Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Matthew 5:6 NASB

(1) Do you remember the rich young ruler? Luke 18:18–27. He came to Jesus asking what he could do to inherit eternal life. He wanted eternal life — no doubt about that. But he did not want it as his chief joy and delight. Jesus’ instructions revealed that the rich young ruler’s life was wrapped up in things. He hungered and thirsted for more and more things. He was, at heart, an idolater who did not truly know Christ or eternal life.

(2) He wanted eternal life, but he did not want the holy life that accompanies eternal life — and because he wanted only one and not the other, he ended up with neither. If that describes you or me, then this message is for us today. So let us start with this question: What is it that you desire most? What you desire reveals your heart. I would dare say no one here desires to go to hell — everyone wants heaven. But that is not the issue. The issue is: Do you desire to be like Christ?

(3) For that desire — after repentance and asking the Lord Jesus into our heart — is what marks a Christian. Not simply someone going to heaven, but someone in whom Jesus Christ is revealing His own righteous life. The spiritual appetite Christ calls for is a desire to be like Christ, not merely to have the benefits of Christ. It is the desire to have Christ above everything the world offers. And it is a desire for Christ that does not give up or fade away.

(4) Especially when difficulties or demands arise. It is a desire for Christ that does not faint at the cost of true discipleship. It is a desire that cannot be put off by lesser things or procrastinated away while one chases after the world. Consider the apostle Paul’s spiritual growth. From his own descriptions, it appears that as he grew in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:17–18), he grew increasingly aware of his need for God’s righteousness.

(5) “Vs:17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, Vs:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:17–18 NASB
So as Paul grew, he became more aware of his ongoing need for God’s righteousness working in him.

(6) BLESSED — makarios (mak-ree-os) — means spiritually prosperous, independent of one’s circumstances because it is a state bestowed by God, not a feeling felt. It means fortunate, approved of God, and happy in a way that is independent of happenings. Notice: beginning with this Beatitude, we shift from examining self (Matthew 5:3–5) to turning our attention toward God. Some say this is one of the key Beatitudes because practicing this one helps unlock the rest.

(7) Unless we hunger and thirst after God’s righteousness, we will never know the fullness of everything He has promised to bless us with. David, who had been a hunter in his youth, wrote these words in Psalm 42:
“Vs:1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. Vs:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God? Vs:3 My tears have been my food day and night…”

(8) “…While they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ Vs:4 These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.” Psalms 42:1–4 NASB
This is not a mild hunger that could be satisfied with a mid-morning snack — this is the desperation of spiritual starvation.

(9) HUNGER — peinao (pay-now-o) — means to feel the sharp pangs of lacking food. Most NT uses speak of literal hunger. Jesus elevated feeding the hungry in His teaching in Matthew. In its figurative use, as in Matthew 5:6, hunger signifies a deep desire to attain a goal, with the implication that something essential is missing. One example is Luke 1:53:
“He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed.” Luke 1:53 NASB

(10) This same Greek word can refer to literal hunger, such as Lazarus’ condition in Luke 16:
“Vs:21 and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Vs:22 Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. Vs:23 In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.” Luke 16:21–23 NASB
So hunger can describe the intense desire for spiritual nourishment necessary for ongoing spiritual life.

(11) THIRST — dipsao (deep-sal-o) — describes a literal or figurative thirst. Here it pictures someone longing passionately for a drink of divine righteousness. This speaks not of the imputed righteousness given at justification but of our progressive growth in Christ’s righteousness — daily sanctification, holiness, and Christlikeness.

(12) The prophet Isaiah spoke of this thirst 700 years before Jesus’ sermon, recording Jehovah’s invitation in Isaiah 55:
“Vs:1 Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.” Isaiah 55:1 NASB
We are spiritually bankrupt (Matthew 5:3), yet God supplies the grace we lack. So He calls us to come, to eat, to drink, to receive without cost what we cannot purchase.

(13) THIRST — dipsao — shows us the urgency of this invitation. Why spend your life on what does not satisfy? Why pour your strength into what cannot feed your soul? God calls us to listen carefully, eat what is good, and delight ourselves in the abundance He provides — the very abundance Jesus promises in Matthew 5:6, that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness “will be filled.”

(14) THIRST: The time is coming when the drawbridge of mercy will be pulled up. Therefore, we must avoid anything that dulls our appetite. Consider “windy things.” When the stomach is filled with wind, it has little appetite for food. Likewise, when someone is puffed up with a windy opinion of their own righteousness, they will not hunger after Christ’s righteousness. Those who are proud believe they already have enough grace — and therefore never hunger for more.

(15)Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. God alone fills the soul that longs for Him. The more we taste of His righteousness, the hungrier we become for His presence. This continual longing is part of our sanctification, drawing us nearer to Christ, whose righteousness satisfies perfectly and eternally.