Blessed are Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; 

and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 

Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

‘Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. 

‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for
    righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are you when people revile you and 

persecute you and utter all kinds of evil 

against you falsely on my account.  

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, 

for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Setting the Scene:  Points to remember … 

• Beatitudes => Blessing
• Blessings => “a deep joy in God’s presence”   
• Sermon on the Mount => Jesus sets context for ministry and talks about the kingdom of heaven => or reign of God 
• Kingdom of heaven/reign of God => knowing God as sovereign ruler, living in the will of God, kingdom as already here but not yet fully realized …   

Foundation of the blessings in 3rd verse, knowing who we are in relation to God … living in total dependence upon God
 

Jesus tells us we are blessed when we hunger and thirst for righteousness.   The Greek word translated hunger is peinao {pi-nah'-o} which means to crave ardently and to seek with eager desire in a metaphorical sense.  Thirst is translated from dipsao {dip-sah'-o} which means to painfully feel desire and eagerly long for those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened. 

If we can manage to really connect with what Jesus is saying here, we understand that he is talking about a painful spiritual longing deep within our heart, the center of our being.  What are we longing for?    It is a longing for “righteousness.”   

The concept of righteousness has its roots deeply embedded in the Hebrew of the Old Testament.  The Hebrew word translated righteousness over 500 times is tsaddiyq {tsad-deek'} which means quite simply, justice.   Both God and people are described as being “righteous” or “just.”   These words are almost interchangeable.   The Law of Moses was written in an attempt to give the people guidelines so that they knew how to live a righteous life, a life in “right” relationship with God and with people.  Unfortunately, as human beings we often seek to be “right” without being in “relationship” with God and with others.  We refer to this arrogant attitude as “self-righteousness.”

Turning to the New Testament, the Greek word translated righteousness over 225 times is dikaiosune {dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay} which means, in a broad sense, the state of one who is as he/she ought to be, in a condition acceptable to God.  We are “made right” with God through “just”ifying grace, which is a gift of God in Christ.  Because of our hunger and thirst for God, we continue to seek God. As we seek God, we grow in righteousness (right relationship with God) through sanctifying grace.

We long for a healthy relationship with God and others. We come to God with profound emptiness.  And we are chortazo {khor-tad'-zo}, which means our longing is fulfilled or satisfied by God.  

Making Connections:  Have you ever been painfully hungry or thirsty?  How did your pain manifest itself in your body?  How was the pain satisfied (alleviated)? 

Going Deeper:  Jesus attracted a lot of people with his teaching, preaching, and healing.  Just like Jesus, many of those people were the poor and disadvantaged of the Jewish community.   Jesus often used easily relatable situations to help his listeners understand his teachings as he gave people hope in a world of hopelessness.  In this case, he used the common feelings of hunger and thirst when speaking to a spiritually starved people who had, most likely, truly suffered from real, raw hunger and thirst.  They might have been feeling the pain of starving bellies and the parched throats of an arid land that very day.   It may have been a day much like this one … from Mark 8:1-8.  
In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, ‘I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.’ His disciples replied, ‘How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?’ He asked them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ They said, ‘Seven.’ Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.

Many commentators tell us that the real miracle was that Jesus inspired the sharing of food resources … It brings to life this recent quote from June Kim, in an article found in New World Outlook magazine, “It is not a question of whether there is enough food but a matter of accessibility and equal distribution to all people.” 

• How does this commentary challenge you?

Pondering:   It IS hard to imagine that every single day there are people in the world dying of starvation (almost 16,000 children/day=one child every five seconds) and from lack of clean water to drink (2.2 million/year).  But as the statistics show us, it happens. 

And here we are with our full bellies, many of us just as spiritually starved and parched as others are physically.  We simply don’t know it.  We suffer from an emptiness that we try to fill with all kinds of things that will never satisfy us for God is not found within them.  Each of us has our own weak spots that we try to fill to the brim!   

• Have you ever felt a sense of longing for God?
• How painful was your longing?
• How did you seek satisfaction for your longing?
• Looking at any vessel, we find that emptiness is a prerequisite for being filled.  Have you ever felt a sense of spiritual emptiness?   
• How is emptiness different from longing?  
• How is emptiness the same as longing?
• Can you describe the spiritual emptiness within?
• What are the things that you try fill up your emptiness with?  What works?  What doesn’t?
• Challenge:  Fast a meal and allow your body to give you a sense of spiritual hunger.  With each pang, turn to God with prayers of longing and allow God to fill you ...

Prayer:  from Psalm 42:1-6a
As the deer longs for flowing streams,
   so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
while people say to me continually,
   ‘Where is your God?’
These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,
   and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
   a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
   and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again sing praises,
   my help and my God. 
 

If music is a pathway to God for you, find and listen to an arrangement of … 

As the Deer ...
As the deer pants for the water
So my soul longs after you
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship you
You can find a fine arrangement of this song at: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkdN_M7OrPg&feature=related