“’Blessed are those that
mourn, for they shall be comforted.’ The Greek word for mourn, penthos, is
very important. It is the term that was commonly used for mourning the dead. It
can also mean a passionate grief that leads to action. Those who mourn are
those who die to their own way and live to follow Christ, their master. This
leads to some very hard choices. Worldly
pursuits that used to provide fleeting pleasure must be renounced. Jesus tells
us that, “No man can serve two masters.”
Those who truly surrender to God and
submit to the authority of Christ will grieve at the status of the world around
them. They will renounce ill gotten gains, as well as the pursuit of worldly powers,
prestige, and pleasure even if causes them great grief at the time.
Those who renounce their own way and the ways of the world
to take up their cross and follow Christ will be comforted. The Greek word,
parakaleo, translated “comforted” has an extremely wide range of meaning. It
can mean anything from calling for aid, to beseeching God in prayer, to be
exhorted, encouraged (or even won over to a given plan), to comforting in times
of sorrow. This is the same root as the word used in Gospel of John for Comforter
(Holy Spirit).
When we choose to give up the ways of the world by
renouncing everything that belongs to the kingdom of darkness, God responds by
giving us the down payment on our inheritance in Christ; He sends us the
Comforter.” Russell Stendal – The Beatitudes, God’s Plan for Battle.
No comments:
Post a Comment