BLESSED ARE (PART 2)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

Matthew 5:4

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”

Luke 6:21b

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Blessed are.

It’s the theme of a nine part series drawn from the Beatitudes, the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We saw in yesterday’s devotion, that indeed it was a sermon as Jesus began teaching and providing guidance to all those gathered, and indeed it was on a mount as Jesus had gone up onto the mountainside from which He addressed those present. The scriptures told us that it was a large audience composed of people from “all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon” (Luke 6:17b).

As He began to teach, Jesus led with the two words mentioned as the theme for this series:

“Blessed are” and in the context of yesterday’s devotion those who are poor in spirit would be blessed for theirs would be the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). Leading with the word “blessed”, Jesus was trying to convey that those having a certain life experience (like being poor in spirit in the case of the first Beatitude) will be happy (the translation of the Greek word “makarios”).

With this as a refresher, let’s look at the second Beatitude proclaimed by Jesus during His sermon:

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  Matthew 5:4

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”  Luke 6:21b

Have you ever experienced the pain of losing a loved one?

I know I have as three grandparents, my father, my mother-in-law, and four brothers-in-law, one of which committed suicide. The longer you live, the more you seem to deal with the reality of mortality and no matter how many times you become connected with death, it never seems to get any easier to deal with.

Maybe you can relate.

This is why today’s Beatitude is so important for us. For it is addressing a matter universal to everyone, a common element of the human experience. It’s not a matter of if death is going to happen but rather when and when it does come, there will nearly always be a fallout where those near and dear to the deceased are left in the wake of grief and mourning.

It’s in those times that we can turn to the words of Jesus and gain encouragement. For we know His words are always perfectly true and in Matthew’s account, He is assuring anyone who is in the midst of grief and sorrow that they WILL be comforted and through that comforting they will be blessed or happy. Indeed, there is joy found when we experience relief and consolation in times of need. Looking at Luke’s account, we find Jesus even adding that those who weep will soon find their way to a place where they can once again laugh, blessed by the peace and solace they experience from the Lord during their times of heartache and anguish.

Yes, death is real and, yes, when people die, others are left to deal with the finality of it all, that their loved one is no longer going to be with them in this world. Because of this, we need to have something to counteract our grieving and mourning and that something is the comfort we are guaranteed by not only the word, but the action of the Lord.

For Jesus said:

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  Matthew 5:4

Allow these words to bring healing when death connects to your life in some way.

Tomorrow, we look at how the meek are blessed in part three of this series.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com