According to Jesus. Those with an unsatisfied ache in their bellies. As are the thirsty, with their parched mouths. Luke presents hunger and thirst literally: those who long for the basic food and drink they need to survive. Matthew presents it figuratively: those who long for the justice that humanity needs to survive.
Whichever evangelist you prefer, both are uncomfortable beatitudes to live with. Because the beatitude of the world runs the opposite direction: The well-fed are blessed; those satisfied with the unjust status quo are blessed. The winners of the world, the in crowd, are those who like things just the way they are, thank you very much.
But being well-fed is not guaranteed to last for long. And sooner or later justice will be served, and the supposed winners are apt to discover that they’re really just as much losers as anyone else. Which is, perhaps, the punch line of the divine joke Jesus uses as his opener for the Sermon on the Mount.
The Christian God is perpetually of the side of the poor, the disenfranchised, and the underserved. He also has an open spot on the team for those who—like himself—cannot sit back in complacent contentedness while others go hungry.
Those blessed in the kingdom of God are the perpetually unsatisfied.
