Thoughts on the Beatitudes, Part 3

Matthew 5:9
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (KJV)

Most commentators apply this blessing to those who seek to bring reconciliation and forgiveness between men, whether in the family, in the neighborhood, or in the nation; such men and women reflect the nature of God and are marked as being His children. However, Dr. Steven Davey, the president of Shepherds Theological Seminary, believes the term “peacemaker” carries a different connotation, noting that the term was used for a herald sent to a defeated country after a war with the terms of peace from the victorious king. Such heralds represented their king as they proclaimed how citizens of the defeated country could have peace with the new ruler. Since the evangelical and mediatory functions of a peacemaker are not contradictory, Jesus may well have been including both the vertical (God-man) and horizontal (man-man) dimensions in His use of the term.

Margaret Manning, an apologist with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, points out another aspect of Jesus’ words. Noting that the Jewish shalom, commonly translated “peace,” implies not merely the absence of hostilities but a wholeness and rightness in all areas of life – spiritual, interpersonal, and personal – she applies the blessing to those who live out shalom in their own lives, both in living lives of spiritual integrity in accord with God and in attempting to bring that same wholeness to others by whatever means God permits.

Matthew 5:10-12
“Blessed are those who which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (KJV)

From Abel onwards, those who have sought to truly obey God have been targets of insults, verbal abuse, false accusations, and physical harm from those outside God’s family. Millions have paid with their lives or with torture for their testimony; others have suffered loss of friends, family, freedom, and property. Even in the United States, where Christianity has enjoyed a high level of tolerance and protection and has been an integral part of the nation’s culture from its inception, Christians must deal with constant insinuations that they are uneducated people of low intelligence or emotional basket cases in need of a “crutch.” They must also endure the hostility of those whose lifestyles or self-will are challenged by the Christian message.

While a true witness for Christ will always be met with some degree of opposition, Christians do need to take care that they are not drawing fire for the wrong reasons. Nowhere in Scripture do Christians have license for ostentatious self-righteousness or being self-appointed morals police. There is no blessing for enduring hostility engendered by this sort of behavior, which drew Jesus’ censure when He saw it practiced among the Pharisees. Nor is there any blessing for troubles brought on by doing wrong; as an example, the professing Christian who is fired for shirking work is not justified for theft of the employer’s time by claiming that he or she was “having devotions” or engaged in Bible study. If difficulties with other people are brought about by an obnoxious personality or bad manners, those faults need to be corrected, not held up as badges of martyrdom. The true Christian’s walk should be such that he or she cannot be accused of any fault “save as we find it against him concerning the law of his God” (Daniel 6:4-5; cf. I Peter 4:15-16).

Jesus made it plain that faithfulness in following Him will not always or even often bring health and prosperity. Following Him has a cost. But as the unknown writer of Hebrews testifies in Hebrews 11, those whose lives testify to their faith, even if that faith should cost them everything on earth, have a great reward indeed: “wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city (Hebrews 11:16b).”