“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”
The righteousness that the Lord speaks of here can seem a bit ambiguous. The word righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) is used at times to refer to personal righteousness: Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. But this word can also be translated as “justice,” which requires more of a social focus.
What the Lord has in mind here can be nothing short of righteousness in all its forms and in every sphere of human existence. The Lord wants sinful men to receive his imputed righteousness in justification and that they might then, in turn, live righteous and fruitful lives. And when groups of these men get together to form churches, cities, and states, the inevitable result is a righteous and just society built upon the law of God. When such societies exist, they promote the true religion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which in turn causes more sinners to believe in the Lord Jesus and receive his imputed righteousness. And on and on the cycle goes, world without end.
But if that is the case, if the Lord blesses a hunger and thirst for righteousness in all its forms, it ought to raise the stakes for us and humble us.
It raises the stakes for us by keeping us ever aware of two ditches. This sort of thinking keeps us from getting comfortable in a pietistic bubble of individual and emotional religion that has no concern for love of neighbor in the cultural or political space. Christ will have just cultures. Christ will have just politics.
At the same time, this keeps us from falling down the ditch of the social Gospel that cares little for personal adherence to the law of God, and that seeks to redefine “justice” according to the latest trending fads in the media.
And it ought to humble us. Christ uses the analogy of hunger and thirst. It’s as if he says, “Blessed are those who are empty, who have no righteousness in themselves.” Their emptiness reminds them of their great need and desire for that which only the Lord can provide. The promise is that such persons will be filled, not that they will fill themselves. We bring our emptiness, and the Lord fills us to the brim. We bring our hunger, and he satisfies us. James reminds us that we cannot anxiously grasp after righteousness. Anger does not produce the righteousness of God. Righteousness is a good gift from his hand if only we as individuals, as a church, and as a people would recognize our great need for it, desire it with utter desperation, and cling to the promise here. Should we do that, we shall be filled.
Zach Wilke – February 25, 2024
