In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins with a list of blessings called the beatitudes. The second of these blessings, found in Matthew 5:4 is “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
What does that mean?
To mourn?
Tag: blessed
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Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins with a list of blessings called the beatitudes. The second of these blessings, found in Matthew 5:4 is “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” -
Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
At the beginning of the Beatitudes, “Jesus said: Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for there’s is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).To be poor in Spirit is to recognize that you have nothing to offer God. That your account has no balance in it through which you can pay your way into heaven. It’s realizing that you are nothing.
Our society doesn’t like that thought though. We like to think we’re good, we like to think we can do things on our own way, we like to make things about our own talents or abilities or goodness. We like to rely on our own skills to get through life. We glorify talent. (more…)
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Glimpses of the work of God in the world
Jesus taught: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”With the promises of the Lord, there’s a sense of the present fulfillment of the promise, but it points to a later and greater fulfillment in heaven.So for the present day, we do get a sense of the Lord, we are invited into a relationship with Christ, growing in our knowledge of him, knowing him better.There can be times in our lives, seasons of our lives where we find his presence especially strong in our lives. We get glimpses.We can appreciate and have a sense of awe for the Lord who created everything when we truly behold his creation, see the beauty of the sunset or stand at the foot of a mountain.We have moments when we see people coming to faith in the Lord, born again to the hope of the gospel, and when we see lives transformed, people made new by the power of God’s saving work.So in little ways, we get glimpses of God’s glory, of his work in the world.But the pure in heart, shall see God.The Christian life, is still being lived in a fallen world, we still deal with our own sins and the ramifications of the sins of others. We still get sick and die.We shall behold of his glory and holiness in heaven. Not in a glimpse or a flicker of light, but beholding the glory of God, the awesomeness of the Lord for eternityIn the Old Testament, we are told that a person could not see God the face of God and live.God is so glorious, he is so holy, he is so pure, so full of life and light that sinful people cannot behold his glory.But the promise of Jesus is an eternal blessing in the presence of the Lord. And for that, we should rejoice. We should enjoy the blessings he has given us today. But to know that they are merely appetizers to the greater feast.
Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.
