“holy and upright living, in accordance with God’s standard.” (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Youngblood, 1089).

1. Blessed.

“By implication, this Beatitude lays down the main cause of failure in the Christian life. That cause of failure is simply that we do not sufficiently desire to be a Christian…The great barrier to our becoming full Christians is our failure to desire it enough, our deep-rooted unwillingness to pay the price of it, our fundamental desire to not upset life, but to keep it as it is.” ?” (Following the Call, Living the Sermon on the Mount together, Moore, 49) (Barclay)

2. Blessed are those who hunger....for righteousness.

3. Blessed are those who thirst....for righteousness.

“Do you desire righteousness with that intensity of desire with which a starving person desires food, and the one parched with thirst desires water?” (Following the Call, Living the Sermon on the Mount together, Moore, 48) (Barclay)

4. You will be satisfied. (filled)

“He wants to be righteous, not simply because he fears God, but because righteousness has become for him the most eminently desirable thing in the world.” (Jesus’s sermon on the mount and his confrontation with the world, Carson, 28).

Sermon Discussion Questions

1. How do you think we should pursue righteousness?

2. Describe a time when you were hungry or thirsty. How can you correlate this to striving for righteousness?

3. Why do believers fall short of achieving this high goal? Is there a way to seek God better?

4. Zacchaeus put himself in a position to find Jesus. What are ways you need to better or continue to put yourself in a position to pursue righteousness?

5. In what way did God communicate to you about your spiritual life today?