Blessed are the Hungry and Thirsty (Matthew 5:6)

We are used to hunger as a picture of aspects of life. People can be described as hungry for success or hungry for power or hungry for significance. It can describe yearning, determination, ambition, passion, pursuit, and drive. Jesus used desire for food to illustrate his priorities when he said about himself, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work’ (John 4:34).

Hunger and thirst can be good or bad, depending on the circumstances. Having them in a desert with no possibility of them being met is a very bad experience. Yet having them when one knows the needs will be met is a very different happening. What causes the difference when the hunger and thirst are present? The former has no hope whereas the latter has hope because he knows his desire will be achieved.

Yet perhaps we are moving too far from the meaning of the illustration when we link it too severe hunger and strong thirst. Perhaps all that Jesus had in mind was a daily outlook that achieved something every day. Because we can eat and drink whenever we wish, we don’t really appreciate what used to be a normal feature of life, which was people were hungry before they had their daily food. In other words, Jesus could be saying that a believer has spiritual appetites even as everyone has physical appetites.

What righteousness is in view here? It would be possible to think that what is desired here is the righteousness of Christ, the law-keeping that he fulfilled on behalf of his people during his life on earth. That is not what is in mind here because those who have this strong desire for righteousness already have the righteousness of Christ imputed to them. This imputation, which happens at conversion, does not change them in character, although it is accompanied by other blessings that will bring profound and radical changes. A sinner who has been justified has also been adopted into God’s family, and as a consequence how has the Holy Spirit indwelling him with the aim of conforming him to the image of Jesus.

Another option here would be to think that Jesus is thinking about the divine attribute of righteousness. One day, we will see divine righteousness in action, and that day will be the Day of Judgement. Paul informed the philosophers of Athens of this coming day when he said to them that God ‘has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead’ (Acts 17:31). On that day, everyone will experience righteousness and God’s name will be honoured. Perhaps we would wish to include this day of righteousness in the range of righteousness that a disciple longs for. Yet I think righteousness here refers to something else.

The righteousness that is in view here is obedience to the law of God, what we can call true creaturely righteousness. This expression of righteousness can be observed from different viewpoints, and we can think of several of them in our service today.

Personal righteousness

The first observation to make about such a disciple is that he desires personal righteousness. A Christian always knows that he can improve in his discipleship as long as he is in this world. He is aware that he needs to improve in his inner state and his outward walk. While he can say that he is not what he was, he also has to say that he is not what he should be.

Paul is used in the New Testament as an example of discipleship. I am not aware that any mistakes or sins of Paul after his conversion are recorded in the New Testament. The sins of the men who were the first disciples of Jesus are recorded, and some of them, such as Peter, are stated in detail. But concerning Paul, none are highlighted. What is highlighted is how he saw himself when he looked within. He wrote about himself in Romans 7:24, ‘Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?’ Even as a man in his sixties, he said that he was the chief of sinners in a letter to Timothy. Yet although he knew that about himself, he was not despondent because he knew that Jesus would bring about such a change in him that would enable him to be sinless

Another way that Paul uses to describe his desire for personal righteousness is his use of illustrations to describe personal growth. He likens himself to an athlete running according to the rules, or to a boxer who beats himself, or to a soldier that fights against sin. Those illustrations show the intensity with which he hungered and thirsted after righteousness. It was paramount in his life, his priority every day, and he was determined to pursue it through him working out what God was working into him.

Public righteousness

It is important to note that Jesus is not addressing people as individuals when he lists the beatitudes. Instead, he speaks to them as members of a group of disciples, or as those who belonged to his church. We can see this aspect of desiring righteousness in other passages in the Bible.

For example, take the common term ‘saints’ that is used to describe believers in Jesus. It is fact that the term is never used in a singular way in the New Testament. On each occasion, the plural is used. Could there be a hint in this detail of the importance of corporate holiness in a congregation? The word ‘saint’ means separated person, one set apart to God. God separated them from the power of sin when they were converted and separated them to follow after holiness.

From the moment of conversion, every Christian desires holiness. Whenever Christians meet, they are meeting those in whom God has planted this desire. This was true of the disciples who heard Jesus say this, and it should be true of all disciples. I wonder what the disciples would have spoken about together after hearing this description of themselves.

One cannot be holy in isolation. How do we know this? Because of the emphasis the Bible places on brotherly love. Brotherly love is more than having a nice attitude to other Christians, or even a secret affection for them. It does right things for them. The apostle John says that a failure to engage practically with other Christians is evidence that the love of God is not in us.

Perfect righteousness

We mentioned earlier that a Christian has strong righteous desires because he has a hope. In the Bible, the idea concerning hope is not a vague aspiration but a definite expectation. It is a living hope, and because it is alive it affects those who have it with longing for its realisation. One verse that speaks to this wonderful future is found in 2 Peter: ‘But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells’ (2 Pet. 3:13).

We might have expected the apostle to say ‘where love dwells’ or ‘where joy dwells’, but he is guided to say ‘where righteousness dwells’. The basic meaning is that righteousness will be at home there and that righteousness will mark everything there. It is impossible now in our sin-stained situation to describe how believers will feel on that wonderful day. They will be overjoyed, delighted, grateful, loving every moment and every aspect of the eternal world. Each of them will have righteous thoughts, righteous emotions and righteous actions.

Some closing thoughts

We cannot live righteously in a biblical sense until we have been forgiven by God and received from him forgiveness for our sins. We could say that those who have the imputed righteousness of Jesus will also have the imparted righteousness produced in their hearts and lives by the Holy Spirit.

Many people are bothered about a lack of assurance. Usually, assurance and love for righteousness go together. After all, God loves righteousness, and we would expect his people to love it as well. So if we find that we love righteousness with an intensity that drives us to live righteously, then we can deduce that God is working in our lives.

There is a verse by Paul in Romans 6:13 that is very challenging. He says, ‘Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.’ He says that we have to do two things when expressing dedication to God. First, we have to present ourselves to God as those who are spiritually alive. Second, we have to take each of our bodily members and present each of them to God. We have to take our eyes, our ears, our tongues, our hands, our feet, our minds, our emotions, our wills and present them in a particular way to God.

In the words of Thomas Chalmers, ‘Did you at one time put forth your hand to depredation or violence – now let it be the instrument of service to your neighbour and honest labour for your families. Did your feet carry you to the haunts of profligacy – now let them carry you to the house of prayer and of holy companionship. Did your tongue utter forth evil speakings – let it now be the organ of charity and peace, and let the salt of grace season its various communications. Did your eyes go abroad in quest of foolishness – let the steadfast covenant now be made with them that they may be turned away from every intruding evil. Did you give your ears to the corrupting jest, or to the refined converse that is impregnated with every charm but that of Christianity – let them now be given up to the lessons of eternal wisdom, and to the accents of those who fear the Lord and talk often together of His name. In this way you turn your members into so many instruments of righteousness.’

Why did Jesus die for his people on the cross? No doubt, we can give several answers to that question. One of the answers is found in 1 Peter 2:24: ‘He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.’