Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognized as children of God.
—Matthew 5:9
This beatitude places Jesus in a lineage of peacemakers who reject the false promises of violence. Father Richard writes:
This beatitude in Matthew’s Gospel is the only time the word peacemakers is used in the whole Bible. Peacemakers literally are the “ones who reconcile quarrels.” We can clearly see Jesus is not on the side of the violent but on the side of the nonviolent. Jesus is saying there must be a connection, a clear consistency, a constant unity between means and ends. There is no way to peace other than peacemaking itself.
To this day, many think we can achieve peace through violence. We’ve all witnessed actions coming from the logic “We’ll stop killing by killing.” It’s a common way to think, even though it’s in opposition to all great religious teachings. Our desire for immediate control leads us to disconnect the clear unity between means and ends. The peace we are “keeping” is a false peace. Jeremiah the prophet would say about our “peacekeeping” wars what he said to Israel’s leaders:
“Peace! Peace!” they say, whereas there is no peace.
They should be ashamed of their loathsome deeds.
Not they! They feel no shame, they do not even know how to blush.
—Jeremiah 8:11–12
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus defines peace in a different way, what we call Pax Christi, the peace of Christ. The Pax Romana creates a false peace by sacrificing others; the Pax Christi waits and works for true peace by sacrificing the false self of power, prestige, and possessions. [1]
The pastor Rich Villodas makes a distinction between peacemaking and peacekeeping:
Peacemakers are those who work for right relationships at the expense of their comfort. We don’t usually choose this route, nor do we understand what it really means. Jesus does not say, “Blessed are the peacekeepers.” [But] what’s the difference between peacekeeping and peacemaking?…
Peacekeeping tries not to rock the boat, avoids conflicts, and is superficial. It ensures that no one gets upset. That’s not real peace. When, out of fear, we avoid conflict and appease people, we are false peacemakers….
Here’s the thing with peacekeeping: sooner or later, it brings chaos—not peace—into your life. Peacemaking is quite different. Peacemakers don’t avoid conflict; in fact, sometimes peacemaking creates it. We see this with Jesus. As the epitome of love, he wasn’t always nice—at least not in the way modern people visualize niceness….
He burst into the temple and flipped over tables because poor, vulnerable people were being taken advantage of (see Matthew 21:12). When he saw the Pharisees putting yokes of religious condemnation on people, he confronted the religious leaders with harsh words. As Jesus’s life reveals, peacemaking is often met with resistance. [2]
References:
[1] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Jesus’ Alternative Plan: The Sermon on the Mount (Franciscan Media, 2022), 148–149.
[2] Rich Villodas, The Narrow Path: How the Subversive Way of Jesus Satisfies Our Souls (Waterbrook, 2024), 28–30.
Image credit and inspiration: Malek Larif, untitled (detail), 2019, photo, India, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Like a raindrop poised on a leaf, the Beatitudes provide a drop-by-drop prescription to counter-culturally create the kin-dom of God.
Story from Our Community:
Thank you Brian McLaren for reminding us that God’s blessings are open to all.We are in this salvation train together. We are many parts, but we are all one body of hope, love, faith, and salvation. We are all God’s favorites because God could not possibly be a God of only a few favorites. Blessed be God!
—David S.
