The Beatitudes series — Matthew 5:3–12
By Derek Gentle
The seventh beatitude is a verse for believers. It isn’t addressing world leaders or delegates to the United Nations so much as everyday Christians. Retired pastor John Legg comments, “Peace begins with the reconciliation of sinners to God, peace with God, leading to peace of conscience, heart and mind and the peace of the united Church” (Welwyn Commentary Series: The King and His Kingdom).
As we reflect on this beatitude, there are three questions we need to answer. What does Jesus mean by “peace”? What does Jesus mean by “peacemaker”? And what does Jesus mean when He says they will be called the “sons of God”?
The unbelieving world around us regards peace as being undisturbed — nobody knocks on their door except to deliver pizza. To many, peace is not being challenged and never having to think. The Bible has a different take on it.
Peace with God
First there is peace with God. The Bible speaks of being made right with God, no longer living in rebellion against God and no longer being under the wrath of God. We are at peace with God; the war is over (Rom. 5:1).
Then there is a peace from God. In John 14:27, Jesus would tell His disciples: “My peace I leave with you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This experience of peace surpasses our ability to understand (Phil. 4:7). It is more than the absence of conflict. In fact it could sometimes mean inner peace in the presence of conflict, persecution and trial. New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg describes this peace as “wholeness and harmony rather than strife and discord” (The New American Commentary, Vol. 22). As we reflect next on peacemaking, this is the kind of peace Jesus wants us to help people to find, the kind that makes us whole.
Theologian John Calvin writes, “By peacemakers He means those who not only seek peace and avoid quarrels, as far as lies in their power, but who also labor to settle differences among others, who advise all men to live at peace and take away every occasion of hatred and strife.”
This is something Scripture commands in more than one place:
- “Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it” (Ps. 34:14).
- “If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone” (Rom. 12:18).
- “Be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thess. 5:13).
- “Salt is good but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you make it salty? Have salt among yourselves and be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:50).
There are two spheres where we have great opportunities to apply this beatitude — within the Church and in the workplace.
Of all the places on planet earth the local church should be the one place where peace abounds. With the Bible to guide us, the Holy Spirit to empower us and the Lord’s people around us, we have all the resources we need for unity. The truth is there are still plenty of people looking to join a church but few looking to join a fight.
People who are at peace with God — and who experience the peace that comes from God — exude a peaceful presence. Many workplaces are cesspools of resentment or poisoned by bitterness. However, the presence of believers in a workplace, at peace with God and with others, sets a different kind of tone. They make the workplace a calmer, happier place.
As believers go about their lives, they bear the presence of God. The Holy Spirit does a work within them and they have influence with those around them. They set the tone. “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Become mature, be encouraged, be of the same mind, be at peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Cor. 13:11).
Finally, in personal evangelism, we introduce our friends to the Prince of Peace. This is most definitely peacemaking.
Through faith in Christ, we have been adopted into our Heavenly Father’s eternal family. We are children with a new standing before God and a new relationship with one another as brothers and sisters. This is certainly a wonderful truth. However, words are used with varying nuances of meaning in the New Testament. Here, Jesus has in mind a figure of speech used by the Jewish people of His day. Jesus would call James and John the “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). He didn’t mean thunder had adopted them but that they had stormy personalities. In Acts, Barnabas is referred to as the “son of encouragement.” Today we might refer to him as “Mr. Encouragement.” Paul told the Thessalonians, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day” (1 Thess. 5:5). In each case the figure of speech describes the personality and the character of the person being described. We know this is the sense in which Jesus means “sons of God” because He says, “You shall be called sons of God.” In other words, when you are peacemakers, this will be the reputation you will have — bearing the presence of God, you will be noted for being an instrument of God’s reconciling work.
‘Instrument of Your peace’
The 13th-century Italian Saint Francis of Assisi wrote a prayer which reflected a desire to be the very kind of person to which this beatitude calls on us to aspire to be.
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — Derek Gentle has served as pastor of First Baptist Church, Tallassee, for 21 years. He is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He and his wife, Sheila, have adult two children.
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