Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." — Matthew 5:6 (ESV)
The Beatitudes as a Journey, Not a Checklist
There is a great danger in preaching about hungering and thirsting for righteousness. The danger is this: that someone hears the call to pursue holiness and immediately sets out to achieve it through sheer moral willpower. But Jesus does not issue this beatitude in isolation. It comes nestled within a cascade of blessings that reframe everything we think we know about spiritual ambition.
The Beatitudes of Matthew 5 begin not with a call to excellence, but with an acknowledgment of poverty:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." — Matthew 5:3–6 (ESV)
This ordering is intentional and essential. Before we can truly hunger for righteousness, we must first recognize that we have none of our own.
The Failure of Self-Righteousness
The prophet Isaiah made the condition of our natural righteousness plain:
"We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." — Isaiah 64:6 (ESV)
Paul understood this viscerally. Writing to the Philippians, he catalogued his own impressive religious résumé — circumcised on the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee blameless under the law — and then declared it all rubbish:
"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ." — Philippians 3:8–9 (ESV)
No amount of righteous living or moral thought produces true righteousness before God. To pursue holiness through pride and self-effort is to become exactly what Jesus warned against — the Pharisee who, standing before God, praised himself rather than pleading for mercy (Luke 18:11–14).
The Starting Point: Justification by Faith
True hunger for righteousness must begin with the recognition that we have no righteousness of our own. It begins at the cross — with the mystery of justification.
When we acknowledge our sinfulness and accept by faith the righteousness of Christ credited to our account, something miraculous occurs. We are born again. And it is through that new birth that we are, for the first time, capable of a genuine hunger for righteousness that can actually be satisfied.
Jesus said it plainly to Nicodemus:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." — John 3:3 (ESV)
The law — the Ten Commandments — serves as a mirror here. The first four commandments govern our relationship with God: have no other gods, make no idols, do not take God's name in vain, keep the Sabbath holy (Exodus 20:1–11). The remaining six govern our relationships with one another: honor your parents, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not lie, do not covet (Exodus 20:12–17).
When we look honestly into that mirror, we discover that we have broken these commands in heart and in action. It is precisely that discovery — of our utter inability to be righteous — that drives us to cling to what Christ has done for us, and to begin the genuine journey toward holiness.
The Second Step: Communion and Abiding
Justification is the doorway. Sanctification — the ongoing renewal of our hearts and minds — is the path we walk through it, day by day.
And the engine of sanctification is communion with God.
Jesus described this with a vivid image in John 15:
"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." — John 15:5 (ESV)
As we abide — talking to God throughout the day, directing our innermost thoughts toward him, making choices in fellowship with his Spirit — something begins to shift within us. Sin begins to lose its appeal, not primarily because we are disciplining ourselves against it, but because we have tasted something better. The pleasure of unbroken fellowship with God becomes so precious that we begin to disdain anything that would interrupt it.
This is what the writer of Hebrews says of Jesus himself:
"You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." — Hebrews 1:9 (ESV), citing Psalm 45:7
Jesus had the joy of unbroken communion with the Father by the Spirit — and because of that communion, he loved what the Father loves and hated what the Father hates. This same fellowship, by the same Spirit, is now available to us. The fruit of righteousness in our lives is not the product of our striving; it is the overflow of our abiding.
Righteousness That Reaches Outward
This hunger, as it matures, does not stay neatly contained within our own spiritual lives. True righteousness reaches outward — into the way we treat others, into the causes we champion, into the world we long to see transformed.
The psalmist declares:
"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you."— Psalm 89:14 (ESV)
To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to long for the character of God to be made manifest on earth — for the exploitation of the vulnerable to end, for racial injustice to be overturned, for the cycles of deception and wrongful gain to be broken. It is a hunger that aches at the evening news. It is a thirst that drives intercession and action both.
Paul's encouragement in Galatians captures it well:
"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone." — Galatians 6:9–10 (ESV)
The Promise of Ultimate Satisfaction
Every hunger has a corresponding feast. And this one is no different.
Jesus promises satisfaction. Not partial satisfaction, not a peace that is constantly threatened — but full, final, glorious satisfaction. The Revelation of John describes what awaits:
"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." — Revelation 21:4 (ESV)
There is coming a day when every wrong thing is made right. Little girls will no longer be trafficked. The wrongfully condemned will be vindicated. Every place you have been mistreated or abused — the righteousness of God will come to bear on it, fully and finally. For those who repented, there is forgiveness. For those who have not, there is justice. And for all who have hungered and thirsted — there will be satisfaction beyond what we can currently imagine.
Conclusion: Blessed Are the Hungry
The call to hunger and thirst for righteousness is not a call to clench your teeth and try harder. It is an invitation into a life of poverty of spirit, of dependence on Christ's justifying work, and of daily communion with the Holy Spirit — out of which true righteousness grows, not as a performance, but as a fruit.
Start with poverty. Move to communion. Let righteousness flow.
And trust the promise: you shall be satisfied.
All Scripture quotations taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), published by Crossway, a ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV is an open-license translation available for use in ministry contexts.
