Righteousness

This week we begin worship with:

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they

shall be satisfied.

Yes, righteousness (dikaiosynē) is the state of being right with God, but God does not make us wait for it.  In fact, two other Beatitudes do not have the familiar “shall be” phrase.  They, the first and the last (Matthew 5:3,10), say we are citizens in the Kingdom of God.  We need not hunger for that!

Our verse rather speaks of our intense desire that we, personally, live a life in which we are the “living sacrifice” (Romans 12), which is summed up as:

Romans 12:18

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

How then shall we be “satisfied” (chortazō)?  The word describes the shepherd’s task of grazing the flock so they fatten for slaughter. So in the first sense we will become the sacrifice we desire. 

But secondarily we will also see the righteousness of God executed in justice.

Revelation 19:11

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.