The nature of Jesus’s public ministry wasn’t random. It didn’t spring out of a vacuum.
Seven centuries earlier, the prophet Isaiah had anticipated an age when God’s Suffering Servant would minister to God’s exiled people:
The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to . . . comfort all who mourn. (Isa. 61:1–2; cf. 40:1; Luke 4:21).
This declaration eventually forms the backdrop for Jesus’s famous second beatitude: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4).
The ancient promise has finally crystallized into reality, he is saying. The King who comforts is here.
Counterintuitive and Countercultural
Given the human condition, Jesus’s promise to comfort those who mourn sin could scarcely be more counterintuitive. Given the spirit of our age, it could scarcely be more countercultural.
Sin in the late-modern West is not grieved. It’s not deplored. It’s not even merely tolerated. It is celebrated. Our society doesn’t mourn sin; it mourns those who mourn sin.
Yet we can succumb to similar tendencies, can’t we? No doubt one reason we fail to mourn sin is because we underestimate it. We assume it’s little more than a cosmic parking ticket. But sin is not trivial; it is treason, an insurrection against heaven’s throne. We have never committed a small sin, because we have never offended a small God.
We have never committed a small sin, because we have never offended a small God.
To the degree that we mourn our sin—both individually (Ps. 51:1–4; Luke 18:13; 1 John 1:9) and collectively (Ezra 9:4; Ps. 119:136; James 5:16)—we avail ourselves of heaven’s comfort. To the degree that we don’t, we rob ourselves of it.
Deep Dive
Imagine waking on the Fourth of July to a text from a friend: “Meet me for fireworks at 11 a.m.” You’d think it was a typo. Why? Because fireworks aren’t impressive in the noonday sky. The darker the sky, in fact, the more stunning the display. In the same way, the brilliance of grace must be set against the blackness of sin. As the Puritan Thomas Watson said, “Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.”
For the world, grieving sin is regressive and constricting; for the Christian, it is the pathway to joy. Imagine the implications. If Matthew 5:4 is true—if Jesus really meets repentance with comfort, not condemnation—then no longer do you need to fear being exposed. No longer do you have to present an airbrushed version of yourself to fellow redeemed sinners. No longer do you need to fear studying your heart and plumbing the depths of your disease. If exploring sin brings you to the deep end of the pool, exploring mercy will take you to the Mariana Trench. And awaiting you at the bottom of the dive is not a black hole but a solid rock.
Scarred Savior
In the final analysis, the Sermon on the Mount cannot be separated from its speaker. Jesus prayed many prayers during his incarnation, but never once did he pray a prayer of confession. He didn’t have to. He mourned over many sins, but never once did he mourn over his own. He didn’t have any.
Ultimately, our comfort is anchored in the reality that Jesus doesn’t just mourn sin; he conquers it. He invites us into this radical moral vision—this upside-down kingdom—and then dies in our place so we can enter it.
May God soften our hearts to mourn our moral bankruptcy so that we can marvel at his comforting grace.
A version of this article appeared in Tabletalk Magazine.
Involved in Women’s Ministry? Add This to Your Discipleship Tool Kit.
We need one another. Yet we don’t always know how to develop deep relationships to help us grow in the Christian life. Younger believers benefit from the guidance and wisdom of more mature saints as their faith deepens. But too often, potential mentors lack clarity and training on how to engage in discipling those they can influence.
Whether you’re longing to find a spiritual mentor or hoping to serve as a guide for someone else, we have a FREE resource to encourage and equip you. In Growing Together: Taking Mentoring Beyond Small Talk and Prayer Requests, Melissa Kruger, TGC’s vice president of discipleship programming, offers encouraging lessons to guide conversations that promote spiritual growth in both the mentee and mentor.
