a better hunger and thirst

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

Matthew 5:6

Jesus set the standards for His kingdom to be totally contrary to those of this world. It begins with the very concept of blessing. The Jews that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount to were driven by a notion of gaining from a spiritual leader’s blessing. Rabbis were sought out to grant blessings. The crowd expected Jesus to bless them somehow. The Abrahamic Covenant promised blessing to all who blessed Israel. But Jesus adds a new twist. His blessings are not tied to the Old Covenant, but instead are antithetical to what blessings were traditionally viewed to be. Case in point: hunger and thirst are a blessing.

For those who truly hunger and thirst after righteousness, a blessing is promised by Jesus. The followers of Jesus are fueled by an intensely different drive. We are called to turn from our selfish motives in order to truly understand what it is to be good, and to learn to adopt a spiritual hunger and thirst for God’s own righteousness. That means that personally, morally, and societally we long for God’s holy ways, and His righteous justice to always prevail. Sin and injustice drive us to hunger only for the holy. Evil and abuse make us thirsty for God to set things right.

And there is a treasure as we live in this holy tension. The promised blessing as it comes now and will be fully realized in Christ’s Kingdom gives rewards for our hunger and thirst… rich rewards of true blessing. When we long for righteousness and are driven by that soul-thirst to live and do righteously, Jesus promises that He will be our satisfaction. And in many ways that change in longing in and of itself, as the Holy Spirit of God works within us, can be the satisfaction itself. We learn never again to be truly satisfied with the false blessings of this world’s kingdoms. We can see through religiosity, politics, materialism, trendiness, and pride and look deeper to the truth in Jesus. We know He satisfies our holy hunger and quenches our thirst for a true, righteous blessing found only in Him!