“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Those who mourn includes both the grief of personal loss and the grief over the state of the world — those who weep for their own sin and for the brokenness around them. Isaiah 61:2 promises comfort for all who mourn; Revelation 21:4 says God will wipe away every tear. The future tense — they shall be comforted — communicates that the mourning of the present is not the final word; a day of comfort is coming that will make the mourning of the present understood in a new light. 2 Corinthians 7:10 distinguishes godly grief that leads to repentance from worldly grief that leads to death — the mourning Jesus blesses is the grief that knows what is lost and longs for restoration.
Church Fathers on Matthew 5:4
When you have done thus much, attained both poverty and meekness, remember that you are a sinner, mourn your sins, as He proceeds, 'Blessed are they that mourn.' And it is suitable that the third blessing should be of those that mourn for sin, for it is the Trinity that forgives sin.
Those that mourn, that is, not loss of kindred, affronts, or losses, but who weep for past sins.
And they who weep for their own sins are blessed, but much more so who weep for others' sins; so should all teachers do.
Read all 10 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!