Blessed—Happy—Are the Peacemakers

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

Because it provides such good insight to the verse, I quote The Amplified Bible on this Beatitude: “Blessed—enjoying enviable happiness, spiritually prosperous [that is, with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions]—are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God!” And from Eugene Peterson’s The Message Bible: “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.”

Peacemakers are defined as reconcilers, and seek to get those at variance with each other on good terms, whether between individuals, groups, or nations. Peacemakers work to arbitrate differences and even to prevent disputes before they happen. Peacemakers also seek to bring persons into right relationship with God. Those who do this important work of arbitration are like the Heavenly Father who sent Jesus to reconcile His estranged creation unto Himself. In Hebrew culture, a son is expected to follow his father’s occupation. And, likewise, the disciples were to follow Jesus’ example of being reconcilers, peacemakers—the “children of God.” Someone has observed that this Beatitude is probably the least followed of all the Beatitudes, because peace is very hard to seek and to keep. There are always wars between nations, always disagreements between persons, even between members of families. To be a peacemaker is a hard assignment.

First, to be a peacemaker, we must have the genuine peace of God in our own heart. We cannot spread peace if we do not know peace. In examining the life of St. Francis of Assissi, we note that he gave his whole life to proclaiming peace. He could do this because he had the peace of God in his heart. An underlying idea in this beatitude is “blessed are those who make the world a better place in which to live” (William Barclay). Abraham Lincoln said that he would like to have it said of him that he always pulled up a weed and planted a flower. In other words, where something bad festered, he tried to make peace and foster instead a worthwhile purpose. Barclay wrote: “O the bliss of those who produce right relationships between man and man, for they are doing a Godlike work!” (Daily Study Bible: Matthew, 1956, p. 106). Can I be called a child of God because I seek to spread peace where strife, discord and disharmony exist?

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Sunday, September 19, 2010