GREAT CONTRADICTION

Matt. 5:4 ¶ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

The teachings of Jesus were filled with apparent contradictions, at least they were contradictions in the eyes of the worldly man. Take today’s verse from the Amplified Bible for example.
“Blessed and enviably happy [with a happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace] are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted!”
How could anyone be extremely happy and mourning at the same time? What could Jesus really be talking about? He is describing true repentance. Yep, one of those words we avoid and rarely even hear at church. Let me say it again, ‘REPENTANCE’. From the Lord’s perspective, repentance is what happens when we see the ugliness of our personal sin and the consequences that our sin brings. Consequences are also one of those topics we don’t like to hear about. We like to hear that grace evaporates the consequences of our sins. Not always true. If you killed someone they are still dead. You can receive forgiveness but consequences remain. That is where the mourning part comes in. We mourn because our sins have offended God, maybe hurt other people, and have brought problems into our own lives.

Well what about the happiness and blessed part? That is the joy that comes in connection with the mourning. We see His forgiveness and His plan for restoration and recovery of what we have lost through our sinful behavior. Christ removes our sins and implements His purpose and plans in our lives through His plan of redemption.

Paul the Apostle is the greatest example of this truth. He was actually the prototype of conversion. Remember how it started, he was breathing out threats and murder against the Christian community. He was living and breathing in an atmosphere of hate. He was responsible for the death of some of the first Christian martyrs. Then it happened, the Damascus Road experience. Paul was forgiven and changed at the same time. The martyrs were still dead but Paul was forgiven, the plan of redemption was now kicking in. Paul mourned over his sinfulness and the price others had paid for his sins. Now Paul was rejoicing because of the mercy of God, his mourning had led to true blessedness. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.