Following the meek—who shall inherit the earth—are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5). First, I want to look at the nature of spiritual hunger. Second, I want to look at the object of hunger, which is righteousness. First, let’s turn to Exodus 16:1-3:
And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
Take notice of the Israelite’s hunger. Now, this is a carnal hunger. It’s a hunger of the body. They’re not necessarily hungering after anything spiritual in nature, but after food that might fill their stomachs. But, in the next few verses, the Lord promises to rain bread from heaven down upon them. Jesus alludes to this heavenly manna and applies it to Himself in places like John 6:33, where He said, “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” The Israelites were hungry and were anxious to satisfy their fleshly stomachs, but were seemingly oblivious to how empty their spiritual bellies were. The manna in the desert was but a sign of the true manna from heaven, which was Christ.
Mary, in thanking God for the Son that was to be born of her by the Holy Spirit, said, “He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty (Luke 1:53).” The hungry, in this context, are those who were longing, hungering for righteousness. This is a spiritual hunger, a desire, and inward yearning for righteousness.
But what about righteousness? What does Christ mean by righteousness? Righteousness is that which is not wicked. Righteous behavior is opposite to wicked behavior. In Deuteronomy 6:25, righteousness is further defined within the context of God’s law. It is written, “Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.” So righteousness is conformity to God’s standard of righteousness. Now, this creates an issue because Paul, pulling from Psalm 14 and elsewhere, in Romans 3:10, says, “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one…’” We don’t have our own righteousness.
Now, the beatitude is blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. But if it’s righteous to thirst for righteousness, then we can’t thirst for righteousness. This is why all of these spiritual qualities revealed to us here in the beatitudes must be God given! It’s by God’s grace that anyone hungers and thirsts for righteousness. But, when we do hunger and thirst for righteousness, what, exactly, are we hungering after? What are we desiring?
There is a two-fold understanding we need to have of righteousness. First, is a righteousness given to us by imputation. Second, is righteousness given to us by implantation. In Luke 18, for example, with the tax collector who went home justified, or declared righteous, there we see imputation. The emphasis there is the tax collector being declared righteous before God rather than the Pharisee who thought he had his own righteousness. The tax collector was accounted righteous. But take 1 John 3:7, for example, where it is said, “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.”
This kind of righteousness is not simply a legal declaration of righteousness, this is a righteousness which characterizes the Christian’s thoughts and deeds. This is the kind of righteousness we might also refer to as holiness.
Victory Baptist Church | A Sovereign Grace Church in Kansas City 