Luke 6:21a 21Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied.
The second beatitude builds on the first with a similar theme. This statement flows naturally and logically from the first. Those who are poor are usually hungry. Luke is missing Matthew’s “and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6). Like the first, the idea of hunger could be interpreted physically or have a metaphorical application referring to spiritual longing. Hunger results from a lack of adequate food. Even skipping one meal can make a person hungry. Many people of that time struggled even to have one good meal a day. Millions of people today struggle with the same thing. Jesus gives this beatitude some urgency with the word now. Hunger was a present reality for the disciples and anyone who listened in, but did they have spiritual hunger? Were they as desperate for Jesus as they were for their next meal? Were they seeking God’s kingdom as if their lives depended on finding it?
That type of desperation indicates seeking faith. Like the first beatitude, dependence and trust are behind this one. Satisfied (chortasthēsesthe) describes the nice sense when one’s stomach is filled up after a good meal. The verb is passive with the assumed source being God. God will fill up the emptiness in the hearts of those who seek his kingdom first. The Jews longed for the great Messianic banquet prophesied in Isaiah 25:6-7 and 49:10-13. Jesus began the feast during his ministry when he ate with the sinners, tax collectors, and other groups. Those who were hungry for deeper meaning found it in Jesus, and as a result, their lives were changed, and they had a new direction for life. Genuine, lasting satisfaction can be found nowhere else but in Jesus. The time factor in this beatitude is significant. The hungering is now but the satisfaction is in the future. No always will the physical hunger be satisfied in this life. Nor will we get all the answers we seek now. Our hopes will be fulfilled when Jesus comes again and the kingdom is realized in fullness.
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