Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Proverbs 3:27-28
Cotton Mather, a Puritan preacher, once said, "The opportunity to do good imposes the obligation to do it." He is implying that we have been favored when an opportunity to serve in this manner arises. We are not to do it only when it is convenient or when it will contribute to our fame, but we should do it when we have opportunity, no matter how often it occurs or how much self-denial it takes.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part Four: Hungering and Thirsting After Righteousness
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Matthew 5:6
At first, the question "What is righteousness?" may seem like a "no-brainer" because we know it means "rectitude," or more simply, "right doing." By quoting Psalm 119:172, "All Your commandments are righteousness," we feel equipped with a direct biblical definition of this important biblical concept. None of these is wrong, but the Bible's use of "righteousness" is both specific and broad—so broad that in some places it is treated as a synonym of salvation itself (Isaiah 45:8; 46:12-13; 51:5; 56:1; 61:10). Though the Bible uses "righteousness" so broadly, its comparison with "salvation" does not help us much in understanding it because "salvation" is one of the Bible's most comprehensive terms. Since none of us has fully experienced salvation, we look through a glass darkly trying to comprehend it. Righteousness is used in a similar sense in the very familiar passage given in Matthew 6:33, where Jesus commanded, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Here it has the sense of seeking all of God's spiritual blessings, favor, image, and rewards. We see in this verse not only a broad New Testament application of the term but also, more importantly, its priority to life. This dovetails perfectly with the hunger-and-thirst metaphor. It is not enough to ambitiously yearn to accomplish. According to Jesus, God's Kingdom and His righteousness are the very top priorities in all of life. Seeking God's righteousness is that important.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part Four: Hungering and Thirsting After Righteousness
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Matthew 5:6
This beatitude is a positive consequence of the first three: poor in spirit, mourning, and meekness. Hungering and thirsting are positive actions that come from those three seemingly negative attitudes. So, combined, they are a Godward-looking desire of one who realizes his spiritual poverty, his grief over his sins, and his lowliness. Such a person knows that, after seeing these things in himself, the only worthwhile direction to turn is to God and His righteousness. At first, this beatitude seems straightforward, but many otherwise intelligent people have misinterpreted what Jesus says. So, to have a proper basis of understanding, we need to start with a bit of grammar. We need to understand this because the Greek tells us how we are supposed to understand this. The words "hunger" and "thirst" in Greek are present tense, active participles, which implies continuous application. We could probably get a better sense of the force of Jesus' thinking here by considering them as not "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," but "Blessed are those who are hungering and are thirsting for righteousness." So, one could say, "Since Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,' and I have done that once or twice, I guess I've fulfilled this beatitude." But when we realize that the beatitude suggests a person is hungering and is thirsting after righteousness, it means that he is continuing to do so. Christ expects His disciples to have this desire all the time. He never wants us to slack in our pursuit of being righteous and doing righteousness. This attitude must be constant and wholehearted in a Christian. It is a perpetual, healthy, hearty spiritual appetite because we need it; otherwise, we will die spiritually. That idea should be in our heads: We need spiritual food and drink just as our bodies need their physical counterparts. From God's point of view, the presence of this attitude of always hungering and always thirsting after Him and His righteousness shows Him our desire for Him and like Him, to be righteous, pure, and holy as He is.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
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Matthew 5:6
The Greek word for "righteousness" is dikaiosyne (Strong's #1343). In the book of Matthew, dikaiosyne specifically does not carry the sense of imputed righteousness. Protestant theology demands that it does; Matthew does not. That sense of dikaiosyne, imputed righteousness, does not appear anywhere in Matthew's gospel. Nor does it deal with political or social justice to any great extent. In Matthew, "righteousness" is personal righteousness as it comes out in conduct: right-doing. According to Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, "While dikaiosyne, righteousness, can be translated as justice, that sense is only faintly present. Of course, the poor, the grieving, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, all want God's justice to come and solve their earthly problems or redeem them from their troubles. But dikaiosyne has a different emphasis in Matthew." Then Vine tells us, "see 3:15," meaning see Matthew 3:15: "But Jesus answered and said to [John the Baptist], 'Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he allowed Him [to be be baptized]" (emphasis ours).
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
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Matthew 5:10
These people are persecuted for their righteousness. This righteousness is something that the disciples possess, which is why they are persecuted for it. But if they had it, and no one could see it or hear it—if it were just an internal state—they would never be persecuted. Somehow, this righteousness has been seen or heard, which indicates that they are actively doing it. So, they are persecuted because of what people can see or hear from them in their godly conduct or godly speech. They are persecuted for righteousness because it is a recognizable behavior that people see and persecute them for. Either they are speaking it or practicing it in some way. They are speaking good words, uplifting things, or they are doing something that people can see that they disagree with. They are doing some act of righteousness.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
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Matthew 5:20
The Pharisees' righteousness was all outward. The Pharisees would stand and pray in the open, give their alms in the open, and do all kinds of things so that people could see them. Jesus asserts that our righteousness has to be more than what they did. He is thinking along the lines of actual, practical righteousness. We must go beyond the Pharisees' acts of righteousness, and mostly, He speaks about doing acts of righteousness in secret, not in public but in private. But they are still acts of righteousness, personal conduct that reflects what God does. So, the righteousness He speaks of here is righteousness of behavior, of conduct. Jesus wants the conduct of His disciples to be far better than that of the Pharisees.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
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Matthew 21:32
John the Baptist came in the way of righteousness. He is not talking about just the instruction of righteousness. When the Bible speaks about a way, it is speaking about a walk, specifically the walk toward the Kingdom of God, that is, a set of behaviors that show progression toward the Kingdom of God. Jesus is saying that when John came, he did all these righteous acts that people could see. The Pharisees did not believe that the things John did was the way of righteousness, but He says here that the tax collectors and harlots did see them in Jesus, and they followed Him. They believed and began doing the things He was teaching and doing as an example of behavior.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
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2 Timothy 3:1
For us, a great deal of that peril exists in the multitude of visible, emotional, and audible distractions that occupy minds nurtured by television, movies, and radio. Through these mediums we invite the world and much of its appeal directly into our homes. We have come to tolerate television's intrusion into our lives. By means of the Internet, some of us have become information junkies, and others can hardly go anywhere without being accompanied by a playing radio. We need to honestly examine ourselves as to whether we are showing God that what this world bombards our minds with through these mediums is really what we hunger and thirst for. How are they preparing us for the Kingdom of God?
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part Four: Hungering and Thirsting After Righteousness
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Revelation 3:14-18
Laodicea means "the people judge." Consider that, for Jesus to give the church this name, a great deal of judging must be happening within it. Part of it relates to their judgment of their own spiritual condition (which is the opposite of God's judgment), but in addition, when people judge themselves to be "in need of nothing," it becomes easy for them to judge others by their personal standards. While revealing in itself, this becomes even more serious when we remember what makes a judgment righteous. In John 5:30, Jesus says that He judged according to what He heard, implying that He was hearing from the Father. This explains why His judgment was righteous—because He sought the Father's will rather than His own. Once He had heard His Father's will, then He could make a true and righteous judgment. With the church in Laodicea, the people are judging, and the implication is that they are judging according to themselves. They are not seeking the will of Christ, and being too distant from Him to hear His words, they cannot make a true judgment. The people are judging, but they are doing so unrighteously. As another contrast, in the letter's salutation, Jesus calls Himself "the Faithful and True Witness." He was, and is, a perfect representation of the Father. He tells Philip, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). The Father and the Son are one in mind, purpose, will, and character. Because of the closeness of their relationship, Jesus perfectly reflects the image of the Father. Likewise, our ability to be witnesses of God depends on how much we resemble Him in mind, purpose, will, and character. Yet if that relationship is growing cold, the image that we project will be neither faithful nor true. We will project the image of whatever has our attention, and in most cases, it will be some aspect of this world. In Revelation 3:15, Jesus says that, based on their works, the Laodiceans "are neither cold nor hot." They are neither invigorating and refreshing on the one hand nor cleansing and healing on the other. They do produce works, but they are not the good works that God prepared beforehand for them (Ephesians 2:10). Because their works are so distasteful to Him, He vomits the individuals out, violently ejecting them from His Body. In God's instructions to Israel, He warns them that the land would "vomit them out" if they defiled it and themselves by not obeying Him (Leviticus 18:24-29). This warning appears in a passage about not following the ways of neighboring nations—to be separate and distinct from the surrounding culture. This relates to the letter to Laodicea because Laodiceanism can be defined as a subtle form of worldliness. A Christian not fully committed to taking on the image of Christ will passively conform to the culture around him. The end result is a poor—even contrary—witness because the Laodicean looks more like the world than like his High Priest! In such a state, any works performed will be of no value to the Creator God. His vomiting them out for being lukewarm is tied to their self-assessment of riches and wealth: "So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:16-17, ESV). They judge themselves as already complete. They are not hungering and thirsting after righteousness—they already feel full. They are not seeking out the richness of a relationship with Christ—they have other "riches" that make them feel wealthy. They fail to recognize their poverty of spirit. Because of this, any works performed will be abhorrent to Christ since the works do not involve Him—they are self-directed and leave Him on the outside looking in. By way of contrast, Paul knows that he is wretched, and it drives him to thankfulness for Christ (Romans 7:24-25). In the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, the tax collector likewise recognizes his sinfulness, and it motivates him to seek God (Luke 18:9-14). The tax collector is justified rather than the one doing the "good" works without God. Verse 18 contains Jesus' counsel to the Laodiceans: "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see." Though these are commands for the individual, none of them can be accomplished unilaterally. They can be done only through drawing closer to Jesus Christ.
David C. Grabbe
The Relationship Deficit (Part Three)
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