Jesus announced, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” This Beatitude, like the other ones, carries eschatological significance related to the imminent coming of the kingdom of God in the first century. Jesus’ announcement of this blessing—especially in conjunction with all that precedes it in the Gospel of Matthew—demonstrates Jesus’ belief that the kingdom would come soon.

 

Nonetheless, proponents of religious observance often utilize this Beatitude to encourage people to live morally, to perform acts of piety, and to behave in accordance with certain prescribed norms. The Beatitude is used in this manner because ‘righteousness’ tends to be understood in one of three interrelated ways. All of them carry legal or forensic connotations related to God’s action and human behavior.

 

First, righteousness is popularly portrayed as an inherent character trait of God that communicates God’s moral excellence. God and all of God’s actions are ‘righteous’ because God, by definition, cannot do wrong or behave immorally.

 

Second, according to this model God is righteous, but people never meet that virtuous standard. Subsequently, humanity as a whole and every individual has become unrighteous. As unrighteous sinners, people stand guilty and face eternal condemnation before an upright God. However, God in his infinite mercy has provided the possibility for people’s guilt to be negated. Through Christ who lived and died righteously (which tend to be understood as his living sinlessly) and through a person’s faith in Christ, God can declare people righteous by accrediting them with the righteousness of Christ.

 

This declaration becomes a legal act and pronouncement of God. People stay sinners, but God commutes their sentence by imputing them with the righteousness of Christ. Martin Luther’s famous formulation, simul iustus et peccator, suggests that through God’s legal transaction individuals can become righteous while simultaneously remaining sinners. Humans are sinful in themselves, Luther suggested, yet God reckons specific people justified through faith in Christ.

 

Once an individual is declared righteous, the third aspect of traditional righteousness comes into play. God expects forensically justified people to act righteously. In other words, God demands the behavior of justified people to match their newfound legal status before God. This calls on them to engage in religious activities, remain morally pure, and conduct themselves in accordance with certain standards. To maintain their righteousness, well-meaning clerics encourage their congregants to hunger and thirst for righteousness, promising ultimate fulfillment if they hunger and thirst enough.

 

These descriptions of righteousness—while pervasive and influential—do not adequately explain the integral connection between righteousness and the coming of the kingdom of God. As I pointed out in the first installment of this series, the immediate context of Matthew deals thoroughly with the announcement of the imminent arrival of God’s kingdom.

 

The opening verse declares Jesus to be the son of David, and the final discourse portrays Jesus as the recipient of all authority in heaven and earth. Moreover, the Gospel of Matthew contains four references explicitly linking righteousness and the coming of the kingdom, three of which occur in the Sermon on the Mount.

 

The first reference appears in the Beatitudes themselves. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). I’ll explore this specific Beatitude at length later in this series. For now, notice that Jesus promises the kingdom to those in his audience suffering persecution for the sake of righteousness. Jesus connects righteousness and the kingdom.

 

In the next two verses, Jesus expands on the idea of their being persecuted for righteousness’ sake by equating righteousness with his mission and the ancient prophetic promises. In 5:11, he blesses those who would be persecuted for his sake. More than a statement of personal loyalty, Jesus saw his life and mission integrally connected to the arrival of God’s kingdom. The Gospel of Matthew speaks of this at length. For example, Herod seeks to eliminate the “Ruler who will shepherd my people” (2:6), and in chapter 16 Jesus assures Peter that God had revealed Christ’s messianic role.

 

Back in 5:12, Jesus elaborates on his mission, righteousness, the kingdom, and persecution. He links the persecution that his disciples would undergo with the maltreatment suffered by the ancient prophets. By making this connection, Jesus suggests that his disciples stood in the prophetic tradition as they had arrived at the threshold of witnessing what the prophets envisioned, namely the coming of the kingdom of God. Perhaps the prophet that foretold of the kingdom most clearly was Daniel, especially in chapters 2, 4, 7, and 9. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus refers to the entire prophetic program and Daniel in particular. He affirmed that the God’s prophetic kingdom and Daniel’s prophecies in particular would come to pass in that first-century generation (Matthew 23:34-36 and 24:15, 30).

 

Jesus, then, understood his ministry as the means through which God would establish the kingdom as foretold by the prophets. Those who would unite with him in this work would face persecution for the sake of righteousness (the arrival of the kingdom), yet they would eventually experience the blessing of receiving the kingdom in its fullness; this means that they would be justified.

 

The second reference involving righteousness and the kingdom comes in the Sermon on the Mount too.  “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).  It may appear that Jesus equates righteousness to specific behavior excelling that of the religious elites, and the only way for one to enter the kingdom is through excessive moral performance.

 

However, seeing Jesus as demanding obsessively “straight-laced” conduct runs contrary to the entirety of his teachings and actions.  Jesus always welcomed sinners to fellowship, and never admonished them to live more strictly. Maybe he came close to this twice—by telling the woman entrapped by the Pharisees to “go and sin no more” and by instructing the healed leper to show himself to the priest.

 

More often, Jesus was accused of drinking and eating improperly, disrespecting the Sabbath, and disregarding the rules of purity.  According to traditional definitions of ‘righteousness’ as adherence to strict behavioral standards, Jesus lived completely unrighteousnessly.

 

So instead of dictating behavioral strictness when speaking of righteousness, Jesus describes the kind of kingdom he expected and the mode by which it would arrive. When Jesus speaks of an excelling righteousness, he contrasts the type of kingdom the Pharisees expected and the type of kingdom he sought to establish. He encourages his audience to look for a kingdom with a surprising nature. His kingdom would not be a political dynasty founded on violence. It would not be an exclusively Jewish kingdom overturning the political powers of his day (John 18:36). Instead, he would bring the Abrahamic promise to bless all families of the earth to fruition.

 

By encouraging his disciples to righteousness, Jesus tells them to expect a kingdom surpassing their expectations. God’s righteousness would not come about through the expected ways of warfare and religious adherence (compare James 1:20). His reference to righteousness and the kingdom reveals the substance of the kingdom hopes and the hopes of his followers—particularly as it expresses their faith in Jesus as God’s unlikely, nonviolent means to realize the inclusive kingdom.

 

Matthew 6:33 famously states, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” This key passage explicitly ties the kingdom of God with God’s righteousness. Jesus understood that for God to be righteous God must bring about his promised kingdom.

 

Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with these words thereby clarifying his statement in Matthew 5:20. He calls on his original audience to pursue the kingdom of God in a new way, not after the style of the Pharisees.  In conjunction with Jesus, the disciples would receive the kingdom—not through zealous pursuit of the Torah, nor by military operations.  This new and living way would call for them to lay down the sword and even sit loose to traditional Torah-related observances such as hand washing and Sabbath keeping. By following the way of Jesus, they would experience persecution at the hands of the religious elites. Yet those suffering persecution for righteousness’ sake—for the sake of the arrival of the kingdom through Jesus—would be granted the kingdom itself.

 

In giving the kingdom through Jesus and his disciples, God would be loyal to his promises. As participants in the messianic movement, they would be the means through which God’s kingdom would fill the whole world (Daniel 2). More than asserting God’s moral perfection and impelling humans to pursue upright actions, Jesus urges his hillside audience to join with him in his messianic mission to produce the kingdom of God.

 

Jesus narrates the parable of two sons in Matthew 21:28-32. In 21:32 he says, “For John came to you in the way of righteousness.” In concluding this story this way, he alludes to John the Baptist and his kingdom announcement, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

 

Jesus equates John’s proclamation of the imminent coming of the kingdom with “the way of righteousness.” John’s way of righteousness involved—among other things—the kingdom’s arrival in his generation. The substance of John’s preaching and the symbolic message of his baptizing indicated his expectation of the proximity of the kingdom’s advent. He warned the Pharisees and Sadducees in his desert audience to “flee from the coming wrath.” John expected these religious elites who trusted in their place and their biological descent from Abraham to experience the eschatological winnowing fan. To postpone that fulfillment for 2,000 years indicates that John mistakenly understood his time and mission.

 

John called his audience to compassion and generosity, yet he never identified these actions as works of righteousness. He preached repentance in anticipation of the arrival of the kingdom. He invited the Pharisees and scribes to embrace a new form of righteousness. They were to end their pretentious religious observance and welcome those welcomed by God. In a bold act, John even speaks to Romans thereby signifying Gentile participation in the kingdom. When this surprising kingdom would come in its fullness, God would be found righteousness.

 

These four passages illustrate that the Gospel of Matthew—the book in which we find the Beatitude of filling those hungry and thirsty for righteousness—always links righteousness and the kingdom. Furthermore, in each of the cases, Jesus is the one making the association. So, when Jesus blesses those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, he is blessing those who pinned their hopes for the imminent arrival of the kingdom of God onto Jesus.

 

In several of his books, Anglican scholar N.T. Wright explores the subject of the righteousness of God. He describes God’s righteousness as having three key components, including covenant faithfulness, a juridical announcement, and eschatology. In The New Testament and the People of God, Wright defines righteousness in terms of “the covenant faithfulness (tsedaqah, ‘righteousness’) of Israel’s god.” He explains the dominant issue facing first-century Jews—such as those in Jesus’ hillside audience. “The question of the righteousness of god, as expressed by Jews in this period, can be stated as follows: when and how would Israel’s god act to fulfil his covenant promises?” (The New Testament and the People of God, p. 271. For an extensive study of righteousness, see Justification and Variegated Nomism, vols. 1 and 2, ed. D.A. Carson.)

 

Wright notes that God’s righteousness “is covenant language.”   Therefore, for God to be righteous, God must fulfill his covenant promises. Ancient Jews (including Jesus and Paul) “clung onto the covenant promises” (Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, p.117). Additionally, Wright shows that righteousness and justification “cannot be understood apart from eschatology [in which] the creator of the word has acted uniquely, climactically and decisively, in Jesus Christ for the rescue of the entire cosmos” (Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, p.117-118).

 

In fulfilling his covenant promises, God would be vindicated (found righteous) in his word. The arrival of the kingdom and all of its associated blessings would justify God and declare his righteousness.  “God’s own righteousness has to do with his own covenant faithfulness” (Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said, p.124).  Paul expresses this sentiment in Romans 3:26. He argues that the crucifixion was the unexpected means by which God would demonstrate his covenant faithfulness by ushering in the kingdom. “It was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.”

 

The apostle Paul spoke often about the hope of Israel in relationship to God fulfilling his covenant promises. He believed that when God would make good on his promises, God would be righteous at last (Romans 3:3-4; 15:8). Those united with Christ in this eschatological program would partake in bringing about the kingdom; thereby, they would be found righteous too. In the consummation of the promises, they would share in God’s righteousness and their faith in Christ Jesus as God’s messianic agent would be vindicated (Romans 8:16-30). Subsequently, God’s fulfilled promises would result a new world order filled with righteousness for all (2Peter 3:13).

 

As an eschatological prophet standing in the prophetic tradition of asking, “How long, O Lord?” it is reasonable to conceive of Jesus (and the author of the Gospel of Matthew) addressing the issue of God’s faithfulness to his promises. Matthew portrays Jesus as announcing that God would be found righteous during the lifetime of those living. This amounts to the consummation of the kingdom of God.

 

Jesus blessed those in his audience who were eagerly awaiting God to fulfill his covenant promises. Certainly, those listening to him craved the coming of the kingdom, and they believed that Jesus would be God’s agent to satiate their hunger. Jesus traveled throughout Galilee preaching, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand…[and] great multitudes followed him (Matt. 4:17-25). Importantly, they apparently believed that they would actually live to experience the eschatological satisfaction. This theme develops throughout the New Testament writings as we find a progressive arrival of the kingdom consummating in the catastrophic events of 70 AD.

 

As previously mentioned, Paul expected the righteousness of God to be revealed “at the present time” (Romans 3:26).  He didn’t foresee God waiting 2,000 or more years to faithfully execute his promises. Instead, as one hungering and thirsting for God’s righteousness (covenant faithfulness), Paul expected to be filled. He saw his day as the “fullness of time” in which God would make good on his word (Rom. 15:8; Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:10; Col. 2:26; 1Tim 2:6; Titus 1:3).

 

In Ephesians 3, Paul wrote of his eschatological expectation and the role of the ekklesia (church) in God’s end-time scenario. He prayed that the Ephesians would “know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). Likewise in chapter 4, Paul assumed that his original readers would experience the eschatological fullness. He identified certain spiritual gifts as functioning for the “edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12-13).

 

Additionally, Paul expresses his confidence that God’s kingdom would arrive in its fullness in his day. He wrote to Timothy “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is about to judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom” (2Timothy 4:1). In this same text, he affirms his confidence that he would be alive to experience the kingdom’s arrival. “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom” (2Tim. 4:18). In keeping faith until the kingdom’s consummation, Paul thought he would receive “the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2Tim. 4:8). Stretching Paul’s belief past Paul’s time renders his eschatological hope vain.

 

Paul is not the only New Testament author to assume that God’s kingdom promise would be fulfilled in that day. Peter presumably heard Jesus firsthand announce the blessing on those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, and he writes at length concerning the promise of God and its fulfillment in his generation. For example, he concerns himself with the “salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you…to them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering” (1Peter 1:10-12).

 

Throughout his first letter, Peter encourages his readers who were being persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Instead of striking back, he emboldens them to embody the life of Christ who “did not revile in return. As members of the eschatological messianic movement, they should follow the example of Jesus and “live for righteousness” (1Peter 2:23-24). Their unity with Jesus in the body of Christ enabled them to share in the consummation of the kingdom of God. Their righteousness living qualified them to share in the eschatological work of the body of Christ (ekklesia) as they presented themselves as living stones offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God on behalf of others.

 

Because Peter said that “the end of all things is at hand,” he believed that those undergoing that great tribulation partook of Christ’s sufferings and “that when his glory is revealed you may also be glad with exceeding joy” (1Peter 4:7, 13).

 

In his second letter, he develops the themes of the first. The kingdom and the fulfillment of God’s promises (righteousness) play a prominent part in both letters. 2Peter opens by affirming “the righteousness of our God” in the fulfillment of God’s great and precious promises (2Peter 1:1-4).

 

Peter assures his first-century readers that God will supply them an abundant entrance “into the everlasting kingdom” just at the prophets had declared. (2Peter 1:11-21). Moreover, Peter asserts that this would occur in the lifetimes of his audience. He encourages them to heed the prophetic word “until the day dawns in your hearts” (2Peter 1:19).

 

In chapter 2, he speaks of “false prophets” who God had reserved under chains of judgment. He describes them as unjust (unrighteous) men who walk according to the flesh. He predicts that they will “receive the wages of unrighteousness” (2Peter 2:9, 12-15). Peter contrasts these “wells without water” to his readers whom he likens to Noah, “a preacher of righteousness,” and Lot, “that righteous man” (2Peter 2:5-8). This analogy echoes the ancients who were vindicated when God’s promises in their day came to pass. These unrighteous false prophets echo back to John and Jesus as they upbraided the zealous scribes and Pharisees longing for an exclusive political kingdom brought about through holy war.

 

The letter closes with Peter emphasizing the promises made through “the holy prophets” concerning the proximity of the eschatological creation (2Peter 3:2). He indicates that they were “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…we, according to his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2Peter 3:12-13). Peter believed that God would create the new order foretold by the prophets in just a short time. God’s righteousness would be realized in the fulfilling of his prophetic word, and this new heaven and earth would be characterized by the realization of the eschatological blessings. Peter concludes by advising his original to remain faithful as they were “looking forward to these things” (2Peter 3:14).

 

Like Peter, the apostle John sat on the hillside listening to Jesus proclaim the Beatitudes. Also like Peter, John wrote about righteousness and saw it as a function of the imminent fulfillment of God’s eschatological promises.

 

In 1John 1:5-2:2, he explores the fellowship with God in Christ. This relationship had the power to “forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Yet this would not be an end to itself. “Jesus Christ the righteous…is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” The forgiveness of sin is one of the key features of eschatological fulfillment.

 

John understood his time as “the last hour” (1John 2:18). He encouraged his readers not to be deceived by the trials they were facing; these were the same trials experiences by Peter’s audience. Instead of taking the persecution as a sign of God’s displeasure, they were to trust in “the promise that He has promised us—eternal life” (1John 2:25-27). Eschatological persecution signified the imminence of the fulfillment of God’s kingdom.

 

John recognized that the eschatological community (ekklesia) would practice righteousness in loving the world, not fighting against it. Love and suffering on behalf of the world would provide the means through which the kingdom would come. This manner of life would be vindicated in the declaration (vindication) of the children of God (1John 2:29-3:10). As he approached the Roman-Jewish war, John saw his “whole world” lying under the sway of “the wicked one.” The deceptive practice of waging war to usher in the kingdom would prove ultimately disastrous. However, John believed that he and his readers would avoid that route because they had received an understanding that was “true” and that would reveal the “true God and eternal life” through Jesus Christ (1John 5:19-20).

 

James, the brother of Jesus, wrote about his expectation of the righteousness of God manifesting itself imminently in the kingdom of God. Like Peter and John, James writes to people undergoing “various trials.” In their suffering at the hands of their rich oppressors, they may have felt a longing to renounce their messianic faith. James assures them that their testing carried eschatological significance. It would produce “its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete” (James 1:2-4).

 

James—in the manner of Jesus, Peter, and John—advises his readers to practice self-control and non-violence. Fighting would not alleviate their suffering, nor would it hasten the arrival of the kingdom “for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). Instead of warring, they should tend to widows and orphans, treat the poor with dignity, and speak with wisdom. This way of life in conjunction with Christ would hasten the arrival of the kingdom of peace and reconciliation. “Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:18).

 

At the proper time, God would lower the proud and elevate the humble as a function of eschatological judgment. (James 4:6-10). God would exalt the humble along with Christ and bestow upon them a promised symbol of the kingdom, namely a “crown of life” (James 3:9-10). James reminds his original readers of the prophets who awaited God’s vindication. He assures them that “the coming of the Lord is at hand…Behold! The judge is standing at the door” (James 5:8-11). 

 

God’s righteousness would be revealed in short order, just as the prophets foretold. In due time, James envisions God’s righteousness revealing itself in the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promises and triumphant mercy (2:12-23).

 

The Epistle to the Hebrews opens with a conversation of God’s kingdom. The first chapter draws from a variety of Biblical sources such as the Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah. The royal Psalm 45 holds a prominent place as the author announces God’s righteous kingdom. “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom” (Hebrews 1:8). Here, we find God’s righteousness and kingdom being identified as an integral unit.

 

Throughout the next several chapters, the letter advises its readers to remain steadfast so that they may receive the eschatological salvation spoken by the Lord (Hebrews 2:1-3). This would occur in short order as God was subjecting all things under the feet of his anointed one—a kingly designation. The promises hadn’t become complete yet, but they would come to pass in “a little while” (Hebrews 2:5-9; 10:37).

 

In light of the persecution these readers were receiving, they might be tempted to draw back into their old way. However, their suffering “for a few days” would yield “the peaceable fruit of righteousness’ (Hebrews 12:10-11).

 

The author assures them that they had come to Mount Zion, the city of God. He guarantees that they were receiving an unshakeable kingdom and a continuing city given to them by “the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus.” By the blood of the everlasting covenant, they would share in the eschatological blessing of perfection (Hebrews 13:20-21).

 

The Bible is filled with stories and prophecies of God’s provision for the hungry and thirsty. The Exodus generation received bread from heaven and water from a rock to quell their appetites. Isaiah invited the thirsty to come to the waters and called on the hungry to stop working for bread that did not satisfy (Isaiah 55).

 

Jesus made use of these powerful and pervasive cultural images as he promised to give the Samaritan woman living water that would quench the thirst once for all. He fed multitudes, and identified himself as the bread from heaven.

 

All of the events and prophecies point to God filling the ultimate eschatological hunger. None does this more clearly than Mary’s song, also known as The Maginficat in Luke 1:46-55. When Mary discovers that she is carrying God’s chosen, she follows the pattern of Hannah and breaks out in song.

 

Hannah sings (1Samuel 2:1-10) when she learns that God has answered her request to have a child. Hannah found herself as a rival wife to her bigamist husband. The other wife, Peninnah, tormented Hannah because Hannah was childless. However, Hannah went into the tent of meeting and begged God to alleviate her oppression. God responded and vindicated Hannah when she bore a son. She sings, “Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, and those who were hungry have ceased to hunger” (1Samuel 2:5).

 

In the broader setting of this story, Israel found herself in bondage. Living under constant threat of pagan powers and ineffective deliverers, Israel withered and waited for rescue. Hannah’s unlikely pregnancy signaled a new era for Israel. Her son, Samuel, would anoint David to be king, and David would secure Israel’s deliverance.

 

Centuries later when Mary becomes pregnant, she immediately recognizes the parallels between her situation and Hannah’s; she sees the similarities between the Israel of her day and the Israel of Hannah’s. Mary finds herself as the one who would bear the child who would receive the throne of David and thereby deliver the house of Jacob (Luke 1:32-33).

 

Israel had languished since the Babylonian captivity. The prophets and poets asked how long it would be until God would fulfill his promise and show his covenant faithfulness. To Mary (and the author of the Gospel of Luke), the conception of Jesus signaled that the time had come. This causes Mary to rejoice and magnify the Lord. She celebrated, “He has filled the hungry with good things” (Luke 2:53).

 

The pious religious leaders (like Saul of Tarsus) believed that stricter Law observance would create the context for Israel’s deliverance. They failed to realize, though, that the Law served to reinforce Israel’s problem. The Law in itself could not provide a new creation. However, it led Israel to the time at which God would fulfill the promises made in the Torah. In Romans 10:4, Paul points to Christ as God’s messianic agent for establishing his promises as given in the Law. In this way, Paul sees Christ as the goal (GK: telos) of the Law and first-century believers (the ekklesia) participated in this messianic function, thereby sharing in this phase of God’s righteousness.

 

Being raised in an observant household (Matthew 1:19), Jesus certainly knew Hannah’s story. Additionally, it is likely that he knew of his mother’s experience and her connection with Hannah’s story. This narrative would have shaped Jesus self-image, and the themes of the song as it shaped ancient Israel’s self-understanding would have entered into Jesus’ teaching.

 

Righteousness has played a key role in New Testament theology, especially since the days of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Standing against the abuses of the medieval western European church, Luther proposed justification by faith. Humans, he preached, were imputed the righteousness of Christ as they placed their faith in him. The Protestant-Catholic controversies tended to revolve around the means by which an individual person becomes right with God.

 

To some degree or another, all post-Reformation theology accepts Luther’s formulation, rarely questioning the underlying assumptions related to the Biblical authors’ (and Jesus’) understanding of righteousness and humanity’s relationship to God. This approach presupposes the traditional way of reading the Biblical story as humanity falling from perfection and needing individual restoration to that ideal state.

 

Another way of reading the Biblical story is one of God’s promises being fulfilled “in due time” through specific phases. Genesis 1:26-27 records God promising to fashion humanity in the divine likeness. In Genesis 12, God affirms the means by which he would fulfill that promise—namely, he would bless all families of the earth through Abraham. God refines the promise to David, affirming that he would establish his son to sit on the throne forever.

 

The Gospel of Matthew begins in 1:1 by asserting the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants and the connection of Jesus to them. This is the author’s way of indicating that God’s promises were coming to reality through Jesus. Jesus would be the messianic head (in conjunction with the entire body) through whom God was ushering in the kingdom. In the establishment of the kingdom, God’s righteousness would be declared.

 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus invited those who were hungering and thirsting for the fulfillment of the kingdom promises to join him in the messianic mission. In their fellowship with him, they would experience eschatological satisfaction in bringing the promises of God to all families of the earth.

 

 

URL: http://www.presence.tv/cms/cov-beatitudes-part5.php

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