I have probably heard hundreds of messages on the beatitudes and seen numerous commentaries, and most of the time, they interpret this verse as meaning, “Blessed are those who mourn over their sin.”
I suppose it fits in well with the idea of being poor in spirit. We see just how spiritually bankrupt we are, and because of that we mourn.
Mourning over sin can be good or bad. Mourning over sin that results in repentance leads to life. But mourning that leads to despair leads to death.
You see that in Peter’s and Judas’ lives. One repented and found life. The other found despair and killed himself.
The key question to ask is where does our mourning take our focus? On God and his grace? Or on ourselves and our utter depravity?
When we focus on God and his grace, we find comfort. When we focus on ourselves and our utter depravity, it will lead to despair.
But I’m not so sure Jesus was totally focused on mourning because of our sin.
Sometimes we mourn not because of our sin per se, but because of the brokenness in this world because of sin.
We mourn because of the sickness and death we see around us. We mourn because of all the hurt that people cause each other.
And as I said, it’s easy to despair because of it. To wonder if there’s any hope.
But again I ask, where do we place our focus when we mourn? If we focus merely on ourselves, it will lead to despair. Because in ourselves, we don’t have the power to change all the awful things around us.
When we place our focus on God, however, it leads to hope because God is above all our circumstances, and he can take what is broken and restore it. More than that, he can take what is dead, and bring it to life.
Dead relationships. Dead marriages. Dead hopes. Dead souls.
Are you broken because of sin? Are you mourning because of all the hurt you see in your life and in those around you?
Take your eyes off of yourself and on the one who gives life to that which is dead. Because when you do, you will find comfort.
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 