Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9)

It is probably the case that most governments and political parties say something about peace, even when they happen to be visiting a battlefield. Yet despite the good words, there does seem to be little expectation of ever achieving it. Will Jesus be more successful with his promises of the benefits of peace? In this verse, he speaks about those involved in making peace and he also mentions the benefit that they will receive from having engaged in it. Those involved are the blessed among people and the benefit is connected to membership of the family of God. Of course, he is informing his disciples of his intentions about his kingdom that he has come into the world to set up and what actions the members of it should be engaged in.

 

What peace does Jesus have in mind?

In order to achieve peace, the antagonists need to be identified, the conflict has to be stated. The absence of peace that Jesus has in mind is not that caused by hostility between nations. In fact, at the time he lived on earth, the Roman emperors claimed to have created a world of peace, the Pax Romana, within their vast empire. It was usually maintained by crushing any who opposed them. Yet we know from the trial that Jesus went through after his arrest that he was not interested in a form of peace connected to government activity. If that had been the case, his servants or disciples would have been involved in that process. Even Pilate recognised that the kingdom Jesus promoted was not on the level of earthly kingdoms.

 

Rather the conflict that concerned Jesus was one between God and humans. The conflict was brought about by the rebellion of the human race against God ever since he created the original pair in the Garden of Eden. Their rebellion against God was total – they did not desire to acknowledge his authority and were prepared to show it by engaging in acts of defiance against his instructions, despite being aware of the disastrous penalty that they would endure for their rebellion.

 

Still, the God whom they had rebelled against desired that they would know about the possibility of returning to a state of peace with him. He made a prediction in the Garden of Eden that eventually One would come who would undo the damage caused by their rebellion. This promised One would be a human (the son of the woman) capable of extraordinary achievements (crushing the head of the kingdom of evil). Right from the beginning, humans had the opportunity of identifying with this coming One or remaining enemies of God.

 

In order for there to be peacemakers, this future Hero would have to have come. Here, in this verse in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reveals that the time has come because he is the promised One. He was here to make it possible for peacemaking to take place. This could happen because he was about to perform a Herculean action, which was that he would bear the penalty of sin, the sin that was the source and the expression of rebellion against God. Jesus would go to the cross as a sinless man and endure the penalty that divine justice required, and when he had done so, the prospect of personal peace would be presented to rebellious sinners.

 

The peacemakers

After his resurrection from the dead, Jesus arranged for his disciples to meet with him in Galilee. Over five hundred of them came to that gathering held on a mountainside, maybe even the same mountainside that he was speaking on when he delivered his Sermon on the Mount. We are only told about one statement he made on that occasion, but it was a significant statement because it is about his disciples functioning as peacemakers.

 

The statement is usually called the Great Commission, which is a rather vague description. ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’ (Matt. 28:18-20). The statement is authoritative, unambiguous and attainable. Its authority is that of the highest (Jesus claims to have all authority in heaven and earth); its contents are the instructions of Jesus that he had given to his disciples and some of that teaching is recorded in this well-known sermon; and the attainability is ensured by his ongoing presence with each of the peacemakers wherever they would be, and which he brings about through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

 

The message of peace is the message of the gospel. Of course, the passing on of this message of peace is not left to professionals who have prepared for the ministry or even for others who are good at what is called witnessing. Rather, it is the privilege of anyone who has experienced this peace to pass on the message to whoever they can. So we can say that the peacemakers are those who have believed the gospel and received its blessings.

 

What blessings are included in this state of peace? First, the cause of the separation between them and God has been removed. The cause was their sin, which had caused the Lord to be angry with them. His wrath, we might say, was hanging over them. But because Jesus has suffered in the place of sinners, and they responded to his invitation to believe, they have received divine pardon of all their sins. They have been reconciled to God and are now back in his favour.

 

Second, they are pronounced as justified or accepted by God. This proclamation is given in heaven and happens because each of them is clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Paul mentions this connection when he reminds the Romans that, having been justified by faith, they now exist in a relationship of peace with the God against whom they had sinned. This status cannot change, even when they sin (although justified, they have not been perfected).

 

Third, the Holy Spirit now indwells them, and they undergo what is called sanctification. This is a lifelong process and involves them becoming more like Jesus in character as they proceed through life. The Holy Spirit produces within them his fruit and one aspect of that fruit is peace. Since all of them have this blessing, it is inevitable that they will desire to retain peace and share the benefits of this peace.

 

Fourth, they are brought into the community of peace. Jesus here is describing the members of his kingdom. Some have likened the beatitudes to a picture of the marks of Jesus’ disciples. They love mercy, they are pure in heart, and they engage in peacemaking. This is part of their everyday living, revealing that they are like their Master.

 

What happens to the peacemakers?

The amazing promise that Jesus gives here is that they shall be called the sons of God. It is a status that all of them share, and it is a status that begins when they believe in Jesus for the first time. As John says in the first chapter of his gospel, to as many as received him, he gave the right to be called the children of God. This amazing promise can be divided into two areas, which we can call the calling and the content.

 

Who does the calling or naming here? We are not told in this verse, but it is not hard to suggest who does so. Firstly, God himself calls them the children of God. We have already seen this from the verse just mentioned from John 1. He delights to be their Father. This was his eternal purpose regarding them. He desired that they would have this eternal status. In a sense, his home in heaven is connected to them because it is the Father’s house. Jesus, his eternal Son, is not ashamed to call them brethren and has committed to teaching them about the great name of the Father. The Holy Spirit works within them to assure them that they are the children of God. So the first way in which they are known by this name is that God calls them by it.

 

Secondly, they are called this name by the church or by other believers. One of the most examples of this is found when Ananias was sent by Jesus to speak to Saul of Tarsus about his future role in the church. The words of greeting that Ananias used was ‘Brother Saul.’ This means that the first word that converted Saul heard from another Christian was brother. Brother Saul, what a wonderful introduction to the family of God, given to Saul by a man he had wanted to arrest for his faith.

 

Third, they are called this name by those who observe them making peace. Late in this sermon, Jesus will teach his disciples to ‘let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven’ (Matt. 5:16). They will observe our behaviour and say that we are like our Father, so we must be his children.’

 

I suppose we could also ask when they shall be called this name. We have answered this question in some ways already. But we can consider another aspect of it by looking ahead to a wonderful day when we shall hear Jesus say to his Father, ‘Behold, I and the children that God has given me’ (Heb. 2:13). It will be a wonderful day when all God’s people will be together for ever with their elder Brother speaking about them to his Father.

 

Thinking about that future gathering leads us to think briefly about the content of the privileges that belong to the children of God. Our catechism tells us that we have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God and goes on to list some of them such as prayer. Yet we can focus on one of the privileges which is that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Jesus is the heir of all things, and his people, his brothers, are heirs of the new heavens and new earth. What comes into mind when speaking of creation is time and space. The time and space of the eternal world belong to the people of God.

 

As we close, we can make some applications. First, this beatitude reveals what Jesus wants his disciples to be doing. Second, it shows to us a means of gaining assurance that we belong to the family of God. Third, and as with the other beatitudes, it shows to us the path of ongoing divine blessing. Fourth, it marks out a distinctive way of life that this world is unable to find despite all its attempts. Fifth, in a very small way, it imitates the mission of Jesus because he is the ultimate peacemaker. Sixth, it can only be practised in this world because in heaven there will be no need of it. Seventh, it is a profound expression of loving our neighbour.

 

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 peacemakers, the quiet in the land.’