Blessed are the Peacemakers (Matthew 5:9)
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God’ (Matthew 5:9)
Why do we need peacemakers? The answer is that nations are in conflict. Why should the disciples of Jesus function as peacemakers? Because there are situations in which spiritual conflict is occurring. What are those situations? The obvious one is the conflict between God and sinners. We might not regard the participants as being in conflict, but when we think about some of the descriptions we realise that they are.
The Background
Yet we know that it is possible in a situation of conflict for one side to want peace. Usually, it is the weaker of the two. In the situation of the war between God and humans, it is the stronger who wants peace with his opponents. God, against whom sinners had rebelled, wanted to be at peace with them. We know how he did this – he sent his Son into the world in order to deal with the causes of the conflict.
When did this conflict begin? The answer is that it commenced at the beginning of time when Adam rebelled against God. We are familiar with the story. Satan, the enemy of God, tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God by suggesting that he was depriving them of something better than he had given to them. The outcome was that enmity became the attitude that marked the relationship between God and man. God was at enmity with them because they had refused to live according to his way, and they were at enmity with God because they did not like what he required.
It is important to recognise that although there was enmity between them, the two enmities were and are not the same. God’s enmity is righteous enmity because he is upholding the standards of righteousness whereas human enmity against God is unrighteous enmity because it is the expression or rebellion against him. It is possible with righteous enmity for the offended party (God) to love the enemy, but it is not possible with unrighteous enmity for the rebellious party (humans) to love the One they are rebelling against. There is no hope of peace from the human side of things.
What about the divine side? It was not necessary for God to go down the road of peace. He would have remained righteous had he chosen to use his superior power to crush his enemies. Even if he chose to engage in an attempt to make peace, his attempt would have to be righteous. His engagement in making peace would have to be in line with his character. This means that it would have to bring about a genuine state of peace, not merely one that covered over the gaps and allowed hostility to remain. True peace is more than the absence of conflict. It means reconciliation and harmony are real.
So what did God do about the situation in order to indicate he wanted peace with humans? There are various answers to that question. The first one that we can mention is that he gave promises that he would bring it about. Indeed, the first promise was given shortly after Adam and Eve had defected to the other side. God came and told the devil that One would come and crush his head while receiving a wound on his heel, a promise that indicated there would be a conflict and a victory for the One who was to come.
There are many other promises connected to God’s focus on bringing peace, but I would mention one more, found in Isaiah 9:6-7: ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.’ This prophecy is an astonishing promise because it says that a human from the line of David is coming, who will also be God, who will have a universal reign and who will provide endless peace. How would he do so?
In addition to promises about coming peace, God also gave pictures of it. One of the pictures was the peace offering in Israel’s ritual. Five offerings are described in the Book of Leviticus – the burnt, the meal, the peace, the sin and the trespass. In only one of them did the worshipper, the priest and God share the sacrifice, and that was the peace offering. It was a picture that somehow there would be a means whereby God and sinners could meet together. Another sacrifice in which the worshipper ate the offering was the Passover, which told the worshipper that in order for him to travel to God’s land he would need a substitute depicted by the Passover lamb. It is easy for us to see who was depicted by those rituals – Jesus who made peace by becoming our substitute on the cross.
This leads to the third way of describing the way of peace in the Bible and that is in a person, the one who we have just mentioned. The story of the life of Jesus is about peace. When he was born in Bethlehem, the angels descended to sing about God’s desire for peace to be experienced: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’ Luke 2:14).
Receiving peace through Jesus
How did Jesus provide peace and how does he continue to provide peace? How was he the peacemaker? How is he the peacemaker? There are three answers to those questions that we can reflect on. First, he provided peace when he paid the penalty for sin on the cross. His death removed the enmity between God and sinners and made reconciliation possible. Second, as Paul says in Ephesians, Jesus through his servants came and preached peace to sinners who were estranged from God – peace is offered to sinners through the gospel. Third, through the gospel, he also brings together those who previously were hostile to one another (Ephesians 2:14: ‘For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility’).
What happens to those who respond to the gospel? One effect of believing in Jesus is that such a sinner is justified by God the Father and immediately is at peace with him. As Paul says in Romans 5:1: ‘Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Personally, there is now no state of enmity between them and God. Before they believed, they were children of wrath. Having believed, they are reconciled with him and he with them.
Peacemakers and the possession of peace
What part does peace play in the Christian life? Going by the greetings at the start of the epistles, peace plays a very important part. Indeed, the frequency of its appearance in those greetings tells us it is essential. In order to show how important peace is we can listen to several selected verses.
First, Jesus wants his disciples to have his peace: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid’ (John 14:27). He wanted them to have peace from his words: ‘I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.’ This peace did not depend on circumstances because he goes on to say: ‘In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33). An obvious example of this desire of Jesus is seen in his words to his disciples on the resurrection day: ‘On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you”’ (John 20:19). Remember, he is speaking to those he planned to use as peacemakers.
Second, we can have the peace of God as the guard of our hearts and minds: ‘And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’ (Phil. 4:7). Paul preceded that promise by mentioning a condition for receiving it. The condition is that we have to think about matters that God approves. If we think about wrong things, we deprive ourselves of the peace of God. Paul says something similar in Romans 8:6: ‘For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.’ When we grieve the Spirit, we lose this experience of peace. Those who will be peacemakers are conscious of the necessity of thinking right thoughts by the aid of the Holy Spirit.
Third, the Beatitudes focus on the character of those who belong to the kingdom of God. It is the members of that kingdom who are described as peacemakers, and we will see shortly that they should be so. What is that kingdom membership like? Paul summarises it in Romans 14:17: ‘For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.’ Three features of the kingdom are all that he highlights, and we should assume that they are the core of what the members possess. Peacemakers make the kingdom attractive by revealing the effects of belonging to it.
Functioning as peacemakers
With whom and where are Christians to be peacemakers? The answer to that question is twofold. They are to be peacemakers within the church and they are to be peacemakers with those outside the church. In both of those areas, there will plenty scope for peace-making.
The first point I would mention is that we peacemakers take a realistic view of their role. Paul instructs them in Romans 12:18: ‘If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.’ His words indicate the possibility that it may not be possible to bring peace to some individuals. Yet he also points out that the failure should never be the fault of the peacemaker. The other persons should never be able to say with justification that the peacemaker failed to live according to his profession. Pau’s admonition is very clear – ‘so far as it depends on you.’
Second, the peacemaker, even when under attack from another enemy, should always be ready to share the message of peace. Paul states that in Ephesians 6:15 when describing the spiritual armour: ‘and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.’ Who does Jesus want to hear this message of peace? We find the answer in the Great Commission of Matthew 28 when he told the apostles to take the message everywhere.
Third, the peacemaker is concerned for peace within the church. His concern for peace consumes him. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 14:19: ‘So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.’ We can see from his words that the same good things produce peace and mutual upbuilding. Peace that the Bible has in mind is the inner contentment that flows from fellowship with God. And it is through fellowship with God that mutual upbuilding happens. There is no other way. This pursuit must be a priority for peacemakers. They are to be ‘eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’ (Eph. 4:3). Such will not do anything that disturbs another Christian’s contact with the Holy Spirit.
The focus on peace-making is linked with holiness by the author of Hebrews: ‘Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord’ (Heb. 12:14). This means that a person who does not strive for peace is not a holy individual, which says quite a lot about church splits. But it is not limited by that author to those within the church. It also covers every contact with anyone.
Fourth, the constant peacemakers will receive a great outcome. Listen to James 3:18: ‘And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.’ Every expression of peace is a seed for producing more peace. Those who engage in it will live in righteous ways, in a manner that is pleasing to God. As Alec Motyer pointed out, ‘James takes his gardening metaphor seriously. Peace is the soil and those who make peace are the green-fingered gardeners.’
Called sons of God
The idea contained in this description is that people will recognise that those who live as peacemakers look like their heavenly Father. It does not mean that peacemaking brings about a relationship with God; rather it reveals a relationship with God. People will recognise that they are followers of the Prince of peace and they will see that they are displaying the fruit of the Spirit (which includes peace).
This character trait is one that Jesus expected his followers to have as part of their witness to the world. It is very sad when Christians are known for being the opposite, as too often they have been. As Matthew Henry pointed out, ‘Christ never intended to have his religion propagated by fire and sword, or penal laws, or to acknowledge bigotry, or intemperate zeal, as the mark of his disciples. The children of this world love to fish in troubled waters, but the children of God are the peace-makers, the quiet in the land.’