The Beatitudes

Seek the Peacemaker, Not the Peace "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." Matthew 5:9 Peace isn't something Jesus creates around Him. He is the Peacemaker (Ephesians 2:14). Because of this, we don't find peace by chasing peace. We find it by chasing Him. In Him we find peace with God and each other. And we who live in Him carry the Spirit of the Peacemaker. Through us Jesus reconciles people to God and one another. He brought Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot together- enemies made brothers. He crossed into Samaria and reconciled His disciples with a despised people. This is the work of the Peacemaker. And in Him, it becomes ours. Peacemakers shall be called children of God, because their peacemaking shows who they belong to. They do what Jesus, the Son of God, does, and those who see it recognize the family likeness- this is the blessing: "You act like Jesus. You must be His Father's child." The Peacemaker refuses peace without truth. He holds purity and peace together. He will not sacrifice truth to keep peace. Jesus lived this way. Nicodemus sought truth, so Jesus lived at peace with him. But most Pharisees held to lies. There will never be real peace between truth and untruth. Jesus refused to compromise truth for a feigned peace. Purity has no tolerance for lies, and since Jesus is Pure, lies have no place in Him. The Peacemaker lives at peace with those who seek truth, but refuses peace with those who oppose it. So the Peacemaker brings peace to those who hear His command to forgive others and obey it. But you may say, "I can't forgive them for what they did." Or, "I forgave them, but they keep doing the same thing. How can I forgive that?" The answer is this- we don't pursue peace. We pursue Jesus, the Peacemaker. He enables us to forgive repeatedly as He forgives. And Jesus, the Peacemaker, brings His peace through us as the Father prompts us through the Spirit.