By Roy B. Blizzard
We are continuing in our passage in translation with our study of the Beatitudes and the Beatitude for this week is Matthew 5:4
Matthew 5:4 – KJV
[4] Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.
Translation
Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.
Remember from last week that we said that the Beatitudes were truisms and should be understood in the present tense. Additionally, they are doublets and hint back at something that had already been said or written. The first part of this Beatitude is a hinting back at Isaiah 61:1-3. This is the passage, you will remember, Jesus quoted at Nazareth.
Isaiah 61:1-3 – KJV
[1] "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; [2] To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, [3] To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."
Translation
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because the Lord hath anointed Me to bring good tidings unto the humble. He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the eyes that are to them that are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s good pleasure and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning…
The word is also found in Isaiah 54:11 – a passage to which the second part of the doublet refers.
Isaiah 54:11 – KJV
[11] "O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires."
Translation
Oh thou afflicted tossed with tempest and not comforted, Behold, I will set thy stones in far colors…
You should read the rest of this passage in Isaiah 54 and notice the allegory – setting the stones in far colors, laying the foundations with sapphires, making the pinnacles of rubies, the gates of carbuncles, etc., is all an allegory for comforted.
Isaiah 66:13 – KJV
[13] As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."
Translation
As one whom his mother comforted, so will I comfort you and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."
In other words, when Jesus says, "Blessed are they that mourn, passages such as Isaiah 61 and others explode in their minds. Blessed are the spiritual mourners, those who have thrown away their pride of status and are crying out to God, brokenhearted and in despair.These are the ones God comforts. But what does it mean to be comforted?
Look at Psalms 34:7 "The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them."
This poor man cried and the Lord heard and saved him out of all his troubles. In other words, mourn, the spiritual mourners, are those brokenhearted who have reached the end of their physical strength and they cry out to God in hopelessness and despair and God comforts them. Comfort is, in this context, a synonym for saved – a synonym for those who are ruled by God.
Now the question is – Did any of you try to find the passages to which this Beatitude was hinting as I suggested last week?
The next Beatitude, "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth," should be very easy for you to find. Take your concordance and see if you can find it and we will deal with this Beatitude next week.
