a fullness beyond description, and a comfort that transcends time and language. Peter captures this well in his second letter, chapter one, “His divine power has given you everything you need for life and godliness through your relational knowledge of Him who called you by His own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3)
Paul said it even more profoundly: “When I am weak, then I am STRONG.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Meekness is power under control. It is NOT weakness under control. Beatitude one and two clarify that we are not the source of anything. We then realize that we are entrusted with a limitless resource, comfort and power found in God alone. Then Adam’s curse is broken in our lives, and we are made fit to wear the clothes of meekness.
Consider Jesus. He spoke the very UNIVERSE into existence. But when He came to earth as a human, He didn’t go around claiming to be God, pounding His chest, boasting of His power. Why, might you ask!? Simply because of His character. He was meek — the epitome of meekness. He had nothing to boast about because He knew who He was. (John 13:3) Jesus never needed to “power-up,” puff up to impress or try to be something He wasn’t.
Now consider yourself. If you realize you are poor in spirit, if you mourn over your own spiritual condition, then you have full access to the person, power and comfort of the Kingdom of God. You don’t need to pound your chest. You don’t need to boast, power-up or try to impress anyone. You’re God’s child! You too, can be meek like Jesus. As His Kingdom agent (2 Corinthians 5:20), watch Jesus receive His inheritance — all the kingdoms of the earth. (Psalm 2:8)
How is the type of mourning in Matthew 5:4 counterintuitive to our human sin condition?
Why is meekness impossible without a genuine relationship with God through Christ?