Matthew 5:4 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 5:4

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This is the second characteristic of the person who is a true believer in Christ and knows God and walks with him. The first is the realisation of my need; the second is my grief arising out of that realisation. But this beatitude is not just about the start of the Christian life. Yes we mourn at the start, but even after we are converted we mourn. It is something we repeatedly do. Christians return often to a state of mourning. This is not misery; it is not mourning selfishly. That sort of mourning comes because people feel deprived, hurt; they are oversensitive and respond badly to trials. Such mourning comes almost from pride – ‘I ought to be treated differently.’ To mourn is to grieve, to regret, to be concerned about things we cannot be happy about, disappointed at the way things turn out, at our own life, at sin, at its effects on various people. Life for the believer has many trials. We want to be serious, reflective people. Evaluate life for its wider meaning, be capable of being unhappy at life, discerning, ready to acknowledge that there is the gloomy side to this fallen world. Do not feel guilty if you are cast down, although, of course, we do not aim to stay in this state for too long. ‘For they shall be comforted.’ How consciously Christ uses this beatitude to announce his ministry! They and no one else will be comforted; it is an emphatic ‘they’. Mourning leads to blessing; they are not just consoled, sympathised with in their grief, but given comfort, reason to rejoice. The word comfort means to draw near, to give counsel and help. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. He draws near to us and gives us comfort, help, instruction. Those who know how to grieve and be serious: God will draw near to them. To be comforted is to recognise your rich heritage. ‘Look at how he has led me, and I am in his hands.’ Be a passionate student of the word of God.

Application

Have you seen your sinfulness? Have you seen your spiritual deadness? Have you then grieved over it? It is your fault. Have you come and confessed it to the Lord? Having seen our emptiness and our need, we feel the pain of shame, and we repent of our sin. The people who repent will be comforted. The Greek word has to do with somebody drawing near to you in order to comfort you. Christ not only comforts those who repent, he comes near to them. He makes them his children. They know his pardoning love, and because he comes near for the first time in their lives, they taste fellowship and communion with him and their prayers are heard. Blessed are they who become aware of their need. Blessed are they who grieve and are ashamed and repent.

We mourn over our daily sin, even as believers. We are a happy people; God means us to rejoice in our blessing, but every day there must be a moment of mourning, otherwise we will never advance. If we do not know those moments of pain and regret and repentance we shall never go forward, so we have got to carry out self-examination in some measure every day. ‘What have I done? What have I not done? What sins have spoiled my testimony and offended my Saviour? I must examine my heart and repent with a measure of shame and depend once again upon Calvary.’ Do not trot along each day and say: ‘Forgive my sin’, with hardly a thought. We should feel the pain of a little shame. But not at too great length; we are not called to be constantly miserable, so do not lie long in grief or wallow in it. Let it carry you to thanks for blessing, for forgiveness. If you constantly stumble along under its load, it is not grief but self-pity and an orgy of misery. Don’t keep repenting of the same sins over and over again, but rather praise and thank God that he has forgiven you. May we all mourn, otherwise we are superficial Christians, rushing along on a bubble.

We mourn about the state of our land, not politically, but about its spiritual state, the fickleness of society, the problems of unbelief. We mourn at the state of the churches. We long to be productive and yet we see little evangelism, little power. We do not want to paint so lurid a picture that there is no room for happiness, but we are not meant to be superficial.

Then there are those grieved by tragedy, perhaps by sickness, trouble, or injury from someone close; there are others who are persecuted – all this causes grief. We are grieved not because we are unspiritual, but because these things are genuinely grievous. Be ready to suffer for the faith. In this world there is much mourning among the poets, much deep sorrow; but it is only for a lack of earthly things: justice, friendship, equality. They home in on many injustices, but they are not looking for God or his glory. They grieve at their own misery, over lost youth, or because they cannot get life to work without God. But the Christian grieves particularly over eternal matters: the loss of human souls in eternity. If we experience great pain, we should not be ashamed to mourn.

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Matthew 5:4 Commentary and Bible Study