Sunday Devotional: Matthew 5:4

Blessed are those who grieve; these will be comforted.

The second beatitude sounds simple enough: those who are grieving will be comforted. This is perhaps the verse you would share with someone who has suffered the loss of a loved one and is looking for comfort. I don’t for one minute doubt that this verse has application to the Christian in this situation. We should certainly look to the Lord at such times and find in Him the balm we need, when our spirits are crushed with sadness. No other comforter knows exactly what we need, and can supply that need without fail. And I pray that anyone going through the valley of grief at the moment will be encouraged by this to look to the Lord for comfort. This is not to say He will immediately make you feel better; but He will certainly give you sustenance, purpose, and hope beyond the present situation.

But there’s more to this verse. There is a very strong connection between this verse and Isaiah 61:3, especially in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, where the same words are used (with grammatical differences). Without getting too deeply into the background of Isaiah 61, let’s just say it was addressed to a people who had suffered all kinds of loss, not just of people, but possessions, land, and so forth. So I think we shouldn’t restrict ourselves to one meaning of “grieve.” Those who grieve over injustice, over poverty, over sickness, and, perhaps most significantly, over sin.

Isaiah 61 is also recognized as being a Messianic prophecy. It looks forward to a day when the Messiah will come to set things right. This gives even more significance to Jesus’s use of it here. He is that one who has come to bring comfort to the grieving–even those who grieve over sin. In him, and in him alone can our weary souls find rest. Nowhere else can we find release from the burden of sin. And we know Jesus intended us to understand that he is the one who does this by the fact that he said so. In Luke 4:16-21, Jesus entered a synagogue in Nazareth, opened the Scriptures and quoted Isaiah 61:1-2. When he was finished, he closed the book and told the gathered crowd, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Granted, the quotation stopped at Isaiah 61:2, but he might have quoted the whole passage, and Luke only recorded the first few verses so we would know what he had read (there were no chapter or verse references when Luke wrote). Further, it’s reasonable to assume that if Jesus believed the first two verses applied to him, then why not the whole passage?

Christ has come to fulfill the promise that in him, those that grieve will find comfort. Whatever you might be grieving over, turn to Christ and cast your burden upon him.

Have a great week!