Those Who Mourn

This passage proclaims that among those called blessed in the Sermon on the Mount are ‘those who mourn,’ and it sheds light on the meaning of spiritual mourning, which is different from worldly sorrow. The sermon points out that it is hard to accomplish God's will by human willpower, and that the grace of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary. When the Holy Spirit comes, a hardened heart is turned into a stream of life, and one comes to see the ugliness of sin and gains the wisdom to pursue God's righteousness.

Through the deep anguish the prophet Jeremiah went through as his people faced destruction, and the tears Jesus shed at the death of Lazarus, the sermon shows what true mourning is. Through Martha and Mary, whose confessions of faith stayed at the level of knowledge and did not show a faith for real life, it warns how powerless a faith known only in the head is. The sermon emphasizes that rather than complaining in the face of others' unbelief or one's own pain, we need to look at our own spiritual state and have a heart that truly mourns.

The sermon says that when believers mourn and pray for the salvation of souls, the Holy Spirit becomes their Comforter and pours out great grace. Finally, it asks whether believers are receiving true comfort from God, and whether they have become people who pray and mourn earnestly for their nation, their people, and the church.