Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.2”(ESV)
The connection to verse three, which reveals our empty offering before the Lord, leads us to feel the emotional weight and gap created by sin. This realization and result is the mourning of sin and for the chasm our actions have created between you and me and a Holy God. Such awareness breaks our hearts and causes us to mourn the harsh penalty of our choices. This sorrow is so deep that it recognizes its own guilt and the penalty of eternal separation.
With the heart in that position, Jesus declares, “Blessed.” You shall be comforted. Only Jesus can provide through His grace, mercy, and His favor.
To illustrate, 2 Samuel 11 recounts the story of the warrior king David, who chose to stay at home while his army went to war. While off duty, he saw Bathsheba bathing and called her to himself. Sin followed, and Bathsheba would send word that she was pregnant. David’s troubles deepened as he sent Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband and one of his key soldiers, to the front lines, ensuring his likely death. Uriah was killed fulfilling his duty to protect David and Israel. David then took Bathsheba as his wife, in an attempt to deceive the people and hide his sin. However, God saw everything and sent the prophet Nathan to confront David.
Nathan doesn’t jump right in; he tells David a story. There is a rich man with more than enough flocks, herds, and everything he could want. There is a poor man with just one little ewe lamb. He raised it like a daughter. It ate from his table, drank from his cup, and slept in his arms. Then a traveler comes. The rich man, unwilling to give from his own abundance, takes the poor man’s lamb. He slaughters it and serves it to his guest. Leaving the poor man with nothing.
David’s response is immediate and volcanic. Burning with anger, he says, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. He shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and had no pity.2“ 2 Samuel 12:5–6 (ESV)
David recognizes the injustice immediately. Without hesitation, he is ready to act and execute judgment on the spot.
Then Nathan says four words that would send chills down David’s spine:
“You are the man.2“ 2 Samuel 12:7a (ESV)
It was a gut punch, a wake-up call. Whatever you may personally call it, this was the moment David had dreaded and had lost sleep over. The day the truth would be revealed. You have likely experienced smaller versions of these moments of exposure and mourning over our sin. The guilt weighs like an invisible burden.
This is what Jesus highlights in the Beatitudes: first, our spiritual poverty; then, the mourning from the emptiness sin leaves behind.
A heavy reminder that sin always has a victim.
So, how are you seeing sin in your life?
Do you mourn over it or brush over it?
Blessed are those who mourn. Remember, it is our sin that separates us from Him.
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