The second beatitude proclaimed by Jesus as part of the Sermon on the Mount "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" is also part of his Gospel prophesied by Isaiah 61:2 and recorded by Matthew 5:4. God Himself is the One who is going to comfort those who mourn now by wiping away every tear from their eyes (Revelation, 7: 17). Jesus foretold the fate of his disciples in the world: " Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy" (John, 16: 20). Some people misunderstand these sayings and think that the true disciples of Jesus must be gloomy people, with sour faces and far removed from the present reality of this world.
There are different kinds of sorrow in this world. Very many of our sorrows are caused by ourselves either due to ignorance or through unworthy desires. We think that we will be happy if only we had such and such things of the world or unlimited wealth to satisfy our every desire. By the time we realize that these are illusions like in mirages, it may be too late as we might have been too much caught up in our imagination and made a mess of our life. The remedy to these kinds of sorrow lies hidden within us as all of us are born to be happy as is visible in the little children ( see the post on 'children as role-models'). God does not have to intervene each time we fall into our own folly to make us happy as it is within our power to revert to our inner resources already deposited there by God.
Another source of sorrow arises from the wrong human relationships, especially from the circle of our relatives and friends. The reason for failure is our tendency to possessiveness manifested in undue attachments. The solution lies in detachment from everyone and everything expressed by Jesus as leaving behind our parents, siblings, wife, husband, children etc. As a result, we shall have purified attachments to those very same people whereby not only we, but also they become really free. Where there is freedom, there is happiness and we need not expect God to set right our relationships and wipe away our tears. This kind of sorrow, therefore, can be turned into joy by using our internal resources accumulated from the Word of God and expressed externally.
The third kind of sorrow arises from the ill will of other people who treat us badly because we are good, just and truthful etc.This category of people are promised by Jesus the kingdom of heaven in the last beatitude (Matthew, 5:10-12). The right response in the situation would be to rejoice and be glad because of the great reward in heaven. The Apostles of Jesus Christ leaped for joy for being counted worthy to suffer for their master. Here again, we do not wait to be comforted by God as we are already happy in the present situation.
So, what is the sorrow or grief that strikes us in our daily life needing God Himself to wipe our tears away? There is a hint in the Gospel of John 16:20 about the kind of grief it is. It is that kind of grief whereby the disciples of Jesus weep and mourn while the world rejoices. Life in this world seems to be cause for grief for some and happiness for others. But, this grief will turn into joy and by implication the present happiness for some will turn into sorrow. It is not the world that is the culprit, but the worldly spirit that rules over those who seem to be happy now compared to which the disciples are grief-struck. Let us remember that two irreconcilable standards of measurement are used here. The one is worldly and temporal and the other is transcendental and eternal. Here the part of God comes into play wiping the tears away from the cheeks of the disciples of Jesus whereby they become joyful.
The present happiness of those who are enslaved by the spirit of the world is shallow, apparent and temporary. The grief of the disciples hides a deep, real and permanent source of joy that will be perfected by God in His Kingdom expressed metaphorically by "wiping away the tears". The disciples of Jesus do not feel at home and are strangers in the world because their real home is the Kingdom of God. This is the source of grief for them and for them to live in their true colors, it is necessary for them to become like little children. Then they would feel completely at home when they have God as their Father as well as their Mother and without any worries.
There are different kinds of sorrow in this world. Very many of our sorrows are caused by ourselves either due to ignorance or through unworthy desires. We think that we will be happy if only we had such and such things of the world or unlimited wealth to satisfy our every desire. By the time we realize that these are illusions like in mirages, it may be too late as we might have been too much caught up in our imagination and made a mess of our life. The remedy to these kinds of sorrow lies hidden within us as all of us are born to be happy as is visible in the little children ( see the post on 'children as role-models'). God does not have to intervene each time we fall into our own folly to make us happy as it is within our power to revert to our inner resources already deposited there by God.
Another source of sorrow arises from the wrong human relationships, especially from the circle of our relatives and friends. The reason for failure is our tendency to possessiveness manifested in undue attachments. The solution lies in detachment from everyone and everything expressed by Jesus as leaving behind our parents, siblings, wife, husband, children etc. As a result, we shall have purified attachments to those very same people whereby not only we, but also they become really free. Where there is freedom, there is happiness and we need not expect God to set right our relationships and wipe away our tears. This kind of sorrow, therefore, can be turned into joy by using our internal resources accumulated from the Word of God and expressed externally.
The third kind of sorrow arises from the ill will of other people who treat us badly because we are good, just and truthful etc.This category of people are promised by Jesus the kingdom of heaven in the last beatitude (Matthew, 5:10-12). The right response in the situation would be to rejoice and be glad because of the great reward in heaven. The Apostles of Jesus Christ leaped for joy for being counted worthy to suffer for their master. Here again, we do not wait to be comforted by God as we are already happy in the present situation.
So, what is the sorrow or grief that strikes us in our daily life needing God Himself to wipe our tears away? There is a hint in the Gospel of John 16:20 about the kind of grief it is. It is that kind of grief whereby the disciples of Jesus weep and mourn while the world rejoices. Life in this world seems to be cause for grief for some and happiness for others. But, this grief will turn into joy and by implication the present happiness for some will turn into sorrow. It is not the world that is the culprit, but the worldly spirit that rules over those who seem to be happy now compared to which the disciples are grief-struck. Let us remember that two irreconcilable standards of measurement are used here. The one is worldly and temporal and the other is transcendental and eternal. Here the part of God comes into play wiping the tears away from the cheeks of the disciples of Jesus whereby they become joyful.
The present happiness of those who are enslaved by the spirit of the world is shallow, apparent and temporary. The grief of the disciples hides a deep, real and permanent source of joy that will be perfected by God in His Kingdom expressed metaphorically by "wiping away the tears". The disciples of Jesus do not feel at home and are strangers in the world because their real home is the Kingdom of God. This is the source of grief for them and for them to live in their true colors, it is necessary for them to become like little children. Then they would feel completely at home when they have God as their Father as well as their Mother and without any worries.
No comments:
Post a Comment