The Thirst for Righteousness

Psalm 33 tells us, “When the righteous cried out, the Lord heard; and from all distress he saved them” (Ps 33:18). The Lord loves those who desire righteousness with all their heart, who hunger and thirst for it.

The fourth beatitude is unique. All the others imply some reversal: the poor receive the kingdom of heaven, the mournful receive consolation, the meek inherit the land, but the case of those who desire righteousness is straight-forward: they will receive what they desire in full. Jesus teaches that those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied.” These words echo those of the Psalmist, “The Lord acknowledged my righteousness, rewarded my clean hands,” that is, hands that are not dirtied by doing what is wrong. The Greek word for righteousness is “dikaiosune,” which may also be translated “justice.”

Righteousness and justice

Righteousness and justice are very similar concepts. Is Jesus saying here that those who desire justice will receive it? For us, justice has become something negative – it often means the lack of wrongness. Justice then very often seems to mean vengeance for a bent and crooked action. We equate justice with punishment of the wicked. Does Jesus therefore mean here that those who do good should be rewarded and those who do wrong should be punished, and that justice, in fact, will be meted out?

While justice is certainly a desirable goal and that life should be straight and evil receive its proper punishment, righteousness implies that there is another side to the story. It means that uprightness and good and love for others should be satisfied, and that those who live according to God’s law should be rewarded.

In order to be righteous and just, of course, means that we have to have a clear idea of what “righteousness” is. It means, in the first place, faith in God. The book of Genesis tells us of Abraham, “Abram put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness” (Gn 15:6). We make a mistake in making justice or righteousness a value that precedes God. If that happens, then we can ask questions like, “Why is there evil in the world?” or “If there is a God why does he allow the wicked to prosper and the good to suffer?”

The reality is that God does not need to conform to our standards of what we think is right and just, but that God is righteousness himself, and the creator of all that is right. We can easily end up mistaking our needs for the will of God. This does not mean that there is no problem, and it is as difficult for us to deal with the death or suffering of a loved one as with the “catastrophes” of human history, such as the unjust and evil and utterly despicable pogrom of the Jewish people by the German Nazis.

Evil and injustice

The problem, however, is that evil and injustice do not come from the will of God or from his loving and saving plan, but from our own failure to live uprightly and faithfully. Later in the beatitudes, Our Lord will proclaim, “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:10). He further tells us that evil and righteousness will be dealt with properly by God, though not on our terms, and he warns us, “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:20). So the Psalmist says, “The wicked perish, the enemies of the Lord; like the beauty of meadows they vanish; like smoke they disappear” (Ps 37:20).

The Gospel of the Lord gives us the “Golden Rule, ”do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I think this is less of a command than a statement of fact. The way we treat others is the way we will be treated. In my own experience, the righteous are, in fact, vindicated and rewarded, as long as we do not mistake what God’s plan for us is.
In the Gospel according to St. Luke, Jesus reminds us that the rewards we receive may be different than what we seek, for God has something greater in mind. Jesus teaches, “As for you, do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not worry anymore. All the nations of the world seek for these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these other things will be given you besides” (Lk 12:29-31). The righteous do have their fill of righteousness; they are filled with God’s grace and love.

The hymn after Communion, “May our mouth be filled with your praise …,” may shed some light on the ultimate Christian meaning of this beatitude. In this hymn, after receiving the holy body and blood of our lord Jesus Christ in holy Communion, and being united in the life of the Trinity, we sing, “Keep us in your holiness.” This is an allusion to 1 Corinthians 1:30, where Jesus is called the “holiness” (“hagiasmos”) of God.

Transformation and deification

Having been united with him in Communion, we are transformed, deified through our union with God. We pray in this hymn that this connection with God may never be broken. The hymn continues, “so that all the day long we may live according to your truth.” Here the translation follows the Slavonic “pravda,” which is synonymous with the Greek word “dikaisoune,” which may also be translated “righteousness.”

Through the grace of God which we have received, we are able to walk uprightly and devoutly in the path of truth and righteousness. The first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (I Cor 1:30) also called Jesus God’s righteousness (“dikaiosune”) and redemption (“apolutrosis”).

Our Lord’s promise on the mountain is fulfilled literally in holy Communion. We “hunger and thirst” for the food of the Eucharist, and we are filled with God’s “righteousness,” which is our lord Jesus Christ himself. Through him we receive the forgiveness of our sins, of our “unrighteousness,” and the gift of the fullness of life, union with the eternal God. Those who seek righteousness, which is Our Lord, are thus truly and perfectly satisfied. 

Archpriest David M. Petras SEOD is a professor of theology at SS.Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pennsylvania. His newest book is “Time for the Lord to Act: A Catechetical Commentary on the Divine Liturgy” is from the Byzantine Seminary Press. Contact byzantinepress@aol.com.