Blessed Are the Peacemakers
Matthew 5:9
We turn again this morning to Matthew 5 and to the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. As John Stott points out, this teaching of Jesus is counter-cultural, “Here is a Christian value-system, ethical standard, religious devotion, attitude to money, ambition, lifestyle, and network of relationships—all of which are totally at variance with those of the non-Christian world.”[1] We have seen this powerfully in each of the Beatitudes that Jesus teaches. Remember that these are not random statements of blessings, nor are they commands, but they are attitudes and actions that are evident in the life of a disciple of Jesus. They are realities for those who are in the Kingdom of heaven. Thus, they give us a grid on which to measure our progress as followers of Christ.
Disciples of Jesus will be radically different from the world. Rather than material-minded or self-sufficient, they are poor in spirit, recognizing their spiritual bankruptcy. Rather than the frivolity and promotion of sin, they mourn over their sin in true repentance. Rather than dog-eat-dog self-promotion, kingdom citizens are meek, exercising self-control, bending their wills in submission to the will of God. Their greatest desire is not for fame or wealth but instead, they hunger and thirst for righteousness—to be right with God and live in right relationship with God. Because they have received mercy, kingdom citizens are merciful toward others, forgiving even as they have been forgiven in Christ. Rather than immersing themselves in the pollutions of the world, their heart is set on moral purity and single-mindedness devotion to Christ.[2]
This progression, then, leads us to the seventh beatitude. When we have been truly transformed by God’s gracious mercy toward us, and have become gripped by the purity of heart to which He calls us—when we realize that God has brought about peace between us and Himself through the cross of Jesus and that we are no longer in a state of enmity with Him—then that transforms our relationships with other people also. We have peace with God and become makers of peace. Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).
Let’s examine this beatitude in greater detail by, first,
1. What does it mean to be a peacemaker?
The word “peacemakers” is literally a compound of the noun “peace” and the verb “to make” or “to do” (From εἰρήνη and ποιέω)[3]. This is the only time this word is used in the New Testament, although Paul uses the verb form of it in Colossians 1:20 when he writes about Jesus, “and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” We know from Scripture that the heavenly Father is a “God of peace” (Romans 16:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:20), that heaven is a world of peace (Luke 19:38), and most important of all, that God Himself is a peacemaker (2 Corinthians 5:19). Peace means reconciliation, and God is the author of peace and of reconciliation.[4] “The whole history of redemption, climaxing in the death and resurrection of Jesus, is God’s strategy to bring about a just and lasting peace between rebel man and Himself, and then between man and his fellow man.”[5]
Greg Allen points out three kinds of “peace”.[6] There is “circumstantial” peace, an absence of distractions, or turmoil, or conflicts in our external ‘circumstance’. We might think of a peaceful, quiet, stillness in the world around us. It’s the kind of peace you might feel when you get away from the noise and bustle of daily life and enjoy a day in nature or in bed. Most everyone would like to have “circumstantial” peace, at least sometimes.
Many people think that “circumstantial” peace will lead to “internal” peace. “Internal” peace would be calmness and tranquility within, a sense of personal serenity and well-being. Often people will try to find inner peace by changing their outer circumstances. So they seek peace in a new job, a new relationship, or a new possession; a vacation away from it all; a new religious experience; or any number of other distractions.
Yet the lack of inner peace is not due to external circumstances. It is due to sin. The Bible tells us “‘There is no peace,’ says the LORD, ‘for the wicked’” (Isaiah 48:22; see also Isa. 57:22). James writes, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” Lack of peace ultimately comes from our sinful desires. That is why you will never find lasting “internal” peace by altering your external circumstances.
The Bible teaches that true, lasting, “circumstantial” peace will not come to this world until Jesus Christ returns and reigns upon it. He is “the Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6); and He will through His kingly rule, bring about the full experience of “circumstantial” peace on earth. Isaiah writes about Christ’s reign saying, “He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isa. 2:4).
The Bible also teaches that true, “internal” peace can only be experienced as a gift of God’s grace. Paul writes, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:1-2). The true internal that we really need is peace with God. This peace comes only by God’s grace through believing in Jesus Christ, “who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” (Rom. 4:25).
So Jesus could tell His disciples, those who believed in Him, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). He told them, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Now think about this beatitude again, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9). What is the kind of peace that Jesus is speaking about? It should be obvious that we can never make a lasting “circumstantial” peace in a fallen world that God Himself says will have no peace. And we can never make “internal” peace for ourselves or in others, it is a gift of God through Jesus Christ. It’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit living in us (Gal. 5:22-23); and not a product of our own efforts.
So how can we be peacemakers? I think it must refer to “relational” peace, peace with other people. Relational peace is reconciliation between myself and others with whom I have been alienated. It is the removal of barriers between myself and other people.
“Relational” peace, like true internal peace, begins by having peace with God. Peace with God, means the full removal of the barrier of sin that stands between myself and the holy God who made me. The Bible tells us, “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:1-2). Sin is what stands between God and fallen humanity; and until that thing that causes the enmity to exist between them is removed, there can be no “relational” peace between a man and God. But praise God! – the cause of that enmity is removed by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins. When we believe in Him, Christ’s righteous obedience is credited to us by grace, so that God can declare justified. This is peace with God (Rom. 5:1).
As I said, it is this “relational” peace with God, that makes it possible for us to have genuine, lasting “internal” peace. But not only that, but the “relational” peace with God that Jesus has secured for us also makes it possible for us who are in Christ to have “relational” peace with one another! Paul points out that in Christ, God has made “relational” peace possible between the two most estranged groups the world has ever known—Jew and Gentile.
The Jew was related to God through outward ceremonies, laws, and rituals—the marks of the covenant relationship between God and the people of Israel. All other people in the world, the Gentiles, were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise” (Eph. 2:12). But we’re told that in Christ, those both have been brought near to Christ and therefore to one another:
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father (Eph. 2:14-18).
When I have peace with God through Christ, and you have peace with God through Christ, we must have peace with one another. It ought to make sense that those who are near to Christ can be peaceably near to one another.
It is obvious that “relational” peace with God through Christ doesn’t automatically result in peace with everyone else. Otherwise, why would we need to be peacemakers? Sometimes it is our very relationship with God in Christ that causes division, especially with unbelievers. Just before Jesus sent out the twelve to proclaim the Kingdom, He warned them that they would be rejected and would suffer persecution; and He said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household’” (Matthew 10:34-36).
Jesus warned that His coming would result in separation and division and discord. Just before going to the cross Jesus told His disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19). Isn’t the very next beatitude, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10)? Jesus comes to bring us into a state of “relational” peace with God; and this may bring us into a state of discord with those who have no peace with God, even in our own home.
This fact, of course, does not give us an excuse for being the immediate cause of that division. If the people of this world hate us, it is to be because they hate our Savior, not because we behave in a hateful manner toward them. Even in our relationships with unbelievers, ” God has called us to peace” (1 Cor. 7:15). Paul writes to the Romans, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Rom. 12:18). James 3:18 says, “Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
The peace that Christ has made between us and His Father is to now compel us to go out into a world that is filled with sinful conflict and contention, and act as agents of God’s peace in every relationship—in our family, marriage, work, church, community, and even toward our enemies.
Of course, our peacemaking should begin with the family of God. We are to do all that we can to pursue peace between ourselves and those fellow Christians with whom we are personally in a state of enmity. This is particularly the case when we discover that we are guilty of having brought the offense about in the first place. Jesus said, “. . . If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:31-32).
Sometimes this may mean confronting sin in the life of another believer. “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17).
The writer of Hebrews urged his readers, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled . . .” (Heb. 12:14-15). Peace and holiness must never be pursued separately. Remember this beatitude follows the one that says, “Blessed are the pure in heart” (Matt. 5:8). We must not seek peace at the cost of holiness; nor can we make peace with sin. Appeasing sin would mean making peace with the very thing against which our Savior declared war and for which He died. To declare “peace” while sin remains in the picture is to cry out as the false prophets of old did. God said of these prophets, in Jeremiah 6:14, “They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly [that is, superficially], saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.“
Peacemakers help to facilitate peace between others also. In Philippians 4 Paul wrote, “I implore Euodia and I implore Synteche to be of the same mind in the Lord” (Phil. 4:2). Apparently, these two women were at odds with one another. But in addition to calling them to peace, Paul called for a particular “peace-making” brother to come into the situation and help them remove the barriers that stood between them. He wrote, “And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel . . .” There are times when we need to help make peace between believers.
A peacemaker is to seek to remove anything that might potentially become a barrier between other brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul wrote to the believers in Rome and urged them to be very careful about how they handled moral “grey” areas – that is, practices that the Bible does not directly forbid and about which a believer’s conscience may be clear, but that may cause another believer of less mature conscience to stumble. In the case of the Roman church, some were feeling the freedom to eat meat that had been purchased from a pagan temple and had been sacrificed to idols because they truly believed that idols are nothing. But without realizing it, those who felt this freedom were causing harm to others in the church family whose conscience bothered them greatly about eating such meat.
Paul urged the believers in Rome willingly and lovingly to refrain from their personal liberties when the use of those liberties would cause harm to the faith of another. He wrote, “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another” (Rom. 14:19). Paul wrote to the Colossian believers, “. . . And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called . . .” (Col. 3:14-15).
I think that the greatest work that a true “peacemaker” can ever do is to help bring peace between lost sinners and the God who loves them. We do this when we lovingly and clearly proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. When the unsaved people around us hear of the sacrifice of Jesus for them on the cross, and by God’s grace place their faith in Him, then the barrier of sin that stands between themselves and God is removed. They also have “peace with God”! We become peacemakers by proclaiming the message of the “gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15)! As Paul wrote, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things’” (Rom. 10:14-15).
Clearly, peacemaking is a very hard, costly, and sometimes long process. It requires that we be prepared to seek the forgiveness of those whom we have wronged. It also involves being ready to forgive those who genuinely seek our forgiveness. It involves stepping into the pain of others and helping them to remove the barriers that exist between them. But it’s worth it. According to Jesus’ promise, it is a work that is greatly blessed. This leads us, finally, to ask . . .
2. What blessing is promised to the peacemaker?
Jesus says peacemakers “shall be called the sons of God“. We want to be clear that this does not mean that people can somehow earn the right to become the children of God through being peacemakers. The right to be the children of God only occurs through faith in Jesus Christ and as a gift of God’s grace. As the Bible tells us, “. . . As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe on His name . . .” (John 1:12).
The use of “sons of” is a common Hebraism that we find in numerous places in Scripture. Paul calls unbelievers “sons of disobedience” meaning that they are characterized by disobedience (Eph 2:2). The phrase “sons of God” suggests that someone is being identified as a partaker of the character of God. Jesus uses the phrase in exactly this way later in His Sermon on The Mount. In Matthew 5:43-48, He says, “. . . Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven … ” (Matthew 5:44-45).
When we, in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit, work in this world as peacemakers, we are behaving like Jesus Himself behaved. And note that Jesus says we will not only truly be “sons of God” but shall be “called” sons of God. That is, we will have gained a reputation as sons of God because we imitate Him who is the greatest of all peacemakers. Peacemaking is a work of God, and we show ourselves to be most like His own precious Son when we act as His peacemakers in this world.
What Jesus is doing in this Beatitude is giving us another characteristic to test the reality of our Christianity. We know that we are disciples of Jesus by the practice of being poor in spirit, mourning over sin, meekness, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, being merciful, being pure in heart, and being peacemakers.
What does this Beatitude say about your Christianity? Does it verify your faith? Or does it call into question whether or not you have truly been born again? It is “peacemakers” that will be called “sons of God.”
[1] John R. W. Stott and John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian Counter-Culture, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 19.
[2] Phil Newton, The Blessing of Peacemaking, http://archive.southwoodsbc.org/sermons/matthew_05.09.php Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site.
[3] Blue Letter Bible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1518/nkjv/tr/0-1/ accessed 09/25/2022
[4] John R. W. Stott and John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian Counter-Culture, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 50.
[5] John Piper, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/blessed-are-the-peacemakers accessed 09/25/2022
[6] Greg Allen, The Peacemakers’ Blessing, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2004/080104.htm Copyright © 2004 Bethany Bible Church, accessed 09/25/2022. I have adapted Allen’s outline and used some of his points in developing this sermon.
