Beatitudinal Adjustment: The Hungry and Thirsty

"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." -Matthew 5:6

Jesus stood on the mountainside and told a ragtag group of poor folks they should hunger and thirst for righteousness. They were well acquainted with hunger. Many of them would follow Jesus across the lake after He fed them from a little boy's brown bag lunch of barley loaves and fish. Their arid climate demanded their reliance on rain on the good and evil. Crops grew on the early and late rain. Without rain they could not drink and they would not eat.

Jesus had recently left the wilderness where He was challenged with the pangs of hunger and chalk-dry mouth longing for water. No doubt He was faced with the temptation to "turn these stones into bread" on a daily, even hourly, schedule. But He adamantly repeated men and women are not sustained by physical bread alone, but by the very words of God leaving His lips. The bread which cannot spoil is of greater importance to us than the bread in my kitchen.

With amazing clarity Jesus spoke to the people of their spiritual hunger on many occasions. In John 6 the people track Him down in Capernaum. They had eaten of the loaves and fish, He slipped away in the night to meet the disciples on the lake (walking on the water), and the crowds found Him.

"Teacher, when did you come here?" they asked. But Jesus knows why they came: "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled." In other words, you don't care where the food came from, you are just happy you ate. You are hungry again and now you want to know if there is a second course. "Don't just work for the bread that spoils, bur for the bread that lasts for eternity which the Son of man will give to you."

We have all probably eaten until we felt we couldn't eat another bite. Many have eaten to the point they feel like just looking at food would hurt. And just like me you probably found yourself hungry again in a few hours or the next day. Jesus wants us to eat from the table of life. He wants us to eat and never desire another bite from another table ever again.

Jesus finally makes it absolutely clear to them, "I am the bread of life." In Matthew 5:6 He says to hunger after righteousness. In John 6:35 He says He is the righteousness we must eat to be satisfied. He is the bread which will fill our spiritual bellies.

The water which quenches our thirst is the living water Jesus offered the Samaritan woman in John 4. In John 7 He again offers living water, this time to all who believe. The Holy Spirit is the water to wash our hearts and quell the overwhelming thirst of our hearts.

You know the song based on Psalm 42:1,2. "As the deer pants for the water brook, so my soul longs after you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;..."

God placed a hunger and thirst for righteousness in us, but we ignore it, cover it, hide it. Some of us think we've lost it. God wants to restore it. Philippians 2:12, 13 reminds us to seek God and His salvation for ourselves. Paul writes about God working in our hearts to restore the appetite for Him and bringing satisfaction through the fulfillment of His will in us.

Hunger and thirst for righteousness. You will be happy, blessed and satisfied. Jesus promised.

Beatitudinal Adjustment: part 2 - The Mourners

"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." -Matthew 5:4

Life provides ample opportunities to mourn. Families break apart, friends die, we lose jobs, those closest to us move away, people betray trust and others take advantage of us. Unfortunately modern perception is such that certain people don't cry (i.e. real men or big girls). The reality is we all can/should/need to cry at some point. Everyone is programmed with emotions. It is unhealthy, and unbiblical, to store up the feelings of sorrow and pain that come naturally with loss.

Jesus let the crowd on the Mount of Blessings know they are never alone in their despair. Christ offers a twin-tiered comfort.
1. Current comfort
2. Eternal comfort

Just before His betrayal Jesus promised the arrival of another Helper (or Comforter) to abide with us forever. The presence of the Spirit brings us comfort because He speaks the words of Jesus to us. He reminds us of the words Jesus spoke to us during His life on earth, including the promise of His return for us.

Christ's return and promised everlasting kingdom provides great comfort. Revelation 21:4 says the residents of the heavenly city will live in a place like we have never known. It says "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

The mourning Jesus alludes to in the Beatitudes goes deeper than the "physical" or "normal" mourning we think of with the grieving process. A "true heart sorrow for sin" is the mourning God wants from each of us. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, p.9)

God will bring final, eternal comfort to those who mourn their own (and other's) sinfulness. Our contrite heart brings joy to the heart of God and He grants forgiveness and newness of life. He brings peace which passes all understanding to our lives. "Christ lifts up the contrite heart and refines the mourning soul until it becomes His abode." (ibid., p.11)

Our Savior does not intend for our hearts to be weighed down forever with sorrow and pain from this life. He wants us to lift up our face to the giver of all good and perfect gifts. Drink for the fountain of living water and eat of the bread of life.

"The blessed Savior stands by many whose eyes are so blinded by tears that they do not discern Him....He has loved us with an everlasting love and with loving-kindness compassed about us....He will lift the soul above the daily sorrow and perplexity, into a realm of peace." (ibid., p.12)