Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
(Matthew 5:6)
Hunger and Thirst
We all know what it is to experience hunger or thirst, though perhaps not as much as those who gathered on the hillside to hear Jesus speak these words that day. For many of them, hunger and thirst were very serious dangers, indeed. We acknowledge that hunger and thirst are both recurring sensations that clamor to be filled, but our idea of hungering and thirsting after righteousness often stops short of the idea conveyed here by Jesus.
The Greek word Jesus chose to use has the idea of pinching toil to satisfy a need. It can mean to pine, to famish, or to crave. The idea is that of hunger so serious, so demanding, it must be satisfied immediately.
The word for thirst here simply means to thirst, but it is nevertheless a powerful picture, especially when we bear in mind that this beatitude was first spoken to those who lived in a place where water was precious and thirst an all-too often deadly danger.
As D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones puts it,
“To hunger and thirst really means to be desperate, to be starving, to feel life is ebbing out, to realize my urgent need of help.”*
This is a particularly strong sense of urgency, indeed, which Jesus uses to describe the Christian’s relationship to righteousness. I wonder… when was the last time you and I felt that kind of urgency to be ever increasing in righteousness?
“But,” you may ask, “What is righteousness?” The word translated righteousness means equity of character or act, specifically justification. It has an implication of holiness, innocence, justice; of being right in the sight of God.
To hunger and thirst after righteousness is to urgently desire to be free from sin, to be right with God: it is to chase after Christlikeness, not willing to settle for the passive absence of unconfessed sin, but to strive to be positively holy, purposely and intentionally working to live out the righteousness of Christ, leaving no room for apathy.
They Shall Be Filled
Notice the contrast between our deep, urgent, constant need and God’s ever sufficient abundance. When we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are blessed, or happy, because there is the certainty that we shall be filled.
The Greek word used here for filled has an association with the feeding of livestock. The idea is that of providing an animal with an abundant supply of fodder. Jesus is saying here that even our most desperate craving for righteousness can and will be fulfilled! There are several aspects to this:
Positional Righteousness
This is what the Bible calls justification. It is what happens the moment of salvation when God the Father accepts the blood of Christ as payment for our sins, forgiving our sins and declaring us righteous. The book of Romans deals with this concept of justification. Romans 3:23-26 describes it:
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of Him which believeth in Jesus.”
Notice, it is the righteousness of God that accomplishes and enables our justification. No righteousness of our own could ever have justified us in the eyes of an all-holy God, but as 1 Corinthians 5:21 explains,
“He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
It was Christ’s very righteousness that qualified Him to bear our sin, and which now enables the sinner to stand righteous in the sight of God.
Practical Righteousness
While we may be positionally righteous before God now, we still live with our own sin nature and the temptations of living in a sin-filled word. Scripture is clear that salvation frees us from the power of sin and fills us with the Holy Spirit, which gives us God’s power to live in His righteousness. This makes practical holiness a choice between serving sin and serving God.
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” (Romans 6:22)
That choice can be a struggle, however, and Scripture makes equally clear that it is possible for those made righteous through the blood of Christ to fail to live out practically the righteousness that is ours positionally. When this occurs, we must go back to God for forgiveness and restoration of our relationship with Him.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we need to be “re-saved,” for salvation is dependent upon the work of Christ on our behalf, not on whether or not we can be “good enough.” Salvation brings us into a new relationship with God: that of children. (Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:15) Sin necessarily strains that relationship with our holy Father, but though that relationship can be strained, it can never be dissolved. (John 10:28)
To restore the relationship, we need to confess our sin (agreeing with God that it was sin) and ask forgiveness, just like we would with a family member we have wronged.
1 John 1:9 tells us that,
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, the power to say no to sin is always there; we just have to choose to yield to God and access it, for,
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
This practical righteousness is, I think, what Christ had in mind (if indeed He did not mean all three applications to be made.) As His statement implies, the more we hunger and thirst after righteousness, the more we will be filled, and then hunger for more righteousness, only to be filled with even more! This craving and being satisfied can go on and on, for in our earthy bodies, the struggle to conquer self and sin is constant.
Promised Righteousness
Of course, this promise that hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled is to be fully and finally manifested upon our entrance into the presence of God, whether at the moment of death or the rapture. Then, we will be given glorified bodies with no sin nature to battle. Our hunger and thirst for righteousness will be completely and eternally satisfied.
It is no accident that the Greek word used for hunger in Matthew 5:6 is repeated in Revelation 7:16, saying of the great multitude worshipping before the throne of God:
“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
Revelation 21-22 gives another glimpse of what it will be like for us with God throughout eternity.
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”(21:4)
“It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” (20:6)
“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (20:27)
“And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no more night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” (21:3-5)
In that bright and blessed eternity, they that hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be perpetually and perfectly filled. –That will be happiness, indeed!
*D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount 81