The Second Blessing of the Beatitudes: Those Who Hunger and Thirst for God’s Righteousness Will Be Satisfied by God’s Salvation!

The Second Blessing of the Beatitudes:

Those Who Hunger and Thirst for

God’s Righteousness Will Be Satisfied

by God’s Salvation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied …” (Luke 6:21a)

 

 

 

I would like to receive the lessons given through meditating on this word:

 

(1)   I would like to receive the lessons given as I meditate on the first half of Luke 6:21, the second blessing of the Beatitudes, in connection with Matthew 5:6, which says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

 

(a)    Here, the phrase “those who hunger” comes from the Greek word πεινῶντες (peinōntes), which is used as a present participle.  It does not indicate a temporary hunger but a continuous, ongoing state of hunger.  This physical hunger is reinterpreted with a spiritual meaning in Matthew 5:6 as “hungering for righteousness.”  The object of this “hunger” (peinōntes) and “thirst” (dipsōntes) is said to be “righteousness” (dikaiosynēn) (Hochma).

 

(i)               This physical longing (hunger and thirst) does not refer to the bodily starvation that all people living on this earth experience, but to a severe spiritual famine caused by not hearing the word of God (Ps. 42:2; 63:1; 107:9; Amos 8:11–14).  This hunger and thirst are the spiritual desires of new life experienced by those who have been born again in the Spirit (Jn. 3:3, 5) (Alford, Hochma).  Therefore, Jesus tells His disciples to pursue righteousness—the spiritual desire of new life—with the same urgency with which a hungry and thirsty traveler seeks food and water (cf. Internet).

 

·        When I meditated on this passage, Psalm 42:1–2 came to mind: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When shall I come and appear before God?”

 

-        And as I meditated on this deer’s “thirst” and the psalmist’s “longing” for God, I reread something I had written in my book “The Brokenhearted”: “Despair is not only a good opportunity to long for the Lord, but ultimately an opportunity God gives us so that, with nowhere else to turn in the world or in ourselves, we may look only to the Lord and hope in Him.”  I also reread these writings I had written about “despair,” “longing,” and “hope”:

 

n  “We need to be disappointed.  We even need to despair.  For only then can we long for God and hope in Him.”

 

n  When we are deeply discouraged and in despair because of unspeakable hardships, we must long for and hope in the Lord all the more, because the only One who knows the path we should take is the Lord (cf. Ps. 142:3, 6).

 

n  “As we despair while seeing each other’s miserable condition, withering away because of our sins, may we long for our Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to forgive our sins, and may we place our hope in Him alone” (Ezek. 3:17; 1 Pet. 2:24; Ps. 39:7; 62:5; 119:166, 174).

 

n  “Even in discouragement and even despair, we desire that our souls would long only for God and rejoice in hope.”

 

n  Even as I am discouraged because of myself, I look to the Lord. Even in despair, I hope in the Lord. When I long for the Lord, He restores my soul, enables me once again to look to Him, and makes Him my hope. Because of God who does this, even today I move forward in faith toward the kingdom of hope.

 

(ii)             Then what is this “righteousness” (Mt. 5:6)—the spiritual desire of new life—that we are to long for with urgency and a thirsty heart?

 

·        The word “righteousness” appears about 500 times in the Old Testament and 225 times in the New Testament (Achtemeier).  It has roughly three main meanings (Swanson):

 

-        First, “righteousness,” “what is right,” or “justice.”  Matthew 5:10 says: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 

-        Second, “to be put right with someone” or “to be in a right relationship with.”  Romans 1:17 says: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

 

-        Third, religious observances such as laws or rituals required by a religion.  Matthew 6:1 says: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”  In Matthew 5:6, the “righteousness” Jesus speaks of is the first meaning—justice or righteousness.

 

·        The “righteousness” that the Pharisees, the religious leaders in Jesus’ time, pursued was self-righteousness.  They tried to obtain salvation by keeping the Law of Moses, relying on their own righteousness derived from the Law.  This is the defining characteristic of legalism—self-righteousness.  “Self-righteousness” refers to an attitude of standing before God while relying on one’s own religious deeds (Internet).  Biblically speaking, this is “righteousness based on works of the law.”  The Pharisees strictly kept the Law and firmly believed that they were righteous (Lk. 18:9), and that through their own righteousness they could be justified before God and obtain salvation.

-        This is truly foolish behavior, because no one can ever be justified before God or obtain salvation through human effort or works.  Romans 3:20 clearly states: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”  Galatians 2:16 says: “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ … because by works of the law no one will be justified.”  In other words, a person is never justified by works of the law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ.

 

·        Therefore, the “righteousness” Jesus speaks of in Matthew 5:6 is not the “self-righteousness” that the Pharisees believed in and pursued.  Righteousness obtained by keeping the law or doing good deeds is not the righteousness Jesus means. It is not human righteousness, but the righteousness of God.

 

-        Romans 3:21–22 says: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law … the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”  The “righteousness of God” here refers to the righteousness of God revealed apart from the law, testified to by the Old Testament, and based on the redemption of Jesus Christ.  “Redemption” originally referred to paying a price to buy a slave; thus it means “to pay a price” or “to give a ransom.”  The redemption of Jesus Christ means that Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross, paying the price with His own life on behalf of us sinners, forgiving all our sins and saving us.  On this basis, God justifies us freely when we believe in Jesus Christ (v. 24).  On the basis of the blood of Jesus Christ (v. 25), God forgives all our sins and sets us free from sin (Acts 13:38).

 

n  Therefore, like the Pharisees, we have nothing to boast about (v. 27), because we were not justified before God on the basis of anything we did.  Rather, the reason we boast in the Lord is that He clothed us with the righteousness of God and declared us righteous.

 

·        Those who hunger and thirst for this righteousness of God are the blessed ones, and the blessing they will enjoy is that they will be filled or satisfied, as Jesus says in Matthew 5:6.

 

-        This reminds me of the hymn “Come, Ye Thirsty”: (Verse 1) “Come, all you thirsty, come and drink; here flows a goodly spring. Though you have no strength or merit, come and drink of it.”  (Verse 4) “This life is the fountain of life, always clear like crystal; from the throne of the Lamb it flows, the fountain of living water never ceases.”

 

n  When I think of this hymn, Isaiah 55:1–2 also comes to mind: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?  Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”

 

(iii)           When we long for the righteousness of God with urgency and a thirsty heart, the Lord says to us, “You shall be satisfied” (Lk. 6:21; cf. Mt. 5:6).  As I meditated on this, Luke 1:53a came to mind: “He has filled the hungry with good things …”

 

·        This verse is part of Mary’s song, the mother of the baby Jesus.  Rejoicing in God her Savior (v. 47), she praises God’s plan of salvation, singing that the God of mercy (v. 54) has looked upon the humble state of His servant (v. 48) and “has filled the hungry with good things” (v. 53).

 

-        Here, the Greek word for “good things” is ἀγαθῶν (agathōn).  It does not simply mean material abundance, but the greatest good God gives to the hungry and poor—abundant saving grace, spiritual satisfaction, and God’s grace and blessings that meet all the needs of their lives.  In particular, it symbolizes God’s just saving work of filling the hungry and sending the rich away empty (internet).

 

n  This word “good” (agathon) also appears in Romans 8:28—“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good (agathon), for those who are called according to his purpose”—and in Philippians 1:6—“He who began a good (agathon) work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

 

#    Here, “good” means that for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, all things work together to accomplish salvation (Rom. 8:28), and that God, who began the work of salvation in us, will bring it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6).

 

n  This word “good” (agathōn) also appears twice in Jesus’ words: “Why do you call me good (agathou)? No one is good (agathos) except God alone” (Mt. 19:17; Mk. 10:18; Lk. 18:19).

 

#     Here, “good” means that only God is the One who saves. Therefore, the prophet Jonah confessed in faith: “… Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Jonah 2:9).