Righteous, Merciful & Pure

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.
Matthew 5:6-8

The next three Beatitudes speak of righteousness, mercy and purity. What was Jesus trying to encourage in each of us?

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." When you hunger and thirst for something, you greatly desire it. You think about it all the time. Nothing else will satisfy.

Righteousness can be defined as justice and conformance to established standards. Justice means doing the right thing; and conformance to established standards (in the Bible) refers to following the ways of God.

We see Christians hungering for many things: power, authority, success, comfort, happiness - but how many hunger and thirst for righteousness?

Jesus was encouraging his followers to continually, greatly desire to do the right thing and to seek after justice. Righteousness and justice for ourselves but also for others. When we do this, we will be satisfied. And if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, the following Beatitude will begin to show in our lives.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."But what is mercy?

Mercy is a loving attitude towards those who suffer distress. It's helping others just because it's the right thing to do, with no hope of them helping us in return. It's what Jesus spoke of when He said to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, visit those in prison and those who are sick. He promised that whatever "you did to the least of my brethren, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:31-46). It's being the hands and feet of Jesus to a weary, sick and hurting world.

"They will know we are Christians by our love." One of the best ways to show love toward others is to show them mercy. And, when we show mercy to others, Jesus promises that our Heavenly Father will show mercy to us.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

The Message translates this verse as: "Your blessed when you get your inside world - your mind and heart - put right. Then you can see God in the outside world." 

Moses (Exodus 33:20), John (1:18), and Paul (1Timothy 6:16) all say that no one can see God here on earth! But Jesus says the pure of heart shall see God! They shall enjoy greater intimacy with God than they could have imagined.

To be pure of heart means to be free of all selfish intentions and self-seeking desires. What a beautiful goal! How many times have any of us performed an act perfectly free of any personal gain? Such an act is pure love. An act of pure and selfless giving brings happiness to all.

Thus, Jesus' "be-attitudes," the attitudes we should have as Christians, build on themselves. First we saw that we needed to be humble, mournful over our sins and gentle. As we do that, we will begin to greatly desire righteousness, will show mercy toward others and will begin to become pure of heart. When this happens, we can enjoy greater intimacy with God and truly see Him in the world around us.