The Mourners

 

[Jesus said] “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4 ESV).

 

Grief is universal. We have all tasted the bitter pain of saying good-bye to a loved one who has died. Maybe you have shed tears at the funeral of your spouse, or you have endured the unimaginable pain of burying a child. That walk through the valley of the shadow of death may have been last month or many years ago, but the ache never goes away. It always stays with us even when we understand the great power of the resurrection. I have both experienced that grief and worked with many people who also have found themselves as mourners.

 

Unfortunately people don’t always know what to do with those who mourn. Well-meaning folks may try to minimize the pain by using trite phrases or empty words. We might sentimentalize death, or deny the finality of it. Jesus cautions us that denying our pain is a dead-end road that offers little comfort.

 

However, in the new kingdom under the rule of Jesus, mourning is a reminder of comfort. Jesus himself, when confronted with the reality of the grave, wept (cf. John 11). He mourned. He grieved. And he grieves with us in the loss of a spouse, child, or other loved one. He stands alongside us in our pain, and he sheds tears with us.

 

But that’s not all. Jesus came not only to shed tears; he came to shed his blood. He faced death squarely, submitted himself to it, and conquered it. Because he triumphed over death, we can be assured that one day we will live in a world without disease, mourning, or cemeteries. Knowing that Jesus has overpowered death offers us comfort when we mourn. That same passage I referred to earlier gives us this incredible comfort and hope:

 

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:21-26 ESV).

 

This is our comfort as well!