Rev Jake – blessed are those that mourn.

I read this latest installment when Dad sent via email.

I listened to my Dad deliver it via Skype which you can see below.

I read it again and let it sink in.

Some great words here.  Thanks Mom for the inspiration on this one and Dad for putting this together.

Matthew 5: 4: “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN, FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED.”

Leona recently cited these poignant words, spoken by Jesus, part of the Beatitudes, the series of blessings given men in response to their various conditions and life styles…

Why would you bless the mourners rather than those who seem to be celebrating life?

Jesus is obviously contrasting the passing pleasures of the present life with the eternal glories of the life to come. In Luke’s gospel Abraham wisely admonishes a rich man who has died, saying that in his previous life he had enjoyed good things, but both he and Lazarus were now experiencing a great reversal of fortunes.

One classic example of a MOURNER in the Bible is Job, his book reputedly the oldest book in the Bible. Job mourned the loss of his entire family (except his nagging wife), his livestock numbering in the thousands, his reputation, and eventually, his health. And he very much wondered about God Himself, and whether the Almighty even cared about him.

Was this man Job blessed in the end? The book of James records these pithy comments, James 5: 11, “You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful…”

When God revealed Himself to Job in the last chapters of the book, He did not even bother to answer Job’s questions directly, but rather made Job aware of the vastness of creation and its amazing creatures, thus making the point that the God who oversees such an incredible display of life would also be in control of the destiny of a single human being. Job got the point and confessed, “I know that You can do everything…I repent in dust and ashes”.

The work of mourning might be described as the labor of the soul to penetrate beyond the pain to catch a glimpse of the larger scheme of things, of which we are a small part; and yet to realize that we are an essential part of that bigger picture over which God presides as the Supreme Overseer, with His infinite wisdom and compassion.