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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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