Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Matthew 5:6

“Righteous” is not a word that is used too often outside church settings, but it certainly is important in the Bible. It is a word that is used 18 times in Matthew’s Gospel alone. When John the Baptist was unwilling to baptize Jesus, for example, Jesus told him that he must, “for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness, but also to call us to that same righteousness. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). And in his fourth beatitude, Jesus blesses all “who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). 

Jesus clearly wants us to seek this righteousness, to hunger and thirst for it. He wants us to put him first in our life, and to live in the way that he teaches, in the way that is right in the eyes of God. And he blesses us when we do. But to hunger and thirst for righteousness means more than that, more than simply to want to please God. When we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we also want the world to look more and more like the kingdom of God. We hunger and thirst for our world to be righteous.

What would it look like for our world to be good, right, and just? For our world to be a place where no one goes to bed hungry, and where every child of God knows that they are God’s beloved? What would our world look like if it was ruled by love and mercy, rather than fear, greed, and anger? What will our world look like when Jesus returns, the kingdom comes, and God’s will is finally and fully done “on earth as it is in heaven”? To long for this world to look like heaven is also to hunger and thirst for righteousness. 

This might sound rather vague, but not to Jesus. He comes back to this theme toward the end of Matthew’s gospel, in his great account of the final judgment in Matthew 25. When the Son of Man comes, sits on his glorious throne, and judges us, what will he judge us for? Whether we fed the hungry, gave something to drink to the thirsty, took in the stranger, and cared for the sick. When we do these things for the “least of these,” Jesus tells us, we do them for him. And what does he call those who do these things? Righteous. 

To hunger and thirst for righteousness can be that simple. And when we do these things, Jesus promises us that we will be filled. Blessed by Jesus, hungry and thirsty no more, because our hunger and thirst for righteousness has led us directly to him. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for this, for they shall be filled.

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This is my fifth in a series of devotions on the Beatitudes in Matthew’s Gospel. You can find the others here: 

The Path of Blessedness
What Does It Mean to Be Poor in Spirit?
Mourning with Jesus
Who Are the Meek?