"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."I've been mulling this one over all week, and I'm just wondering, is this simply an assurance of ultimate comfort for those who mourn, or is it a statement about--an assessment of--the life of the mourner?
Do you understand what I mean? I'm thinking these blessed are statements are not exactly promises, are they? They are something more like divine assessments.
When Mary's sister Elizabeth said to her, "Blessed are you among women," it was this kind of assessment. Prior to that, when the angel of the Lord said to her, "Greetings, oh favored one, the Lord is with you," it was another way of saying the same thing. "Blessed are you."
Similarly, in Psalm 1, which says the man who walks not in the way of the wicked is blessed, this is not a statement about rewards in the future for good behavior now. It doesn't say, "He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water," but he is like that tree.
So you see the difference here? In the case of "blessed are those who mourn," Jesus may not simply be saying someday their mourning will be replaced by joy, or that there will be blessed comfort forever in the great by-and-by, but he's saying that those who mourn--those who are able to mourn--are blessed. Just like Mary was blessed by carrying the savior in her womb, and yet Simeon could say to her, "and a sword shall pierce your heart also." Blessed, yes, but your heart shall break. Broken-hearted, yes, but blessed nevertheless.
You see how none of this has anything to do with the great by-and-by? "Blessed" is more than a promise. It's a divine assessment of the the poor in spirit, the broken-hearted, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, etc.
"They shall be comforted." That is promise. "Blessed are." That is an assessment.
Now if I am right about this, then I have to ask, what's so blessed about mourning? Secondly, everyone mourns, sooner or later. Does that mean everyone is "blessed" in the eyes of God?
I'll take up these questions in the next "Processing the Kingdom" post.
3 comments:
Perhaps part of the blessed state is the possession of the promise. Mary was blessed as she would give birth. The Psalmist is blessed because well watered trees are great. I don't know, just thinking along with you. I don't think the promise can necessarily be disassociated from the assessment.
I think that's very true, Jeff. "The possession of the promise" is a present blessing. But I'm also wondering if there is a quality of the heart that on the one hand produces mourning, and on the other hand that is a quality that God wants to bless, or rises from the blessing of our union with Christ.
Thanks for the feedback.
Looking back over that comment I would change one word: "a quality of the heart that enables mourning" is what I should have said. That's the thought I'm aiming at--Jesus wants to enable us to mourn. That's the thought I'll be investigating in the next post in this series.
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