Matthew 5: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

Lieutenant Thomas Morgan offers food for holy hunger.

Key texts

Matthew 5:6

This Beatitude stands as a powerful declaration within the Sermon on the Mount. It’s a statement that’s central to the Christian life, revealing a deep desire for the divine gift of righteousness. But what does it mean to ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’? How does this relate to the concept of personal holiness?

Pause and reflect

What do you understand ‘righteousness’ to be?

As used in this passage, the concept of righteousness encompasses more than mere outward obedience to moral rules. It speaks of a deep, inward conformity to God’s character – a state of being right with God and reflecting his nature. It’s a righteousness that comes from God, which we receive through faith in Jesus Christ. It’s righteousness – or holiness – that we’re called to pursue in every aspect of our daily lives.

This pursuit, as described by Jesus, is characterised by a ‘hunger and thirst’. Seeking God’s righteous character is not a casual desire; it’s a deep, consuming craving, akin to the physical pangs of a starving person. Such imagery speaks of an intense longing – a passionate desire that drives a person to seek God’s righteousness above everything else. To the fallen human heart, this hunger is not natural. It’s a Spirit-led stirring that awakens us to our spiritual need.

Pause and reflect

How much do you hunger and thirst for God?

In his book Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, David Martyn Lloyd-Jones emphasises the active and urgent nature of this hunger. It’s not something we simply wish for; it’s something we should be aiming for. We can do this by longing to be like Jesus in everything we do. Yet this longing to be more Christlike can only come when we fully acknowledge that we are sinners in complete need of divine love and forgiveness.

Renowned Army holiness teacher Commissioner Samuel Logan Brengle writes that holiness is not obtained merely by outward acts. We do not become holy simply by the likes of not drinking alcohol or smoking. Nor do we become holy by putting on a Salvation Army uniform. These should be outward signs of a life that’s already sanctified by God.

Our hunger and thirst for holiness come from surrendering every aspect of our lives to God. In doing so, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to the complete indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This indwelling helps us become more and more Christlike. And this surrender is not a one-time event. It’s not a tick-off item on the to-do list of Christian living. Such surrender is a daily dying to self and rising again as a new creation in Christ.

Pause and reflect

In what ways do you need to surrender to Christ each day?

In Matthew 4, the physically hungry Jesus faced temptation. In our spiritual hunger and thirst, we’ll be tempted by Satan to consume things that are harmful to us. Satan incites us to seek personal gain, to be worshipped for who and what we are and do, and to be in control of our lives rather than subject to the will of God.

We’re tempted by such a diet because it gives us instant gratification, something akin to a spiritual sugar rush. However, Satan tempts us with lies and falsehoods: such spiritual food and drink is not good for us. In his book Helps to Holiness, Brengle describes seekers after spiritual truth as those who ‘have longed for it more than for their necessary food’. Such truth is found only in Jesus Christ. When we seek the truth in every aspect of our lives, we notice how much we hunger for a holy life.

The promise of Jesus in Matthew 5:6 is that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ‘will be filled’ – or ‘satisfied’, as some translations put it. This filling or satisfaction is not merely a future hope; it’s a present reality. As we pursue God’s righteousness, he fills us with his presence and empowers us to live holy lives. This satisfaction comes from the indwelling Holy Spirit, who continually sanctifies us and conforms us to the image of Christ.

In an age of social media, instant news and quick fixes, many young people are seeking something beyond the realms of reality television and ‘like’s.

We live in a world where some people seek to present alternative truths, wanting to simply argue that a view that is different to theirs is ‘fake news’. For many people, the world is becoming increasingly confusing and scary. They don’t know who or what to believe. There are signs, however, of spiritual hunger. Earlier this year, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge reported an 87 per cent rise in Bible sales to under-40s between 2019 and 2024. In an age of social media, instant news and quick fixes, many young people are seeking something beyond the realms of reality television and ‘like’s.

In Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Lloyd-Jones writes that, if we want to be filled, we must not seek it through meetings that simply appeal to emotion, nor will we be filled by seeking instant gratification.

As we pursue a life of holiness, God promises to satisfy us with his presence and power, empowering us to live holy lives that glorify him. The necessity of this pursuit reminds us that holiness is not merely a goal, but a divine reality made possible by the grace of God.