TO BE A PEACEMAKER TALK ABOUT JESUS

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. The Greek word used for “peacemakers” means the founders of peace. Bruce Metzger points out that the emphasis is on the verb “make.” In chapter 7, verses 1–6, Jesus gives us qualifications of the peacemaker. But above all He personified this peace in Himself. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:14–17, “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us… . for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh” (kjv). The message of peace is the message of the gospel; for people find peace within themselves and among themselves as they enter right-relatedness with God in Christ. Such persons are known in society as “the sons of God.” The word peace, shalom in the Hebrew, is not a negative state; it denotes not simply the absence of evil, but is a positive word which has to do with the well-being of another, seeking for him the highest good. Consequently, being a peacemaker is to work for right relations between persons, all persons. The Christian church has a calling which will separate the children of God from people of violence and war, a calling to work for peace and well-being among men.¹

One who shares the news of peace the Gospel God plan for peace with Man

Can you name one peacemaker in the world right now? There is no one today who can make peace. Christ alone is the great Peacemaker. He made peace by His blood between a righteous God and an unrighteous sinner. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).²

Are we like Jesus? Are we sharing Jesus and the Gospel?

VII. The peace-makers are happy, v. 9. The wisdom that is from above is first pure, and then peaceable; the blessed ones are pure toward God, and peaceable toward men; for with reference to both, conscience must be kept void of offence. The peace-makers are those who have, 1. A peaceable disposition: as, to make a lie, is to be given and addicted to lying, so, to make peace, is to have a strong and hearty affection to peace. I am for peace, Ps. 120:7. It is to love, and desire, and delight in peace; to be put in it as in our element, and to study to be quiet. 2. A peaceable conversation; industriously, as far as we can, to preserve the peace that it be not broken, and to recover it when it is broken; to hearken to proposals of peace ourselves, and to be ready to make them to others; where distance is among brethren and neighbours, to do all we can to accommodate it, and to be repairers of the breaches. The making of peace is sometimes a thankless office, and it is the lot of him who parts a fray, to have blows on both sides; yet it is a good office, and we must be forward to it. Some think that this is intended especially as a lesson for ministers, who should do all they can to reconcile those who are at variance, and to promote Christian love among those under their charge.

Now, (1.) Such persons are blessed; for they have the satisfaction of enjoying themselves, by keeping the peace, and of being truly serviceable to others, by disposing them to peace. They are working together with Christ, who came into the world to slay all enmities, and to proclaim peace on earth. (2.) They shall be called the children of God; it will be an evidence to themselves that they are so; God will own them as such, and herein they will resemble him. He is the God of peace; the Son of God is the Prince of peace; the Spirit of adoption is a Spirit of peace. Since God has declared himself reconcilable to us all, he will not own those for his children who are implacable in their enmity to one another; for if the peacemakers are blessed, woe to the peace-breakers! Now by this it appears, that 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.³

BIBLE DEFINES WHAT PEACE WITH GOD IS

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. ⁴

The next description deals with the peacemakers. They are the ones who are themselves at peace with God and live in peace with all men (cf. Rom 5:1). They are called “the” peacemakers for these are not social reformers, but rather the ones reformed by the regenerating power of the gospel. They are peacemakers because they themselves are at peace with God. They have entered into the peace of Christ and thus are able ambassadors of God’s message of peace to a troubled world. Hence, they shall be called the children of God. These only shall be called the sons of God! Throughout the Beatitudes Jesus clearly underscores that only those who have the life-changing qualities herein described are citizens of His kingdom.⁵

7. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God

The first impact is that of a peacemaker. If there is something our world desperately needs it is peacemakers, but what does this mean? Is this referring to those who sit in the United Nations discussing the trouble spots of the world with a view to putting them right? We may be grateful for the U.N. but I don’t think this, or its equivalent, is what Jesus is referring to. There is no doubt the world is filled with strife, but what is its cause? We are well aware of the symptoms, vividly portrayed on our news bulletins each day, but what is their cause?

Some time ago I was speaking to a High School class of fourteen year olds, and we talked about what they thought was wrong with the world. It did not take long for them to identify the most fundamental problem as being people! I then asked them to suggest what they thought was wrong with people. Various ones gave some instance or other from the news or from personal experience, that they thought typified some of what was wrong. We then tried to reduce each problem to a one word description which I wrote on the blackboard in the front of the room. We ended up with an interesting list that included words like greed, selfishness, pride, jealousy etc. Everyone agreed these words probably described the basic problem with the world.

I then asked them if they thought they had anyone in that class who was greedy, or selfish, or proud or jealous. They were a little taken aback, but quickly began to point to each other and give me some names of who was greedy, who was selfish, etc. etc. I asked them to recognise they had a serious problem here. We had earlier discussed trouble spots in far off distant lands, crime and debauchery reported in the national newspapers and we had all been agreed about those people ‘out there’. I pointed out the problems they had identified in the world were actually right there in the classroom. So I asked them what kind of family they came from, and was there anyone in their family who was proud, greedy, selfish and occasionally jealous. The boys tended to agree their big sisters were like that and the girls tended to agree their little brothers were like that, and most thought their parents could get that way too! I pointed out this was serious—the problem was not just in the world outside, it was not just in their classroom, it was in their own homes. I then singled out one boy, pointed to him and said, ‘Are you ever greedy? Do you ever get jealous? Have you sometimes been a bit selfish?’ He replied incongruously, ‘Me?’ I said, ‘Yes. You’. He said, ‘I don’t know’. The rest of the class joined in unison, ‘Yes, you have’. I thought that might happen, so quickly pointed to another who seemed the most vocal and said, ‘What about you?’. He answered, ‘Well I suppose so’. I said, ‘Don’t say, “I suppose so”. Is it Yes or No?!’ He then said ‘Yes’. I pointed to another, then another, then another and went to almost everyone in the room, asked them the same question and despite some smart answers to begin with they eventually said, ‘Yes’. I said to them, ‘Now we are getting somewhere. What is wrong with the world? You are. I am.’

This is the whole point. James writes, ‘What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you’ (Jas. 4:1). All the problems we recognise in our world are symptoms of what is going on within us. To be a true peacemaker is not to impose some structure on the symptoms (that has its important place, but the same causes will express themselves in other symptoms again) but to go to the source. The greatest need of every human being cannot be met because of their alienation from God. It is reconciliation with God that brings peace with God (see Rom. 5:1), which in turn leads to experiencing the peace of God (see Phil. 4:7). One of the great privileges of the Christian life is that having come to peace with God ourselves we share the means of peace with those whose deepest need is to know Christ. We become a peacemaker! This concern is an inevitable and unavoidable consequence of the previous six ingredients in the list of beatitudes being in place.

The peacemakers, said Jesus, will be ‘called sons of God’. In bringing others to peace with God we share the ministry of the Son of God. God’s business in his Son is, ‘… to reconcile to himself all things … by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross’ (Col. 1:20). Paul writes of the ministry of Christ, ‘For he himself is our peace … thus making peace … He came and preached peace …’ (Eph. 2:14–17).

When we share the message of, ‘peace through his blood, shed on the cross’, one of two things may happen. There will be those who respond and come to peace, there will be those who react and persecute.⁶

THE FAMILY BUSINESS IS THE SHARING OF THE LORD TO THE UNSAVED

5:9 peacemakers. Spiritual peace, not the cessation of physical violence between nations, is in view. Although the term is usually understood to mean those who help others find peace with God, this peace can also be understood as those who have made their own peace with God and are called His children. The principle is extended in vv. 44, 45—the children of God make peace, even with their enemies.⁷

1 Augsburger, M. S., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1982). Matthew (Vol. 24, p. 18). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

2 McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Matthew 1-13) (electronic ed., Vol. 34, p. 76). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

3 Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1630). Peabody: Hendrickson.

4 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2001). (Ro 5:1–11). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

5 Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 1885). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

6 Price, C. (1998). Matthew: Can Anything Good Come Out of Nazareth? (pp. 71–73). Fearn, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.

5:9 peacemakers. Spiritual peace, not the cessation of physical violence between nations, is in view. Although the term is usually understood to mean those who help others find peace with God, this peace can also be understood as those who have made their own peace with God and are called His children. The principle is extended in vv. 44, 45—the children of God make peace, even with their enemies.

7 Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2005). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (p. 1367). Orlando, FL; Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries.