Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
COMFORT
"The highest thing that men want to have (is) joy and happiness and to be without trouble. Now Christ turns the page and says exactly the opposite; He calls 'blessed' those who sorrow and mourn. ...
"You may ask again: 'What are we to do, then? Is everyone to be damned who laughs, sings, dances, dresses well, eats, and drinks? ...'
"Answer: I said before that having riches is not sinful, nor is it forbidden. So also being joyful, eating and drinking well, is not sinful or damnable; nor is having honor and a good name. Still I am supposed to be 'blessed' if I do not have these things or can do without them, and instead suffer poverty, misery, shame, and persecution. ...
"A man is said to 'mourn and be sorrowful' -- not if his head is always drooping and his face is always sour and never smiling; but if he does not depend upon having a good time and living it up, the way the world does. ...
"Thus Christ does not want to urge continual mourning and sorrow. He wants to warn against those who seek to escape all mourning and to have nothing but fun and all their comfort here. And He want to teach His Christians, when things go badly for them and they have to mourn, to know that it is God's good pleasure and to make it theirs as well, not to curse or rage or despair as though their God did not want to be gracious. When this happens, the bitter draft should be mixed and made milder with honey and sugar. He promises here that this is pleasing to Him; and He calls them 'blessed,' comforting them here and hereafter taking the sorrow away from them completely."
-- Martin Luther
