Peace Warriors
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9
Jesus generated conflict wherever He went. By socializing with undesirables, ignoring fasts, and eating with unwashed hands, He challenged social customs (Matthew 9:11-14 and 15:2). He also angered the religious leaders by expanding the meaning of the Mosaic laws regarding murder, adultery, oaths, and vengeance (Matthew 5:21-47). So how could He consider Himself a peacemaker?
The apparent contradiction is created by our misunderstanding of biblical peace. We may define a peacemaker as someone who keeps everyone happy, who calms the troubled waters of conflict through compromise and diplomacy. But that’s a peacekeeper, not a peacemaker.
Jesus is a peacemaker. He doesn’t just smooth over conflict; He transforms it into peace. How? Through reconciliation. Colossians 1:20 says that Jesus “made peace through the blood of his cross . . . to reconcile all things unto himself” (KJV). To reconcile is “to bring back into a former state of harmony.”* It involves realignment.
To bring people back into harmony with God, Jesus sets up truth and righteousness as the standard. Then He guides people toward it with love, grace, mercy, and hope. However, some of us aren’t interested in realignment. We’re accustomed to our crookedness and comfortable with our misconceptions. We resist reconciliation.
In Matthew 10:34 Jesus told His disciples, “I have not come to bring peace [absence of conflict], but a sword.” He understood that reconciliation was both controversial and costly. For Jesus, it required a trip to Calvary.
That’s a sobering thought for all wannabe peacemakers. We won’t make everyone happy. People will misunderstand us. They may accuse us of intolerance and arrogance.
Like Jesus, we’ll have to uphold truth and righteousness in a loving way (Ephesians 4:15). We may never enjoy the fruit of our peacemaking efforts. But Jesus says don’t worry about that—peacemakers are the children of God, and we’ll see the fruit in heaven.
Peacemaking isn’t for wimps. In fact, God calls us to be warriors: we are armed with truth and protected with righteousness, but our feet are “fitted with the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:13-15).
By nature, I am a peacekeeper. Maybe you are too. But through the power of the Holy Spirit and the protection of the armor of God, we can become peacemakers. Are we up to the challenge?
DIG DEEPER:
Read Matthew 10:1-42. What warnings did Jesus give His disciples before He sent them out to minister? What promises did He give them? How can we put His teaching into practice?
How can we wield the sword of truth and still walk in peace? Meditate on Matthew 10:16-20, Ephesians 4:11-16, and Ephesians 6:12-18.
Read Colossians 1:15-23. What have we gained from the peace (reconciliation) Jesus has provided?
Denise K. Loock
*Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for apokatallassō (Strong’s 604)”. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2013. 27 Jun 2013.< http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm? Strongs=G604&t=KJV >