The Sermon on the Mount 2

In Matthew 5:5–6, Jesus continues to describe the character of those who belong to His kingdom. The blessed are not the proud, aggressive, self-sufficient, or worldly satisfied, but the lowly and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Lowliness is not weakness; it is strength humbled under the rule of God. The meek do not need to grasp for control or defend their pride because their inheritance is secure in Christ. Likewise, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness know they have no righteousness of their own. They look to Christ for the perfect righteousness that justifies, and they long for the practical righteousness that sanctifies. The world promises satisfaction but leaves the soul empty. Christ alone satisfies, both now in the gospel and finally in glory. The searching question is whether we are still grasping for the earth, or whether grace has made us lowly and hungry for Christ.