Jesus wept over the sins of others, over their bitter consequences in judgement and death, and over the impenitent city which would not receive him. We, too, should weep over the evil in the world, as did the godly men of biblical times. “My eyes shed streams of tears,” the psalmist could say to God, “because men do not keep your law.”

Early in Jesus’ ministry, on a small mountainside outside of Capernaum, Jesus picked up his verbal pen and painted a portrait of human life when it is restored to the way it is intended to be, by his power to overthrow sin. This portrait of kingdom life begins with eight heart attitudes that comprise righteousness. Today we examine the second of these beatitudes, not only because it is so fundamental to spiritual flourishing, but because it was clearly portrayed in King David’s heart after he was confronted with his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah by the prophet Nathan. This priceless attitude is a broken and contrite heart. Jesus said, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Mt 5:4).

Jesus began his portrait of kingdom life, called the Sermon on the Mount, with a cameo of eight, character qualities of kingdom members, called the beatitudes. They are a picture of what the human heart looks like when King Jesus rules our attitudes. He telegraphs to us the fact that they are the path to human flourishing by beginning each beatitude with the word, blessed (MAKARIOS). This Greek word was the term used to describe the island of Cyprus, known as “The Happy Isle” because it was thought that Cyprus was such a paradise that one would never have to go beyond its coastline to find the perfect, happy, completely fulfilled, life.

The first and most important beatitude explains the secret that opens all the resources of Christ’s kingdom—recognizing our own desperate spiritual poverty. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Then Jesus moves on to the far less understood but second most important beatitude, Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted (Mt 5:4). When we realize that “blessedness,” i.e. MAKARIOS refers to heart satisfaction, well-being, and joy, the startling paradox of Jesus’ words in this beatitude becomes apparent. It is as if he is saying, Happy are the unhappy. Happy are the sad. So, we must ask, “What kind of sorrow can it be that Christ wants us to experience, and which brings MAKARIOS—the joy of Christ’s blessing?

We must answer emphatically that Jesus is NOT talking about human pain and sadness in general; he is not a masochist! He is not talking about the disappointment of losing a ball game or not getting the job you hoped for. He is not talking about the broken heartedness of your mate rejecting and divorcing you. He is not talking about the grief of losing a loved one, the mourning that takes place in a funeral home. Rather, the mourning he is referring to is broken heartedness over sin and the devastation it brings. We know this is the kind of mourning Jesus has in mind for three reasons:

1. The context. The first beatitude is acknowledging our spiritual poverty as those enslaved by sin. The second beatitude quite naturally follows, i.e. grieving and mourning over that spiritual poverty—that sinful inclination. Using theological terms, we say the first beatitude is about confession. The second beatitude is about contrition. The first beatitude is about our mind acknowledging sin, the second beatitude is about our heart grieving over that sin. This is the heart described by David in his Psalm 51 confession of adultery and murder, when he says “a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (vs 17).

2. The second reason we know that the sorrow Jesus commends is grief over sin is the verb tense of the word, mourn. The verb tense indicates “habitual action,” a regular mourning that is part of everyday life. It is unlikely that Jesus was saying, “happy are those who must go through the agony of losing a loved one over and over again.” It is more likely that he was referring to those who deeply grieve over their sins as a regular part of their walk with him. This attitude of mourning over sin is explained by James, who writes, Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you (4:8-10).

3. The third clue about the mourning to which Jesus refers is Jesus’ own mourning over human sin. Why did Jesus weep at the grave of Lazarus when he knew he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead? I believe that at that moment, Jesus looked down the corridors of time to the tears shed at funerals time and time again because of heart-wrenching sorrow; and it was ALL brought about by human sin. As we observed a few weeks ago, on Jesus’ way into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Luke recounts,

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation” (19:41-44).

Jesus wept over the consequences of Jerusalem’s sin. Their sinful, hardened hearts caused them to refuse to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus saw the cost of that sin and when he foresaw that pain, he wept.

Kingdom people, says Jesus, are those who weep inwardly over sin…their own sin and the sin of others. Sin is spiritual cancer. It always destroys. The wage it always pays is spiritual, emotional, physical destruction. Paul wrote to the Galatians,

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own sinful nature will FROM THAT NATURE REAP CORRUPTION, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life (6:7-8).

The second beatitude teaches us both to mourn over our own sin and to mourn over the way sin brings devastation across the globe. Let’s consider sin’s impact on the culture and our response to it.

Jesus Taught That Sin in Our Culture Should Produce Grief in Us

As you hear often on this podcast, Christ calls us to engage culture, partnering with the Holy Spirit in his work to restore it to righteousness. Jesus goes on in this same sermon to call believers to hunger and thirst for righteousness to invade their own hearts and spread across the land (5:6) to take a stand for righteousness despite persecution (5:10-12), to be the righteous salt that retards the decay of sin, to cast the light of truth onto every dark corner of evil in our culture (5:13-16), and above all to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

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