Blessed Are The Peacemakers

t was Christmas day, in 1914, when a Scottish chaplain climbed out of a muddy trench on the battlefield in France. Slowly, he walked across the snow-covered, desolate no-man’s land toward the German trenches singing Silent Night. Every onlooker expected him to be shot as any moment. Reaching the enemy lines, he reminded the Germans that it was Christmas day and that in their land and his, families would be singing Christmas carols. He suggested a truce. Both British and Germans climbed out of the mud to attend to the needs of the wounded, bury their dead, show each other photos of their wives, and play football together. That Scottish chaplain eventually received the military medal for his bravery. Probably that was the best Christmas of his life. That chaplain was a peacemaker on December 25, 1914.

Background. Sometime in the period between A.D. 31-32, a crowd of spiritually hungry people were listening to a spiritual peacemaker as He spoke the words that would later become known as the Sermon on the Mount. In that sermon, He presented eight Beatitudes that start with the word “Blessed.” Those eight statements are famous and have been quoted by millions of people and by many authors. The speaker of the eight spiritual truths was Jesus Christ.

So far we have studied seven of the eight Beatitudes. The focus of this study is the eighth Beatitude. We find it in Matthew 5:9.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (NASB) Matt. 5:9

The Greek word that Jesus used for peacemaker is EIRENOPOIOS. It only appears one time in the entire New Testament - here in Matthew 5:9. Jesus used a unique word that rarely occurs even in secular Greek. The word refers to a person who restores peace between people. This individual is a “peace-seeker.”

Mahatma Gandhi was “The Father of the Nation” of India. He was the “Apostle of Peace” in the eyes of some men and women. His first name, Mahatma, meant “great soul.” He was considered India’s conscience. His ideas and approach to nonviolent confrontation, or civil disobedience, not only captured independence for India, but has influenced many political activists throughout the world. Gandhi was a pacifist. Gandhi desired freedom for India from the British Empire. While he was upset that violence occurred as a result of his actions, he was not a peacemaker. He accomplished his goal. India eventually became free of British control. He died on 30 Jan. 1948. He found independence, but he did not find peace. Peace has always been elusive even for a pacifist.

Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. (NASB) Matt. 10:34