The Second Blessing of the Beatitudes : Those who weep will surely laugh! “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh” ( Luke 6:21b ). I want to receive the lesson given as I meditate on the words, (1) I wish to receive the lesson given as I meditate on the latter half of Luke 6:21, the second blessing of the Beatitudes, in connection with Matthew 5:4 , which says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (a) In the latter half of Luke 6:21, the word “weep” comes from the Greek word κλαίοντες (klaiontes), which means “to weep aloud properly, to express sorrow with audible crying because it cannot be restrained (to cry out loud)” (internet). This same Greek word also appears in the latter half of verse 25: “… Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.” (i) ...
‘Arise … Go … Cry’ "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me" (Jonah 1:2). I summarize the word of God that came to Jonah in three words: The first word is "Arise". God commanded the prophet Jonah to "Arise" (v. 2). According to this command, the prophet Jonah “rose up” (v. 3). But he did not go to Nineveh, but ran away to Tarshish. He ‘went down’ to Joppa, 'went down' into the ship (v. 3), ‘went down’ into the hold of the ship, “lain down and fallen sound asleep” (v. 5). To Jonah who fell into a deep sleep, the Gentile captain of the ship went to him and said: "How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish" (v. 6). God used the captain to remind the disobedient Jonah his command “Arise” (v. 2). In other words, the captain’s word "Get up" (v. 6) was an echo of God's "...