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PROGRAM D-8014

Have you ever wondered what Jesus really meant when he said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9)? As we examine what this means, I am urging and hopefully encouraging you to be a part of The Jesus Peace Corps.

For sure Jesus did not mean blessed are the peace-lovers, the peace-talkers, the peace-wishers, or the peace-hopers. Peace, in any situation and in the world where you live, doesn’t just happen because you want it to. The Bible says we must pursue peace. Jesus said that peace had to be made—blessed are the peacemakers. That means we have to do something if we want peace in our worlds.

How do we make peace? It’s not always easy and it’s not always pretty, but it is blessed. Ben Franklin wrote to John Adams, “‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ is, I suppose, for another world. In this world they are frequently cursed.” That is sometimes true. We hear this beatitude—Blessed are the peacemakers—and we think it sounds nice. But often peacemaking is not nice; it can be messy and difficult work. Sometimes our efforts at making peace simply don’t work—at least not when and how we want them to.

I think of a recent incident between two young women who were about ready to “come to blows,” as we say, and another woman literally separated them in order to avoid any conflict. This woman came in as the peacemaker in the situation. She had some brave, tough conversations with both women, defined the way out of the problem, offered very helpful suggestions. . .yet she was not able to convince one of the women to be at peace. As I heard about it, I thought about this beatitude: Blessed are the peacemakers. The peacemaker in this situation didn’t feel very blessed at the moment; it looked as though she had failed. But she did what a peacemaker should do, and she will be blessed for it, even though it didn’t turn out the way she hoped.

Jesus was and is the greatest Peacemaker ever, yet there were many who rejected him, reviled him, and eventually had him crucified. Sometimes peace isn’t possible. There are people who go through life picking fights; you can’t always make peace with everyone.

As Christ-followers, we are called to be peacemakers. We must do what we can do to make peace and then leave the results to the greatest Peacemaker, Jesus Christ.