Explanation of the Fourth Beatitude
The fourth Beatitude states: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).
The word “righteousness” (in other translations “justice” or “righteousness”) means holiness, godlikeness. And God is the Supreme Holiness. Textual explanation of the commandment: Blessed — means happy; those who hunger means the hungry.
The word “thirst” has two meanings:
to want to drink, that is, to thirst, to strive to quench thirst;
in a figurative sense — to strongly desire something.
The word “righteousness” has three meanings:
the same as truth;
order based on justice and honesty;
the same as rightness or uprightness.
According to religious understanding, a righteous person is one who lives a righteous life, that is, a pious, sinless person whose life is based on righteousness in the second sense of the word. In other words, the life of such a person is subject to religious-moral rules and does not violate the order based on justice, honesty, and the commandments of God. Such a life is called sinless or righteous. According to religious interpretations, the word “righteousness” is understood as holiness and denotes godlikeness.
Regarding the Law of God, the Bible says: “for all Your commandments are righteousness” (Psalm 119:172), that is, just, true, faithful, holy.
The word “be satisfied” (or “be filled”) has four meanings:
to eat one’s fill;
to dissolve a large amount of substance in oneself;
to fill something to the limit in large quantity;
to fill or supply something in abundance.
Summing up the meanings of the words in this commandment, we can conclude that it says the following: “Happy are those who desire righteousness, for they will satisfy their desire.” This Beatitude speaks of people who earnestly strive, as the hungry strive for food and the thirsty for drink, toward God. They do this so that God may teach them to live righteously and cleanse them from sins, and the desire of such people will be fulfilled.
Very often, to illustrate His thought, Christ in His words resorts to explanatory examples and comparisons. Thus, in the fourth Beatitude, He compares people who irresistibly seek God’s righteousness with those who hunger and thirst. It is known that people tormented by hunger and thirst strive with irresistible force to satisfy their needs. In this strong striving to satisfy a need are similar those people who strive to satisfy — but not physical, but spiritual needs, expressed in the knowledge of Divine Truth and in the fulfillment of God’s Will in everything. Such people who serve God will become blessed (that is, they will receive joy and happiness), because they will be satisfied (that is, their striving for righteousness will be fulfilled).
Thus, this Beatitude speaks of people who hunger and thirst for righteousness. But what is righteousness? According to religious-philosophical understanding, righteousness is a special, free gift, gratuitously offered by God to all people in the world. Righteousness is as necessary for a person as food and drink, without which people cannot live. The Bible says: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1). But not every person desires to be righteous. Therefore, the Lord offers the gift of righteousness to those people who want to receive it and strive for it. Figuratively, the Bible speaks of this as follows:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).
That is, a person who strives for God’s righteousness (for a righteous life), if he hears God’s voice and opens the door of his soul to God, such a person will dine with God (“dine with him”). And God will care for such a person, as He says:
“I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).
That is, he will never lack either spiritual or bodily food. Just as a person needs food and drink, so the soul of a person needs Jesus Christ for its development and perfection, as the Heavenly Bread. Just as a weary traveler in the desert longs to quench his thirst from a pure spring, so a Christian desires to satisfy his spiritual thirst from the life-giving source of Christ’s teaching. The Bible speaks of this: “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him” (Psalm 62:5).
A person who has recognized his shortcomings thirsts for a righteous life. And in order to live righteously, a person must subject his thoughts and actions to the teaching of Christ. And then the life of such a person will change, because he will become like Christ. The Spirit of God will awaken love and joy in his heart and help him with joy and diligence to fulfill God’s Will and do good. For such a person, long-familiar truths will be perceived in a new way, the Biblical texts will appear in new meaning, and he will see life in a new light. Having become blessed, such a person will understand the true essence of salvation and the path to it. He will feel that Christ guides his actions, accompanies him everywhere, helps him and protects him, having quenched his thirst for God’s righteousness. Of such a person Christ said:
“But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).
The Lord has opened to all people in the world who strive for righteousness the great source of His love, which refreshes the earth like a life-giving rain. The Lord said: “Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together” (Isaiah 45:8).
The entire life of a person should consist of seeking and acquiring God’s righteousness, that is, striving for a righteous life and acquiring it. This is what the Bible and the holy fathers teach. Therefore, a person should not worry about his everyday needs, but should perfect himself in his spiritual-moral development, striving for a righteous life. The Lord said this about it:
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:31–33).
Summing up the explanation of the fourth Beatitude, the following conclusion can be drawn. Throughout the centuries, man has always striven toward God, trying to morally improve and perfect himself. In the times of paganism, people did not know the true God and tried to appease pagan gods. But the time came when God Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, came into the world of men, revealed to people His will and laws. He brought them His Truth and God’s Righteousness. From that moment on, every person has been given, as a great gift from God, the opportunity to be justified before God and to lead a righteous life, because man already knows God’s truths and laws, that is, God’s righteousness.
From now on, every person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness and fulfills it (that is, leads a righteous way of life according to God’s laws) will receive satisfaction, will satisfy his spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst. And in this way (the way of righteousness and goodness) he will receive justification before God, enter into eternal life and into the Kingdom of God. To the person who strives for God’s righteousness and then leads a righteous life that opens the doors to the Kingdom of Heaven, the Lord gives a reward in the form of blessedness, that is, happiness and joy. Therefore, Jesus Christ says that people who hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness are blessed and will be satisfied, that is, they will receive satisfaction of their spiritual-moral needs on the path of their moral and philosophical-religious perfection.