SOTM-Mourning

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/som03-mourning/" target="_blank"><strong>website.</strong></a></p><p>“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (<strong>Matthew 5:4</strong>).</p><p>In the background there are well over 100 scriptural passages on mourning, like this one, where Jesus identifies himself and explains his ministry (see <strong>Luke 4:18</strong>).</p><p>The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,<br />because the Lord has anointed me...<br />to comfort all who mourn;<br />to grant to those who mourn in Zion—<br />to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,<br />the oil of gladness instead of mourning,<br />the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;<br />that they may be called oaks of righteousness,<br />the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified (<strong>Isa 61:1-3</strong>).</p><p>Yet is mourning proper only on the occasion of death (as in <strong>Acts 8:2</strong>)?</p><ul><li>We grieve many things, like apostasy (a friend or family member goes back to world); loss of friendship—or more intensely, betrayal by a friend; lost opportunities; traumatic events like rape or becoming a refugees (mourning the loss of one's country; loss of health or youth; etc.)</li><li>Yet I’m not so sure Jesus is talking here about those who mourn for various reasons.<ul><li>After all, even certain animals grieve, though there is no reason to believe these emotions are spiritual.</li><li>David Bercot notes: "People in the world mourn over failed ambitions and other matters far removed from the kingdom. Instead, Jesus is primarily talking about those who mourn over their sins in true repentance." He directs us to the early church—for example, the following two writers, who lived in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries:<ul><li>“Those who have repented of their former evil lives shall attain to the calling. For this is the meaning of being comforted.” Clement of Alexandria, <i>Stromata</i> 4.6</li><li>“We are to weep with thos