Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

Matthew 5:1-26 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. ² And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷ “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! ¹⁹ Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰ “For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹ “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to the court.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. ²³ Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. ²⁵ Come to good terms with your accuser quickly, while you are with him on the way to court, so that your accuser will not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will not be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last quadrans.”

In today’s text Jesus says:  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  All of these statements are not only true, but they also are a promise to us from the God of creation. When Jesus says: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted, it does not mean that it is a blessing to be in a time or place of mourning. It is a promise from God that He will bless and comfort those who mourn.  The mourning and grief that we feel at the loss of a loved one is for our own loss, that we no longer will know the joy of their company. 2 Corinthians 5:8 says: We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Our comfort is in knowing that they are with God in heaven, that they have heard the words: Well done good and faithful servant. Enter the joy of your master, and they wait for us there.

When Jesus says: “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you,” He knows very well that it is not a blessing to be persecuted. He endured both persecution and crucifixion so that we would be blessed. The persecution is not the blessing, but rather the great reward that we have in heaven is how we are blessed. In Romans 8:18 Paul says: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Because the world has rejected the light, many people do hide the light of Christ in them. In John 14:15 Jesus says: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  We cannot say that we love Jesus, if hide ourselves in the darkness of our society and culture failing to shine His light to the world. In Luke 9:26 Jesus says: “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.” 

Jesus says: “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Other translations say whoever relaxes or breaks one of these commandments. Even if we ourselves do not break Jesus commandments, we nullify them by relaxing them and teaching others it is okay. If we tolerate and embrace the unrighteousness of others, we teach them that sin is acceptable. We share in their unrighteousness, rather than in the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. We nullify the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. He died to redeem us from sin, not to redeem sin so that we could continue in sin. In Isaiah 5:20 God says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Even more than being blessed by You, may I be a blessing to You. Amen