BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6

In Matthew 5:6-8, according the literary device we have already explained, called reverse concentric symmetry, the two “bookends” are:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and

            Blessed are the pure in heart…

And the central thought is:

Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy.

What is righteousness? We, from our western perspective, erroneously define sin as doing bad things and righteousness as not doing bad things but in the Old Testament, sin was regarded as anything that did not measure up to God’s perfection. God demanded a sacrifice for everything that was not perfect to make atonement for the “sin”. Hence, for example, childbirth required a sacrifice because the loss of blood made a woman less than perfect. The Apostle Paul, a trained rabbi, wrote, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. The blood of Jesus is the perfect sacrifice of atonement for all sin for all time. 

Righteousness is about living a life characterised by the same disposition as Jesus our rabbi, who mirrored the character of God according to Ex 34:6. Righteousness is both a gift and a lifestyle. The righteous life we live is an expression of the gift God has given. Jesus’ righteousness is imputed to us by faith (Phil 3:9) but it also results in a change of attitude. The natural human disposition is selfishness and greed but the gift of Jesus’ righteousness frees and empowers us to act generously.   Righteousness and generosity (tsadaq and tsadaqah), come from the same Hebrew root. They are two sides of a coin, and are often coupled together in Scripture, e.g., Psalm 37:21, 25, 26. Generosity is righteousness in action, sharing our resources with others.  

Jesus promised that those who yearn to be generous and willingly use their resources to meet others needs, will never go hungry. The word “filled” has to do, not with being filled with righteousness but with satisfying physical hunger.

There is something reciprocal about the way God treats us. Whenever we do something to meet the needs of others, God responds by meeting our needs. This requires faith. Everything we do to make some else’s life better, with humility and meekness, is a seed that produces a harvest of righteousness. All of God’s resources come to us in seed form. To reap a harvest, the seed needs to be sown. God’s resources can all be recycled. When we give to someone in need with a generous heart, we create a current which will always come back to us.

In the world system, people try to find happiness by acquiring things. Because things can only produce temporary pleasure, they have to acquire more things to maintain their pleasure for a while. God’s way of happiness is lasting because it results in a change of heart and disposition that reproduces that character of Jesus.