Shroro

The Syriac Orthodox Christian Digest - June, 2005

Bible Study - Commentaries
Matthew Chapter 5: 6-8 

from Kaniyamparmabil Achen, the Great Teacher of Malankara

Verse 6: “Hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be satiated!”

Righteousness is referred in the Holy Book about 500 places. Righteousness means “the quality of being just or fair”. God is just. Righteousness means living honestly according to the likes of God. Righteousness is Christian fulfillment. 

“Thirst”: Thirst and hunger are intolerable. But the thrust and hunger of now verses that during our Lord’s teaching are not similar. Now it is a time of plentiful. But at that time, they had to travel miles to get water and scarcity of food for the ordinary people. So getting satiating was a great effort. Just like those people who strived hard for satiating, we, the members of God’s kingdom have to strive hard to fulfill the likes of God. 

The Lord prizes the sincerity of such hard work. God praises the thirst of King David to build a temple of the Lord. (1 Kings 8:18) [Read Isaiah 55:1] 

“They shall be satiated”

Just like a deer longs for streams, one should long for God (Psalm 63:1). People who longs for fulfilling the likes of God; Lord will satiate such people. 

Verse 7: “Blessed are the merciful: for on them shall be mercies”

Lord and Prophets have taught about merciful people (Gen 43:14; 1 Kings 8:50, Psalms 78:38, 86:15, 103:4; Micah 7:19; Proverb 11:17; Matt 5:7, 6:16; 18:33; Romans 9:23; James 3:17, 2:13). Our Lord specifically said about the merciful in the parable of debtor (Mat 18:35). He also criticized Pharisees and Sadducees for lack of mercy (Mat 23:23).

Mercy is a character of God (Gen 34:6; Psalm 62:12). Lord shows mercy to His people (Duet 32:34). He shows mercy to those who fear Him (Psalm 103:7, Luke 1:50). He shows mercy to sinners who repent, to abandon or to the suppressed (Isaiah 54:7, 55:7, Hosea 14:3).

1. This character of God should be in His children.
2. Our Lord taught that just like God shows mercy on humans, human should show mercy to each other.
3. Not only should one have mercy and compassion, but also one should practice it.
4. Treat others’ pitiful state as your own and act with wholeheartedness and sincerity. 
5. Merciful people will receive mercy from God and other humans. We should do to others when possible, what we expect from others.
6. Lord taught us that we should show mercy on others, by seeing the Lord in them (Mat 25:40) [‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’].

Verse 8: “Blessed are the clean in heart: for they shall behold God”

[Also refer Psalm 24;4; Hebrews 12;124; Rev 22:4] 

The scriptures talk about purity of heart many times: 

1. God tests the heart (I Chronicle 29:17)

a. God knows the secrets of heart (Psalm 44:21)
b. God understand the heart (1 Chronicles 28:19)
c. God creates a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26)
d. He opens it, lightens it, and strengthens it (Acts 16:14, 2 Cor 4:6)
e. We should give our hearts to God (Proverbs 23:26)
f. We should purify the heart for God (James 4:8)
g. Pray to Lord to give you a pure heart (Psalm 51)
h. One should have a merciful heart (Ephesus 4:32)

2. Those clean in heart:

· Will seek God (2 Chronicles 11:16) 
· Steadfast in God (Psalm 57:7)
· Rejoice in God (1 Samuel 2:1) 
· Faithful to God (Ned 9:8) 
· Trust in God (Psalm 112:7) 
· Compassionate (Jeremiah 4:19) 
· Submissive in full to God (Psalm 9:1, 119:19)

3. People with pure heart: 

· God is pleased in them (1 Chronicles 29:19) 
· God pleases in their prayers (Proverbs 15:8) 
· God will flourish them (Proverbs 14:11)
· And upholds them (Psalm 41:12)

4. Their reward: 

· Inherit goodness (Proverbs 28:10,Psalm 85:11)
· God dwells with them (Psalm 15:2, 140:13) 
· Will see God (Matthew 5:8). 
· Endure inheritance forever (Psalm 37:18)

Our Lord sees the heart as the origin of our actions. He pointed out the heart as a source of unrighteousness in the Sermon on the Mount and also at the discussion of eating without washing the hands. Since the origin of all actions is the heart, if it is sacred, the action also will be sacred. Only one who thinks righteous things will do righteous things. One who is pure in heart will not pride about his virtuous (good) acts. So, we should inspect if our acts have a desire for fame or any other desire for reward. 

They will see God. Though anyone who has an eye can see, what they see differs. For ordinary people millions of stars are just a source of light. But for an astronomist, he knows its name and location. If herb in a view of herbalist is a medicine, for ordinary people it is an irrelevant plant. So we can only see based on our ability. The only way to see God is through purity of heart. So one pure in heart will see God everywhere, when others don’t see at all. They see God’s guidance in their life. In the middle of misery, they see a Comforter. Beyond all this ‘They will see His face’ (Rev 22:4; 1 John 3:2; 1 Cor 13:12).