BLESSED & BE SATISFIED

You don’t need to read many stories about Jesus to get the impression that, whether in private or in public, the Lord never cared about handing out instant response or easy answers to anyone.

Jesus was only 33 when He was crucified, yet He lived a fuller life than most of us who are way past that age. He wasn’t contented to just settle for believable alternatives but instead made several hard choices. Because He had the emotional fortitude to handle difficult emotions without the need for forced smiles and platitudes, He never cared about reacting in ways that made Him more relatable and preferred instead to engage people in ways that had lasting effects. In short, He did not live a life of performative existence but one that truly fulfilled God’s call, in unexpected ways.

We see this in how Jesus often seemed so on point in His teachings even when they seemed so counter-culture. He touched on controversial topics and argued against prevailing norms that contradicted Kingdom living. As a result, what He taught often didn’t sit well with current worldviews and it often made people uncomfortable.

This week, we look at what Jesus shared on an unknown mountainside. It is one of nine statements that Jesus made where He began by saying, ‘Blessed are...’ We call this teaching ‘The Beatitudes’ and they are found in Matthew 5:3-11. They’re not a set of moral do’s and don’ts describing prescriptive and proscriptive norms. Instead, the Beatitudes threw light on the attributes of a productive spiritual life that still apply to us today.

To the disciples and many others who had followed Him to the idyllic mountainside, Jesus said, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.’ (Matthew 5:6).

What exactly did He mean? Let’s do a study of this sentence – word by word.

What does blessed mean?

Blessedness is not about things we possess but a state of being, independent of what we possess, as well as the quantity or quality of it. This includes family, possessions and material comfort, capital and assets, achievements and position in society. It’s a deep sense of connection and contentment with God and an indescribable happiness that comes from being spiritually prosperous.

What does it mean to hunger & thirst?

Whenever we feel peckish between meals, we instinctively reach for something to snack on. But besides physical hunger, humans are created with a spiritual hunger and thirst that is largely left neglected due to common ignorance about what it is. We may think that a spot of yoga or a short holiday retreat will ease the inner feeling of unsettledness but as soon as it is over, the disquiet returns. This is why spiritual cravings can never be alleviated by recreation, or with physical or mental stimulation but only by being with God. 

What does righteousness mean?

Righteousness can be defined as having a right relationship with God. It’s one that seeks to please Him. It’s the total opposite of sin, and to a great extent, determines the quality of our relationship with God and with other people. It‘s not what we say we are or what we want others to believe we are but it’s shown in how we live our lives. It’s a quality that’s observable in our actions, reactions, inaction, preferences and expectations. 

What does hunger and thirst for righteousness mean?

It means to have an undying desire to have a right relationship with God and with people. It doesn’t accept stagnation at any point, but always makes an effort to go further and deeper! By no means does this justify doormat behaviour or the avoidance of conflict in order to please and appease people. Rather, it’s an unswerving desire to apply God-centred foresight to all matters in our lives. It doesn’t let the shortsightedness of letting our current emotions, experiences and expectations sway us from discovering what God will teach us in the future.

As Smith Wigglesworth said so incisively, ‘to hunger and thirst after righteousness is when nothing in the world can fascinate us so much as being near God.’ Think about that!

Why would those who hunger and thirst for righteousness be filled and as such is blessed?

Let’s say your stomach was growling when you stepped into a restaurant because you hadn’t eaten. After you selected from the menu, the server arrived with food but not what you had ordered. However, you ate it anyway just to stop the hunger pangs. You felt full but would you say that you were satisfied with that meal? It’s similar to how we normalize busyness as a stopgap to deal with the pangs of emptiness or the fear of loneliness that creeps up. Busyness keeps us occupied but not satisfied.

On the other hand, when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, a new instinct begins to take over the thinking that the most authentic self is what comes to us naturally. Yet, the Bible has this to say about the ‘natural self’: ‘I know that good does not live in me - that is, in my human nature. For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it.’ (Romans 7:18).

Let’s look at the spiritual benefits of being ‘filled and blessed’ below:  

 -        NO CONFLICT in our spirit. We will want to do the will of God no matter how unnatural it feels at first because, no matter how our situation appears right now, we are convinced that God is not helpless and we are not hopeless!

 -        NO CORRUPTION in our mind. We will guard our minds against any intellectualism, permissiveness and cynicism that contradicts the Word of God and attack our hope in Him. ‘Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.’ (Ephesians 4:23). We know that spiritual fitness begins in the mind because we are told in Romans 12:2 to be careful about embracing popular teachings and persuasions that normalize sin and godlessness. In fact, we are reminded to conscientiously let the Holy Spirit and the Word of God transform the way we think and reason so as to guard our faith.

 -        NO COMPROMISE in our heart. We will guard our hearts against the world’s standard of freedom and inclusivity because we know that Jesus has given everyone freedom from sin at a high price and it’s superior to what the world can ever offer.

 Do not satisfy your spiritual hunger and thirst with low-hanging fruits simply because they are reasonably within reach but go for what truly satisfies. Even if it takes a longer time, don’t settle for less till you find it!

This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 4 June 2022.