Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch / Edward Hicks, ca. 1826-30. Hicks must have loved this theme. This only one of several different paintings of it.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). It seems straightforward enough. But then when Christians say anything controversial, they’re open to criticism of not being peacemakers.

Take heart; when Jesus sent out the Twelve for ministry, he said,

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. (Matthew 10:34-36 ESV)

And on the night that he was betrayed, he said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27 ESV).

So Jesus did not come to give the peace the world gives. He came to confront the world, and from that confrontation, he will make a different kind of peace.

Jesus and the peace the world gives

Peace rally

Jesus’ peace cannot mean the absence of conflict. Jesus was constantly involved in conflict. The world encourages us to placate those stronger than we are in order to have peace with them. It wants us to paper over difficulties and just get along.

Recent diplomacy gives us a perfect term for that kind of peace. In World War II, the US and Britain found themselves in an uncomfortable alliance with the Soviet Union. The Soviet dictator Stalin was every bit as much of a monster as Hitler.

After defeating Hitler, the West had no appetite for war with Russia but couldn’t in good conscious let it have its way. We call the next few decades the Cold War.

Doesn’t that describe so much of what constitutes peace in interpersonal relationships?

Jesus never tried to placate anyone. He never tried to paper over differences. Probably no other person in the Bible offended as many people as Jesus did. And he never once apologized. He never once yielded on any point.

And yet he was always at peace within himself. When he became angry, his anger always subsided as soon as it had served its purpose. Just look at all the times he intended to do something and someone interrupted him to ask him to do something else. He always abandoned his plans to help that person. Or those people.

An example of Jesus at peace

He once invited the disciples to go with him to a quiet place where they could rest. Thousands of people got there first. He fed 5,000 men. When that was finished, he ordered his disciples into the boat while he stayed behind to pray. They ran into a storm, and Jesus came and calmed it.

Mark’s account says they were amazed because they hadn’t understood the loaves. Jesus had remained entirely at peace during all that chaos. If they had understood the first miracle, they wouldn’t have been so amazed at the second. And they wouldn’t have been as frightened in the storm if they had grasped Jesus’ peace in the interruption of his desire for quiet.

Peacemakers

What Our Savior Saw from the Cross / James Tissot, between 1886 and 1894

I looked up the Greek for “peacemakers.” It’s “eirenopoios.” As in English, it’s a compound. “Eirene” means “peace.” It’s a very broad word and includes the absence of war and harmony between individuals—the very things I have suggested Jesus didn’t mean. He didn’t speak Greek. The Hebrew for “peace” is “shalom.”

It’s an even broader term and usually includes completeness, safety, quietness, and especially covenant friendship with God.

In Scripture, “shalom” is always based on righteousness and justice. If there is no righteousness and justice, there can be no peace in the biblical sense. Jesus doesn’t give the world’s righteousness and justice any more than he gives the world’s peace.

“Poieo” means to make or do. English has two different words where Greek has only one. English translations of the Beatitudes, then, could just as easily say, “Blessed are the peacedoers.” Doing peace always brought Jesus into conflict with those in love with the world. After all, that sword he talked about in Matthew 10:34 is God’s word. And God’s word destroys the works of the devil. Doing peace—making genuine peace—cost Jesus his life.

“. . . in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

We can hardly expect the world to tread us any kindlier if we stand up for biblical principles of righteousness, justice, and peace. What’s more, some people don’t even welcome the world’s peace. Paul acknowledged as much when he wrote, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18).

So let’s aspire to be peacemakers––in spite of any opposition we may receive. Jesus promised that peacemakers will be adopted into God’s family.




Image credits:
Peaceable Kingdom. Public domain from Wikimedia Commons
Peace rally. Some rights reserved by thivierr [Link to Flickr no longer works.]
Crucifixion as seen from the cross. Public domain from Wikimedia Commons