THE PEACEMAKERS - NO MORE WAR

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS: FOR THEY SHALL BE CALLED THE SONS OF GOD

These peacemakers are not the meek of the second beati­tude. The meek refrain from answering evil with evil; the peacemakers do more, they return good for evil, they bring peace where wars are flaring up. When Jesus said He had come to bring war and not peace, He meant war to evil, to Satan, to the world, to evil which is wrong, to Satan who is Death, to the world which is an eternal battle. He means, in short, war against war. The peacemakers are those who wage war upon war, those who calm, and those who bring about unity with peace. The origin of every war is self-love, love which becomes love of riches, pride of possession, envy of those more wealthy, hatred for rivals; and the new law comes to teach hatred for oneself, contempt for measurable goods, love for all creatures, even for those who hate us. The peacemakers who teach and practice this love cut at the root of all war. When every man loves his brothers more than himself there will be no more wars, neither great nor small, neither civil nor im­perial, neither of words nor of blows, between man and man, between class and class, between people and people. The peacemakers will have conquered the earth and they will he called the true sons of God, and they will enter among the first into His Kingdom.

Oxymoron-militant non-combatants. The peacemakers. This is the reproductive character, the man who being all the rest, therefore brings peace wherever he comes. And the great word concerning these peacemakers is, "They shall be called the sons of God," for in that they manifest the nature of the Father and the likeness of the Father more than anything else--making peace among the sons of men. Peacemaking indicates the effects upon others.

Jesus did not say: “Blessed are the pacifists,” but rather, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” meaning those who make peace. This is the first occurrence of “peace” in the New Testament, and this verse has special significance since Jesus is the only real Peacemaker. It was He who “made peace with the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:20). Before there can be peace between man and man, there must be peace between man and God. Since His blood has reconciled God to man, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). His disciples, therefore, can best be peacemakers themselves by urging men to “be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).