Blessed are Those Who Mourn

The Christian life is one of great paradox. This morning we are going to look at Matthew 5:4, 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.' The paradox of this beatitude is that the Christian cannot be happy unless he is first sad. To the world this seems like foolishness and shear stupidity. The two are contradictory - opposite of each other. Yet, for the Christian, this is a vital truth and part of the message of the gospel of hope that we seek to share with the world. How can this be? What does Jesus mean here? To answer those questions we have to remember the context in which our precious Lord spoke them.