A Blessed Gift

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”

Matthew 5:6

The beatitudes are the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount in which the theme is God’s righteousness compared with the standard of righteousness set by Israel’s religious leaders (v 20). The purpose of this comparison is to show the failure and futility of any standard set by men and the necessity of one receiving God’s righteousness. In the third beatitude, quoted above, Jesus says that the person who hungers and thirsts for God’s righteousness is blessed.

Blessed is speaking of position. People who hunger and thirst for God and His righteousness are in the best possible position. The latter part of the verse explains why: those who seek God’s righteousness will be satisfied. That they do hunger demonstrates that they have already received the gift of God’s righteousness.  That is why they are blessed.

The words used by Jesus indicate a craving that rules one’s desires and life. A key indication that a creature is alive is that it craves food and water. If it doesn’t, it is dying or already dead. Anyone who does not crave God’s righteousness is spiritually dead. That a person does crave God’s righteousness is an indication of spiritual life. Such a person will not only crave God’s righteousness but also communion with God through Jesus Christ in prayer, Bible reading and study, and fellowship with other faithful Christians.

How one receives God’s righteousness is clearly revealed in Genesis 15:6: “[Abram] believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” God’s righteousness is not something we achieve; it is credited to us as a gift upon believing God’s word. When a gift is offered by anyone we demonstrate faith in the giver by receiving the gift. Paul writes, “For if by one man’s offence death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). Those who hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness give evidence of spiritual life and that they have already received the gift of God’s righteousness. They now long to live in the experience of it and Jesus affirms that they will be satisfied. The full experience of this satisfaction awaits us in the resurrection when Christ reigns and rules in righteousness.

See the Nail Prints

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”

John 20:29

This statement came from Jesus in response to Thomas’ refusal to believe until he had touched the nail prints in Jesus’ hands. For his part, Thomas has been the brunt of many less than thoughtful comments and acquired the less than honourable title of “doubting Thomas.” We should note that Jesus had shown the nail prints in His hands to the other disciples a week earlier (v 20). Jesus knew that all the disciples needed to see the nail prints in His hands in order to believe that He had risen bodily from the dead and was not just spirit. So He showed them.

Remember that even with the report that Jesus was no longer in the tomb all the disciples went home (v 10). They weren’t expecting Him to appear. Two disciples on the road to Emmaus, presumably homeward bound, on that first Sunday had heard the report that “certain women”  had seen angels at the empty tomb and were told that Jesus had risen (Luke 24:22-23). They also knew that “certain of those who were with us,” most likely Peter and John, also saw the angels and the empty tomb (Luke 24:24) yet they were on their way home. Fortunately for them Jesus met them and revealed Himself thus turning them back in time to see the nail prints that first Sunday evening. Perhaps Thomas is singled out unfairly.

It is interesting to note that the first meetings after Jesus’ resurrection were held behind closed doors and at night time for fear of persecution (John 20:19, 26). Many Christians around the world meet under similar circumstances today.

Returning to Jesus’ statement (John 20:29), He says that those who believe without seeing Him in the flesh are more blessed that those who had seen Him those two evenings. Why did He say that? The answer lies in the fact that if we haven’t seen Jesus in the flesh then we must have seen Him in some other way. Jesus gives us a reasonable explanation in Matthew’s Gospel. In response to Jesus’ question to the disciples as to who they believed He is, Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (16:17). Those more blessed than those who saw and touched the nail prints in Jesus’ hands are those to whom the Father has revealed Jesus through the eye of faith.