The Gospel
of Matthew
Lesson 6
The King’s Manifesto
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4
It is really amazing that the key focus of Jesus’ teachings begins with the poor and downtrodden. Last session we looked at the first Beatitude which highlighted the poor. The next group are the broken-hearted and the mourners.
He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted; When Jesus launched His ministry quoting from Isaiah 61:1 the first two groups of people appear as mirror images of each other. Jesus states that the Kingdom is near those who are broken and down. Stories abound of people coming to Jesus as a result of some personal tragedy or crisis. Loads of hardened souls find Jesus in prison camps. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say Jesus loiters around hospitals, lonely homes, prisons and the street corners.
Broken-hearted people come in all shapes, shades and sizes! Unhappiness knocks on any door and does not discriminate whether rich or poor, old or young, black or white. Some of the saddest people on the planet live in big happy houses (1Kings 21:4). Some of the most beautiful people have ugly problems (Genesis 29:17, 31). Lots of high profiled people have the deep secrets (2Kings 5:1). The Kingdom is close to all such people because their hearts are crying out to God daily.
Blessed are those who mourn... Theologians have various views on the interpretation of who the mourners are. Jesus seemed to deliberately leaves things open to apparent personal understanding. The same verse is quoted slightly differently by Luke (Lk 6:21) Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh. What makes people weep? Loss of a loved one, personal tragedy, overwhelming circumstances, rejection, failure, betrayal, pain, conviction etc… There is no categorisation of righteous or unrighteous. Jesus simply says if you weep now you shall laugh.
These are pointers for Disciples to seize upon and sensitively nudge people in the direction of Jesus whenever they encounter broken people. Any place on the planet where tears are flowing, the Kingdom is close by…very close! In church, you need to have the right connections, deep faith and unquestionable righteousness to be close to the Lord. In the Kingdom all you need are genuine tears!
For they shall be comforted. This is a divine promise and a ray of HOPE for all who are going through some deep challenges right now. There are no timelines given but a destination is confirmed. And God will wipe away tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain…Revelations 21:4. (Compare with Isaiah 53:3 and John 16:33)
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