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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matt 5:6-8 NIV84) [see these verses in their context below]
What do you long for?
When you’re alone with your thoughts—is there some unfulfilled longing in your heart? Are you preoccupied with something? Do you sense something is missing?
I’ve heard a statement repeated many times that speaks to this—There’s a God-shaped hole (or vacuum) in every human heart. There are variations of this thought attributed to or claimed by various people.
It’s a condensed summation of a personal observation by Blaise Pascal, a 17th-century mathematician, and philosopher. What Pascal said is more articulate and complete but the essence is—our deepest longings can only be filled with God (see both links).
Insights
These three Beatitudes express this deeper longing of the human soul. Longings that can’t be satisfied with anything less than a personal relationship with God. But as humans everywhere do, we try to fill or satisfy this deep longing in various ways.
All efforts on our part to fill this spiritual vacuum fall short. There is nothing and no one in all creation who can fill or take the place of the Creator of all. This vacuum or hole or deep longing in our soul is spiritual in nature.
All humans have the imprint of God embedded in them. Humanity was created in the image of God and with the capacity for a personal relationship with Him.
Redefining the Nature of God’s Kingdom
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
What comes to mind when you think of righteousness? In the time of Jesus, most people would consider the Pharisees as the best example of righteousness. But as Jesus pointed out often (Matt 23:25, 27), the Pharisees had an external shell of righteousness of their own making.
It was a self-righteousness—a self-proclaimed sense of it. Sadly, this mindset prevails from then till today.
But the type of righteousness Jesus meant here is relational. It is often explained as—right-standing with God or approved of God. But such a righteousness is only in relationship with God (Rom 3:20-22).
When a person is poor in spirit, mourning, and meek, it shows they long for something greater than what this world has to offer. A hunger and a thirst for righteousness—true godliness—is a longing of the soul that can only be filled by God Himself.
God’s promise to those who hunger and thirst for a right relationship with Him is this—they will be filled. He will come and dwell in the heart of whoever opens themselves to Him (John 14:23). The next two Beatitudes show how this filling the longing of the soul begins.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
The word mercy is found often in the Bible. This is to be expected since it is the very nature of God (Exo 34:6; Luke 6:36). The prophet Jeremiah declares His mercies are new every morning (Lam 3:22-23).
The essence of mercy is compassion and forgiveness. God’s mercy cannot be gained but is given by God. He extends compassion and forgiveness in place of condemnation or judgment.
As citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are to do the same—show mercy to others. God promises to show us mercy in the same way we are merciful to others. Jesus expounds on this further in regard to forgiveness (Matt 6:14).
James, the half-brother of Jesus, helps us see why showing mercy is so important—
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:12-13 NIV)
When we don’t show mercy to others, not only do we miss out on the promise of receiving God’s mercy—mercy is greater and more powerful than judgment in God’s kingdom. And this is a good thing—a reassurance of the nature of God and His sovereign realm over those who choose to make their King.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
This is the most intimate and challenging of these three Beatitudes. Two questions come to mind for me—Who has a pure heart? How can we see God who is Spirit and in heaven?
In the Psalms, King David asks who can approach the holy hill of God and says it’s only those with “clean hands and a pure heart” (Psa 24:4). I believe this is what Jesus speaks of in this Beatitude—a purity of heart that is internal and spiritual rather than the idea of pure morality and behavior.
But how can a person have this purity of heart? It closely follows the Beatitudes before this one—the person who hungers and thirst for true godliness in relationship with God. God is the only one who can purify our heart—a heart devoted to Him above all else.
This is the sense Jesus intended of being pure in heart. He says those whose hearts are undivided in their devotion to God—they will see God. How? As Paul says, with the eyes of our heart (Eph 1:18).
Whoever seeks God with an undivided heart—a heart unmixed or adulterated with selfishness and the worship of other things—they will see God (Psa 86:11; Ezek 11:19). God will reveal Himself to them in their time of prayer, worship, and while feeding upon the Lord through His Word of Truth—the Bible.
How has Jesus filled the longing of your soul?
Reflection—
Humanity was created in the image of God and with the capacity for a personal relationship with Him. When we are not in a relationship with God, we will have a longing in our soul only the Lord can fill.
Prayer Focus—
Do you find yourself longing for things that don’t fulfill you? Ask God to make Himself known to you. Seek Him in prayer. Ask for His mercy and be willing to show this same mercy to others.
Devo Scripture Text
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying:
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 meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown 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 are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(Matthew 5:1-12 NIV84)