Understanding The BeatitudesНамуна

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled

Understanding the fourth beatitude relies on understanding what Jesus meant by righteousness. In ancient Judaism, righteousness meant “to acquit, vindicate, restore to a right relationship.”[1] The righteous are those who maintain right relationships—with God and with the people around them. 

We are genuinely hungry for right relationships if we desire to bless others for their sakes and not as a means to meet our own needs. We can only form right relationships with others when we cease making all our actions revolve around ourselves – something that goes against our natural tendencies.

Truthfully, we can’t take on battles against unrighteousness with our own strength. In following the sequence of the beatitudes, we must recognize our own emptiness (poverty of spirit in Matthew 5:3), mourn our own unrighteousness (Matthew 5:4) and submit our use of power to God (Matthew 5:5). Then, we will be able to hunger and thirst for righteousness in our relationships.

What might this blessing look like in the workplace?

Injustice disrupts relationships between people and between people and God. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness desire to see wrongs righted, including in the workplace. The Christian faith has been the source of many of the greatest reforms in the work world, perhaps most notably the abolition of slavery in Great Britain and the United States, and the genesis of the Civil Rights movement. 

Reflection

Are there any wrongs in the world that you hunger to see righted? 

Prayer

Jesus, show me how to be an instrument of righteousness in places where I have influence.  

[1] David Noel Freedman, vol. 5, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1996), 737.