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Matthew 5:6 meaning

(D) is the first central theme of Jesus’s chiasm. It focuses on the path to gain and desire to possess social harmony and righteousness.

The parallel account of this teaching is found in Luke 6:21.

Jesus’s statement (D) Makarios are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied, corresponds with (D’) Makarios are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy (vv 6, 7).

Jesus’s statement about righteousness lies at the heart of the “Beatitudes”—His Makarios chiasm.

With few exceptions, hunger and thirst were conditions that were universally experienced throughout the ancient world. The people living in Judea were certainly not exempt. Without the aid of modern agriculture or refrigeration, food production and storage were constantly unstable and at the mercy of drought, famine, and war. Even with aqueducts, access to fresh, clean water was limited to natural access points of rivers, lakes, springs, and wells. It required constant effort to overcome the dry heat of Judea’s landscape. Jesus’s disciples and the vast majority of Matthew’s readers alike would have experienced real pain from hunger more than once in their lives. Working in the towns and fields or traveling the roads of Judea, all of them would have regularly felt an intense thirst for water. When we hunger and thirst, we think of little else than having that pang satisfied. It is constantly upon our minds, and we seek it relentlessly.

Jesus is not talking here about a hunger for nourishing food or a thirst for life-sustaining water. He is talking about a hunger and thirst for life-sustaining righteousness (social harmony). To pursue Righteousness relentlessly, as though our life depended upon it. Because in the sense of gaining Makarios, it does.

In the Old Testament, Righteousness meant keeping an oath or abiding to a covenant agreement. The primary requirement of fulfilling most covenants was for the vassal to faithfully serve the ruler or suzerain. In God’s covenant with Israel, He was the Great Suzerain, and the nation Israel was the vassal. Righteousness came from fulfilling the demands of the Law, obedience to the commands of the Great Ruler. God’s righteousness was demonstrated throughout the Old Testament by keeping His promises (2 Chronicles 12:1-6; Psalm 7:3-17; Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Righteousness is best depicted as a social harmony that exists when two or more parties honor their agreements —both externally (letter of the law) and internally (spirit of the law). God always keeps His word. When we obey His commands, there is righteousness. Righteousness is the key to gaining Makarios, which is why Jesus tells us to seek it as though we are seeking water when we are dying of thirst, or food if we are dying of hunger.

Paul’s letter to the Romans addresses the question “What is righteousness and how is it obtained?” In that respect, Romans is similar to Plato’s “Republic,” which was an influential work written several centuries earlier that founded Greek philosophy. In the “Republic,” Plato explains Socrates’ conclusion that righteousness, or justice, is when everyone in the city state does what they do best for the benefit of all. Paul reaches a similar conclusion, stating in Romans 12 that righteousness looks like a body where all the body parts are playing their part well, in harmony with their design.

Where Paul and Plato differ is in their analysis of the Head. Paul states that there is only one Head, and it is Christ. Believers are righteous when they serve with their gifts in obedience to the Head, the “brain” of the Body of Christ, which is Christ. Plato’s head is a subset of fallible humans, whom he fantasizes will have a noble nature. True righteousness, or justice, is social harmony in obedience to the commands of Jesus.

Both Jesus’s disciples and Matthew’s Jewish readers would have known that righteousness can come through faith as it did to Abraham (Genesis 15:6). But in this sermon Jesus is not talking about being made righteous by faith in the sight of God, to be “justified” as Paul will later describe (Romans 3-4).

The righteousness (social harmony) that Jesus is describing is a prevailing justice that flows into daily life for the covenant people when the Law is adhered to and kept. A society flourishes when a group of self-governing individuals respect and follow the rule of law toward one another. When the rule of law is followed voluntarily, the community doesn’t have to spend time, energy, and wealth guarding what is theirs from robbers or tyrants. When a community follows the rule of law because they choose to do so, it frees them to invest their energy in being productive. The things they produce and the services they provide are a blessing not only to them but to the whole community.

Human law and government are imperfect. Even our best systems are corrupted by selfish and greedy men who lust for power. Such corruption results in unending cries for righteousness. While these cries are real and right, they are often subverted and hijacked by equally greedy and crafty men. The promised harmony and righteousness are not much better than the corruption it had vowed to replace. The end result is disappointment and cynicism, where no one is satisfied. Those who are full of their own righteousness will thirst and starve.

Jesus and His kingdom offer true righteousness, which is what we must hunger and thirst for: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) (v 6). As God, Jesus is the perfect King. His Law is the perfect Law of love and liberty (Romans 3:8; James 1:25). His reign is perfectly just.

Jesus’s message here is that humankind needs to stop hungering and thirsting for broken righteousness according to the lies of the world systems (or their own faulty systems of righteousness). He promises that those who hunger and thirst for His righteousness will be satisfied (v 6). These are the ones who are Makarios. The social harmony His Kingdom provides is unlike anything the world offers. It is the byproduct of living with a heart that loves our neighbor as we love ourself. It is the fruit of living with self-governing responsibility with the perfect law of liberty in a way that is eager to bless and serve others (Galatians 5:13-14). This is true social harmony. This is justice. This is the righteousness that nourishes and sustains society. Those who shall live in such a society are Makarios.

Biblical Text

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

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Additional Resources

Book Theme

The Gospel of Matthew was written to demonstrate to the Jews of Jesus, the Messiah’s generation that He was indeed the Christ. Matthew thematically substantiates the Messianic identity of Jesus beginning with the genealogy of Jesus, which ran from Abraham, the father of Israel’s people through King David who was promised to have a son who would be on Israel’s throne forever. Throughout his Gospel account Matthew makes use of numerous prophecies both explicitly stated and by way of subtle allusion to support his thesis. Matthew further makes use of parallel events in Jesus’s life to those of Messianic figures from the Old Testament (Moses, Joseph, David, etc.) to bolster his argument.

Jesus came to offer the Jews the chance to participate in the inauguration of the Messianic Kingdom. To do this, they would have to receive and follow Him as their Messiah. Jesus’s message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Ultimately, they rejected Him as their Messiah and condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion. The Jews’ rejection of the Messiah opened the door for Gentiles to enter the kingdom (Matthew 8:11-12, 22:1-10). Matthew’s Gospel is therefore a call for the Jews repent of their murder of Jesus and to embrace Him for the divine Messiah He is.

Matthew shows how their rejection of Him and His brutal death was predicted not only by Jesus Himself, but also was foretold in the Jewish scriptures of the Messiah.

The main proof that Jesus was the Messiah was “the sign of Jonah” (Matthew 12:39, 16:4). This was Jesus’s death and resurrection from the dead. “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).

Because Matthew’s Gospel was written to people who were already members of God’s eternal family by virtue of their faith in God’s promise to send the Messiah, Matthew emphasizes the “reward of eternal life” (aka “The Prize of Eternal Life”) rather than “the Gift of Eternal Life”. In other words, Matthew’s Gospel focuses on how to “enter the kingdom” rather than how to “be born again”.

Matthew’s Gospel demonstrates how Jesus came to fulfill the law and open a way for God’s people to participate in the Messianic kingdom if they would follow His example of worshiping God from the heart by forgiving and serving others.

For “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). If we have faith to follow the example set forth by the resurrected Messiah, whom all authority on heaven and earth has been granted (Matthew 28:18) and take up our cross for His sake (Matthew 16:24-25), then we will become great in His kingdom (Matthew 20:26).

Finally, Matthew provides extensive samples of Jesus’s teachings including “the Sermon on the Mount”, “the Little Commission”, and “the Olivet Discourse” and many parables, alongside accounts of numerous miracles and wonders, personal moments with His twelve disciples, interactions with seekers, and increasingly as his Gospel account progresses: challenges and confrontations with His adversaries – the Pharisees, Scribes, and Priests.

Chapter Context

Chapters 5-7 form the “Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus withdraws from the large crowds and focuses on teaching His disciples. This is Jesus’ kingdom platform. Jesus is the second Moses prophesied by Moses, giving a new word from God from a different mountain. Jesus’s sermon has the same purpose as the word from God on Mount Sinai—it shows humans how to live constructively in fellowship with God and one another. Jesus’s emphasis is on the spirit behind the law. Without a change of heart, rules don’t work. Jesus initiated a new covenant, where the law was written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:31; Matthew 25:28).

The Sermon on the Mount transitions from Jesus speaking to “large crowds” to speaking to a “crowd” that consists of His disciples. The “large crowds” included Gentiles from the surrounding nations who had come to be healed of physical illnesses. It is likely Jesus would have spoken Greek to the “large crowds” as that was the language of commerce of that time. It is widely held that Jesus typically taught in Aramaic when speaking to Jews. It was the street language spoken by the Jews after they returned from Exile in Babylon.

But Jesus, like most Jews of His day would also have been multilingual. He would certainly have been able to read and speak from the Hebrew scriptures. And, as mentioned, He also would most certainly have known Greek, the common language of the Ancient world. It is likely that his adoptive father Joseph would have had work as a tradesman in the nearby Roman city of Sepphoris, which would have required knowing some Greek.

He might have also learned some Latin, the official language of the Roman government. Matthew may have originally written all or part of his Gospel narrative of Jesus the Messiah in Aramaic, Hebrew, or Greek. But regardless of which language He originally wrote in, his gospel was preserved in Greek. It is from Greek manuscripts that all our translations are ultimately based.

Matthew 5:6 meaning

Check out our other commentaries:

Zechariah 13:1-6 meaning

Amos 5:10-13 meaning

Hosea 1:8-9 meaning

Genesis 24:62-67 meaning

Deuteronomy 5:1-5 meaning

Additional Resources

Book Theme

Chapter Context

Maps and Charts

Videos

The Bible Project - Matthew Summary Pt. 1

The Bible Project - Matthew Summary Pt. 2

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