The Blessing Nobody Wants (Matthew 5:4)

The second beatitude may be the strangest sentence in the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."Matthew 5:4 English - ESV Every other value system on earth calls the mourners unlucky. Jesus calls them blessed, not because grief is good, but because of what grief is finally allowed to receive.

The word for mourn, penthountes, is not mild disappointment. It is funeral grief, the kind you cannot hide. And Jesus leaves its object open. Those grieving their own losses, yes; but in Isaiah 61, the passage this beatitude echoes, the mourners are grieving Zion's ruin Isaiah 61:1-3 English - ESV, heartbroken over how far the world is from God. The blessing falls on eyes that refuse to look away.

The logic runs on a quiet passive voice: they shall be comforted. Comforted by whom? It is the divine passive; God himself will do it. The mourner's blessing is not that grief feels good but that grief is the one door consolation can actually enter. The person who will not mourn cannot be

Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem. The city whose ruin Isaiah 61 has its mourners grieving over.

comforted. There is nothing open in them.

This is the second rung of a staircase that begins with poverty of spirit. First you run out of your own resources; then you grieve honestly over the gap; and in this kingdom grief is met, not managed. Isaiah's promise stands behind the sentence: a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning.

So the beatitude is not a command to be sad. It is permission to stop pretending. In a culture of relentless fine-ness, Jesus blesses the people who tell the truth about what hurts, and signs a promise over them: they, specifically, shall be comforted. The ones who never mourn are left holding their own composure. The mourners get God. Matthew 5:4 English - ESV Isaiah 61:3 English - ESV

Matthew 5 Berean Standard Bible - Bob Souer