Morning for Mourners
The Second Beatitude
Blessed are the mourners, because they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4).
When we hear the word mourn, our thoughts immediately go the emotions of loss that comes when a loved one dies.
This was no truer when Jesus spoke the words than today.
True mourning of a loved one, the release of grief through crying, through remembrances, through talking it out with others (or today through expression over social media) are appropriate and needed means to move to a place where comforting can be accepted—especially the comfort of God, since so many times one of the emotions of mourning is anger at God.
So at one level, this second beatitude from the mouth of Jesus strikes at one of the core realities of being human: we all die and we have those left behind who must confront the loss and come to terms with it.
Without true mourning all that is left is loss, anger, bitterness, and perhaps even desire for revenge.
But with true mourning, however long that process might be, comes acceptance, maybe some wisdom, and—with faith—comfort from God. That God-given comfort is blessing, as so many of us know personally.
The Mourners
But when Jesus referred to the mourners, his vision was much wider. He knew there were many types of death to mourn for, not just loved ones. We mourn for all sorts of losses in our lives, among them hopes, jobs, freedom, physical and mental disabilities.
We mourn over the consequences of sin, our own and others. In other words, we mourn for the human condition and long for something different.
We long for God’s redemption of his creation marred by human evil and sin.
We long for God “to wipe away every tear” that we have shed in mourning and sorrow.
Jesus had all of this in view.
For many of those listening to Jesus, they may have heard Jesus’s words as a direct allusion to Isaiah 61:1-3 (and the Jews probably did):
The spirit of Lord Yahweh is on me because Yahweh anointed me to bear (good) news to the down-trodden, to heal the heart-broken, to proclaim release to captives and freedom to the bound, to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor and the day of recompense of our God, to comfort all the mourners.
“All the mourners” refers to the down-trodden, the heart-broken, the prisoners and bound up.
These were people who saw no way out of their current circumstances, who were in mourning for their very lives and of those around them.
Isaiah saw the day ahead when God’s blessing would comfort those who mourn through the Anointed One, the Messiah. In speaking this beatitude, Jesus announces the fulfillment of Isaiah’s words to his listeners (in Jesus’s inaugural sermon in the Nazareth synagogue in Luke 4, Jesus reads this same passage and announces its fulfillment).
The comfort of God is on the way.
Comfort
When we compare the first beatitude with the second, there are certainly some similarities, but also a major difference. Both (and the ones to come) begin with “Blessed (makarios);” both have a plural article and a single word that describes a group of people (the poor, those who mourn), and both have the word “because (oti).”
But what follows “because” is quite different.
The first beatitude indicates a present tense situation “of them is the kingdom of the heavens” pointing to those who inhabit the kingdom of God. The second beatitude, however, has a passive future tense verb: “because they will be comforted.”
When Jesus speaks “blessed” to the mourners, he is not promising comfort in the present, but comfort in the future.
What do we make of this?
First, Jesus acknowledges with this future tense that mourning may just continue until that future point because the world is a broken place.
Jesus mourned over Jerusalem because he knew they would treat him the same as all those prophets who spoke truth in days past. Jesus himself would experience that very brokenness in the opposition to his teaching, leading to his crucifixion.
Our response to the brokenness (along with Jesus) is sorrow, wailing, sackcloth and ashes, recognizing that this is not how things should be. The mourner longs for wholeness, but keeps mourning (in prayer) until that comfort comes.
The good news for those in the kingdom is that comfort will come.
This verb paraklēthēsontai embeds certainty: they will be comforted, not they might be comforted. Paul put it this way: “I consider the the current sufferings are not worthy of comparison with the glory about to be revealed to us” (Romand 8:18).
Comfort, even glory, is on the way. You can bank on it.
Joy in the Morning
The second beatitude in its brevity encompasses so much of scripture.
The prophets’ announcement of judgment for sin that ends with the redemption of God.
The psalmist’s lament over persecution or suffering that leads to the song of faith that God will rescue.
One of these psalms includes the well-known words, “weeping may last for the night, but shouts of joy in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
Jesus met his death on Good Friday and his followers wept. But God raised him on Easter morning and the rejoicing has never stopped.
We may mourn over so many things, but the God of creation will bring renewal, joy, and wipe every tear away as we hope in him.
An Invitation
Are you interested in learning New Testament Greek? I will be teaching an intensive course with 50 hours of live instruction via Zoom from June to August. Please contact me at jack.painter@gmail.com or go to https://www.rightonmission.org/intro-to-new-testament-greek for more information. I would love to have you!
Observations on the Greek text
Thus far these observations have been free to all readers and free subscribers. Subsequently, they will be available for paid subscribers. Besides observations on the Greek texts that I address, later I plan to add both beginning and advanced Greek instruction for paid subscribers.
Blessed are the mourners, because they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4).
μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται.
In Matthew 5:3, Jesus used the adjective πτοχός (“poor), which was made into a substantive (like a noun) by putting an article in front of it: οἱ πτωχοί. In 5:4, he does the same with a participle. The nom. masc. pl. participle of the verb πενθέω, πενθοῦντες, is by itself the adjective “mourning,” but with an article preceding, οἱ πενθοῦντες it becomes “those who mourn” or “the mourners.”
The term ὅτι must be translated according to context. Often it means “that”, but in the Beatitudes the context indicates “because.” Throughout the New Testament, the context dictates which choice is appropriate.
Speaking of context, the verb used in “they will be comforted,” παρακαλέω, has a very wide range of meaning. Possibilities are: summon, request, demand, invite, provoke, encourage, advocate, exhort, and comfort/console. Only context can help determine the sense. In our case, the connection to Isaiah 61:3 is helpful, because the term in the Greek OT translation of the Hebrew nḥm, “comfort,” is παρακαλέω.
Finally, in the second clause the pronoun αὐτοἰ occurs prior to the verb παρακληθήσονται. Because of the -ονται suffix on the verb (“they”), this pronoun is not actually needed for the clause to make sense. So why is it there? Explicitly stating the pronoun adds emphasis, in this case something like “because they themselves will be comforted.”
I have found myself, yet again, at a crossroads. I revisited this writing to be reminded mourning is a series of good-byes. Saying good-bye to Tim as he took his final breath and the clinical first check then second medical opinion to make sure gone was truly gone...then of course a series of immediate good-byes; husband-less, father-less, grandfather-less, friendless. Now, almost 20 months later another good-bye looms. Comfort has been my constant companion, but so have tears, memories, sadness and way to many decisions I never wanted to make alone. Blessed are those who mourn for their comforter is continually in them, with them and along side them.
I appreciate the reminder on how expansive mourning is, esp the Isaiah connection and the general brokenness of the fallen world that causes mourning. It makes sense this beatitude comes right after the previous. Being poor in spirit is a low place to be (without God) and it can be natural to mourn various things in life when in that state. I think we tend to become more sensitive (in a good way, although hard to bear) when we're poor in spirit, and that leads to lamentation over waste and tragedy however great or small. God's promise of future (and to some degree present) comfort is so needed in such a context, and that's exactly what He gives without delay.