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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after

righteousness for they shall be filled (Matthew 5:6)
There are few of us who have ever know what it is to be genuinely hungry or
thirsty but this metaphor was especially forceful in a country where the
average annual rainfall is not more than 26 inches.
We live in a situation in which we turn a tap and water flows immediately.
In that ancient world, men were dependent on streams and wells and there
might be a long distance between them.
A traveller who lost his way or who missed one of the few springs along the
way could easily find himself in real trouble. Still worse, a sand-storm
might come and all that a man could do was to turn his back to the biting
sand and hide his head in his hood, while his mouth and his throat and his
nostrils and lungs were filled with the fine sand which made him choke with
thirst.
Here Jesus is saying to all of us: Do you desire righteousness with that
intensity of desire with which a starving man desires food and a man
parched with thirst desires water?
It was this challenge that Jesus confronted the rich young ruler in Matthew
19:16-22. When Jesus asked him to sell all that he had so as to follow Him,
Jesus was in effect saying to him, Do you want eternal life as much as
that?
What is this righteousness (Greek dikaiosune) which we must thus pursue?
It has 3 meanings which are all possible and all relevant to the Christians.
a.

It is used of justice either for themselves or for others who are

suffering from injustice. Justice is seen here as that which is fair,
honest, clear and upright.

b.

It is also used of righteousness which is a pattern of life in conformity

to Gods will.

Simon Siew
Southeast Asia Union Mission

c.

Lastly it is used of justification, that is to be in a right relationship

with God.

This Beatitude makes clear four important things.

a.
It uncompromisingly lays down the demand of the Christian life.
Christianity is not for the interested or those who are attracted to it. It
is for those who desire righteousness as a matter of life and death.
The Christian does not say: I am interested in Christ. He says, For
me to live is Christ. Philippians 1:21.
b.

It is the experience of life that if a man desires a thing sufficiently, he

will get it. Only those who long for righteousness with the eager
anxiety of a man starving for lack of food or famishing for want of
water, will find it.

c.

It is not he who has attained righteousness who is called blessed but

he who hungers and thirsts after it. If the blessedness was for those
who had achieved it, it would be for none.

d.

This Beatitude tells us of the totality of Christian goodness. In Greek,

verbs of hungering and thirsting normally take the genitive case after
them which we express by the word of. In the phrase, a slice of
bread, of bread is in the genitive case. In other words, we do not want
the whole loaf but a part of the loaf of bread. However the case used
here is in the accusative. It means that the person involved wants all
the food and all the drink there is and not just part of it.

There are people whose moral character are without fault so to speak; they
are completely respectable, they do not swear or do anything wrong but they
are cold and hard and without sympathy. They are good but they are cold.
On the other hand, there are people who have all kinds of faults; they drink,
swear, cheat but their hearts are warm. If anyone else is in trouble, they
would give him the coat off their back or their last penny.
Each of them has a part of goodness but not the whole of it. The Christians
hungering and thirsting is for complete goodness and total righteousness.

Simon Siew
Southeast Asia Union Mission

No earthly source can satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul, whether it be
material riches, profound philosophies, the satisfaction to physical appetites
or honour or power.
After experimenting with all of these things, Solomon concluded that all is
vanity Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14.
Jesus Himself is the bread for which men should hunger and by partaking
of which they can sustain spiritual life and satisfy the hunger of their souls.
John 6:35.
As the body is continually receiving the nourishment that sustains life and
vigor, so the soul must be constantly communing with Christ, submitting to
Him and depending wholly upon Him Mount of Blessings page 19. The
words of God are the wellsprings of life Mount of Blessings page 20.
The Greek word which is used for filled is chortazesthai which means to
stuff a person full to the point of complete satiety. If a man hungers and
thirsts after righteousness, God will not send him empty but He will fill to
the brim.

Simon Siew
Southeast Asia Union Mission