Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Matthew 5:6-8 NIVUK
I feel privileged to have lived through the 1980s simply because of the ‘people power’ movements that took place then. For example: the protests at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the anti-apartheit movement in South Africa, the sudden fall of communist governments all across Eastern Europe.
They were, indeed, heady days.
But what followed in the 1990s was far from it.
War in the Arab Gulf.
Two horrific wars in the Balkans.
And nowadays, we have ‘people power’ movements that demand for rights that will put others in danger.
Where have we gone so badly wrong?
These verses, the next three rungs on the Beattitude ladder, tell us very clearly.
Firstly, it talks of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
But what is righteousness?
Apart from a sense of being right with God through Christ, the Greek word used here also refers to integrity, virtue, purity of life, correctness of thinking, feeling and acting. It can also refer to a sense of justice in which each receives what they are due.
In other words, it is an inner desire to do, say and think the right thing, which then radiates out to other people and society as a whole.
In short – a positive influence on society.
This to me means that there is a huge gulf between righteousness and what many today are demanding.
Let me give you a practical example.
Not long ago, there were bad-tempered protests in George Square in Glasgow: one demanding the right for people to switch genders more easily; others demanding the opposite because they believe it endangers women. Those protests were so impassioned that the police had to keep them apart.
Were the people the people there hungering and thirsting after righteousness?
We might think that some were at least, but as some of the banners advocated violence and the police had to be called, I would say ‘No’.
There is a huge difference between hungering and thirsting for society to be fair and equitable, and at the same time, seeking to impose your will by force on other people without consent. The former is just; the latter is clearly unjust.
It is also not possible to demand righteousness in others while your inner life us contorted why unrighteous hatred towards those who oppose you.
Jesus says that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled. They are happy. They are blessed.
This, again, seems to be a contradiction. People who hunger and thirst for change, I’m themselves and others, and battle against the status quo, are not usually a picture of happiness.
Yet they will be filled.
How? By getting their way?
No, by finding this righteousness in God. By realising that He is righteous; He is just; He is fair; He is holy. And when we find Him, we are truly satisfied.
This doesn’t mean that we stop fighting for justice. Far from it. However, we know deep down that our ultimate quest for better will be met in God.
So what about the next Beattitude?
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Matthew 5:7 NIVUK
For time immemorial, human beings have sought to impose their will on the other and become bitter when this has failed.
The dreadful inhumanity of war – any war – is a big example of this.
Unfortunately we never learn our lessons. There are many in society who can only accept democracy if it goes their way and are happy to rise up and rebel if it doesn’t.
We have become a society of sore losers. And no wonder: if we raised our kids since kindergarten to not experience it, what do we expect?
Mercy, on the other hand, is the compassionate treatment of those in distress. The word comes from a Latin root – the word merces, which means ‘price paid’. In Greek, it means empathy with those in need which shows itself in action, and is rooted in the grace God shows to us.
If we show mercy, we have a keen eye to lift up victims of struggle, regardless of whose side they are on. We don’t see their affinity; we only see their affliction.
Mercy will see the casualties of struggle and seek to end it to prevent creating more casualties; it will not demand that they pay for the crimes of their leaders.
I don’t think that Jesus placed it after the Beattitude on hungering and thirsting for righteousness by accident.
Often, in our hunger and thirst, we forget those who are left behind and trample all over them – sometimes even purposefully. A merciful person cannot do this.
A merciful person will see the price that Jesus Christ paid for them, even while they were His enemy (Romans 5:6-11) and will not demand revenge on others (see Matthew 18:21-35). They will leave revenge with God (Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30).
And it is because of this mercy that they receive mercy from God.
The last of the three Beattitudes for this post is equally as challenging:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Matthew 5:8 NIVUK
This is quite some statement.
Someone who is pure in heart has completely selfless motivations and intentions. They do not manipulate or ‘spin’ events for their own undue personal gain.
They are, in essence, quintessentially trustworthy people who live in the light (1 John 1:5-10).
And because of their integrity, they have a supreme prize:
They see God.
Before Jesus came, only one person in all of history saw God, and even then he only saw His back (Exodus 33:18-23).
This truly is a blessing.
These three rungs up the Beattitude ladder are truly challenging. We have people who hunger and thirst for righteousness – in themselves primarily, but also in others, who show mercy to the hurting and the fallen and have pure, unsullied motivations and emotions.
There are some situations where you just have to admit that a standard is just too high to reach in human strength, but you need God to get you there.
This, without a doubt, is one of them.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I long to be a person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, but is merciful and has a pure heart, but it seems way out of reach. Help me, Lord, to become someone like this, who is truly blessed. Amen.
Questions
1. When someone hungers and thirsts for righteousness, in themselves and others, who is it that eventually quenches this? How?
2. How can you be merciful to the broken and hurting people around you? What would make you a better winner, or loser?
3. How hard is it to be pure in heart, with selfless motivation? Do you need God to help you with this?
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