The Mourners

UV 2260/10000 The Mourners
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Matthew 5 v 4

Just as Jesus turned the tables of the traders in the temple upside down, He turned the values of the world upside down. Rather, He set them right side up. He asked those who were outward looking for flaws and faults to turn their gaze inward upon themselves. He asked those who placed their trust in the riches of this world to turn their gaze inward and upward to the Lord instead. The values that Jesus taught gave mankind the greatest civilizational leap forward ever known to mankind. It sought to end the perpetual struggle for power, the negativities, the bloodlust, the cruelty, the exploitation of the weak by the strong and the thirst for domination and vendetta. Jesus echoed what the prophet had written, “Not by might or by power but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” The rule of might was replaced by the rule of law and the rule of law was fulfilled by the rule of love.

In this uni-verse, Jesus paradoxically asks us to rejoice when we are sad, grieving, distressed for the Lord Himself will comfort us and enable us to rejoice. When we go through difficulties and troubles, the Lord is closest to us and He sends the Holy Spirit, the Divine Comforter to comfort us and strengthen us from within. He turns our spirit of mourning into one of celebration and dancing. He takes off our sackcloth of repentance and guilt and replaces it with the robes of righteousness. He surrounds us with gladness and joy. Our sighs of regret will turn into the laughter of hope. Our tears will become the seed of our victories in life and in the hereafter. The anointing of the Holy Spirit will produce unusual joy and gladness in us which in turn will trigger praise and worship. Sorrows, curses and regrets will be fugitives, trying to escape from us. The Lord will replace the ugly ashes of defeat and failure in our lives with the beauty of victory and wholesome success.

Jesus in His death and resurrection took away “hamartia” or shortcoming, scarcity, guilt, eternal sorrow, eternal death. The risen and glorified Jesus is at work in us to glorify us or to make us partners in working for the greater glory of God. Now, we mourn not for ourselves but for the perishing world, with a godly sorrow or the sorrow that comes from compassion. This is a sorrow that purifies and does not destroy us. Jesus asked us to carry our cross but never asked us to wear a crown of thorns or frowns. As for us, we know for sure, Jesus has taken us from the miry pit of this world and placed us on a rock foundation on which whatever we build by faith will never be destroyed.

Prateep V Philip