Matthew 5:4. Blessed Brokenness

Many times the season of joy is a season of sorrow. It's a time of where our griefs and sadness are magnified as we miss our loved ones and struggle through the trials of life. In this time of mourning the Scriptures call us to take comfort from our Savior, Jesus Christ the man of sorrows who was acquainted with grief.

In the season of our sorrows how do we find comfort in Jesus the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief?

What causes us to mourn
We mourn the loss of loved ones. We miss their wisdom, companionship, love and comfort. We miss the lost opportunities to share the significant milestones of our lives with them. We miss them at the holidays.
We mourn because we’ve been sinned against. We’ve been physically, emotionally and psychologically wounded by those who’ve sinned against us. We’ve felt powerless, frustrated and abused by them. We may have experienced the loss of innocence, a measure of security and loss of our own humanity. We mourn over how being sinned against has changed the way we relate to others and ourselves. We mourn the lack of justice if those who’ve sinned against us are held accountable for their actions.

We mourn over our fallen world and community. We mourn and grieve the consequences of living in a fallen and broken world which includes injustice and violence. We mourn how this brokenness has affected us.
We mourn over our own sins. We mourn the part of our lives wasted on unproductive and unfruitful sinful pursuits. We mourn how are sins have affected us. We mourn how they have affected others and how it affected our Savior.

What ought we to do with so much grief, sorrow and pain? How can mere humans handle it without falling into a hopeless pit of despair?
We find our comfort in Jesus Christ who among other things is called the man of sorrows.


What caused Jesus to be a man of sorrows, one familiar with grief?
Jesus is fully familiar with all the forms of our suffering, grief and pain. He’s experienced the pain of loss with the death of Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah and others who were close to Him. He’s seen how others have reacted to their deaths. Jesus knows the grief and sorrow of being sinned against. He knows how it feels to be betrayed by one who was an intimate part of His ministry. (When Judas came to betray Jesus the Lord replied ‘friend’ do what you came for). Jesus endured being sinned against, even though He had the power to stop it at anytime.
Jesus mourned over the brokenness of a fallen world. He approached Jerusalem and burst into tears knowing the consequence of their rejection. Luke 19:41 (ESV)
And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,
Jesus wept knowing the inevitable consequences of our own sinful behavior. He weeps because the consequences affect us, our families, and our communities. Jesus is familiar with our own sins because they were laid on Him. He has experienced the brokenness of being alienated from the Father because of sin.

Jesus endured brokenness and rejection of His Father so that He could rescue us from our sins with the additional blessing of providing comfort to those who mourn.

How does Jesus comfort us now? I’ll list four ways He does so.
Jesus has defeated death and given us cause to express joy even while we grieve. One day death will be completely overwhelmed with the new life of the resurrection. 1 Cor. 15:54-55 (ESV)
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
"Death is swallowed up in victory."
[55] "O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?"

Paul quotes a passage from Isa. 25 that speaks of the comfort we’ll have when death is finally and forever defeated. That which brings sorrow to the entire human race has been defeated by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is coming a time when we will never mourn the loss of a loved one again.
This comforts us in our drive to continue in the work of the Lord. That’s how Paul applied the truth of the resurrection. Knowing that death has been defeated empowers us to give ourselves fully to God’s work.
Jesus comforts those who’ve been sinned against now while we anticipate our final comfort in the age to come. He does this through prayer, the fellowship of God’s people and when necessary by giving us counselors who can help us to heal from particularly grievous emotional and psychological wounds.
His comfort prevents us from engaging in destructive behavior to ease our pain. His comfort empowers us to forgive those who’ve sinned against us so that what they did will not control our lives. Forgiving can keep us from rehashing and reliving the sin in an unproductive and unfruitful way. His comfort moves us to bring comfort to others with the comfort He’s given to us. 2 Cor. 1:4 (ESV) who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Jesus provides the gospel as the answer to the brokenness of our fallen world. We’re comforted by the knowledge of the gospel’s power. The gospel is our guarantee that God is active in our world and our community. The message of the gospel is that anyone who believes can be brought into a right relationship with God through Christ. Within this relationship we can begin to receive healing from our hurts and sorrow, and reverse the destructive and vicious cycle of sin and rebellion.
The gospel prevents us from going into despair. We operate in God’s power not ours. That’s why the Scriptures encourage us to live lives worthy of the gospel, to pursue doing good works that flow from the gospel and to take the opportunities God gives us to share the gospel. The gospel moves us from indifference to engagement. The gospel of God’s grace is our sure and certain hope that our wonderful suffering Savior Jesus Christ will hear our cries and prayers when we pour out our grief to Him.

To Him Who Loves Us…
Pastor Lance