7 Making Peace: Matthew 5:9; Ephesians 2:11-22
MAKING PEACE
MATTHEW 5:9; EPHESIANS 2:11-22
One of the most frequent causes of conflict is deceit, while openness and sincerity are essential to all true reconciliation. It is the devil who is a troublemaker; it is God who loves reconciliation and who now through his children, as formerly through his only begotten Son, is bent on making peace. Every Christian, according to Jesus, is meant to be a peacemaker both in the community and in the church. Thus, the sequence of thought from purity of heart in verse 8 to peacemaking in verse 9 is natural.
OPEN
When have you found yourself in the role of peacemaker?
STUDY
Some time after the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). He meant that conflict would be the inevitable result of his coming, even in one’s own family, and that if we are to be worthy of him, we must love him best and put him first. It is clear beyond question throughout the teaching of Jesus and his apostles, however, that we should never seek out conflict or be responsible for it. On the contrary, we are called to peace, we are to actively “seek peace and pursue it” (1 Peter 3:11), we are to “make every effort to live in peace with everyone” (Hebrews 12:14), and so far as it depends on us, we are to “live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). Read Matthew 5:9.
1. What are some characteristics of a person who is a peacemaker?
2. Why would peacemakers be recognized as children of God?
3. What is the difference between being a peacemaker and being conciliatory?
The words peace and appeasement are not synonyms. For the peace of God is not peace at any price. He made peace with us at immense cost, even at the price of the lifeblood of his only Son. We, too—though in lesser ways—will find peacemaking a costly enterprise. To proclaim “peace, peace” when there is no peace is the work of the false prophet, not the Christian witness (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11). When we ourselves are involved in a quarrel, there will be either the pain of apologizing to the person we have injured or the pain of rebuking the person who has injured us.
4. What are some of the costs of being a peacemaker?
5. What are some of the rewards of peacemaking?
Summary: Peacemaking is a divine work because peace means reconciliation, and God is the author of peace and of reconciliation. True peace and true forgiveness are costly treasures.
The same verb used in this Beatitude of us is applied by the apostle Paul to what God has done through Christ. Through Christ God was pleased “to reconcile to himself all things . . . making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:20 emphasis added). Christ’s purpose was to “create in himself one new man out of the two [Jew and Gentile], thus making peace” (Ephesians 2:15 emphasis added).
6. Read Ephesians 2:11-22. What was the chronic conflict between Jew and Gentile (vv. 11-12)?
7. How did Christ reconcile the conflict (vv. 13-17)?
8. What are the benefits of Christ’s peacemaking (vv. 18-22)?
9. How was this reconciliation a costly one?
10. When have you observed conflicts in church between “insiders” and “outsiders”?
11. All Christians, no matter what their ethnic background, have “access to the Father by one Spirit” (v. 18). How can this truth promote peace among Christians who have natural differences, even antagonism?
Even if we are not personally involved in a dispute, we may find ourselves struggling to reconcile to each other two people or groups who are estranged and at variance with each other. In this case there will be the pain of listening, of ridding ourselves of prejudice, of striving sympathetically to understand both the opposing points of view, and of risking misunderstanding, ingratitude, or failure.
Summary: Jesus prayed for the oneness of his people; he also prayed that they might be kept from evil and in truth (John 17). We have no mandate from Christ to seek unity without purity of both doctrine and conduct.
APPLY
Consider each of the parts of your life listed below. Where do you see the need for reconciliation, and what steps will you take to be a peacemaker in those situations?
CATEGORY
NEED FOR RECONCILIATION
STEPS TO PEACE
Relationships
Family
Church
Community
World
In which of these areas you’ve noted do you feel called to begin working and praying for peace?
PRAY
Give praise to Christ for dying for you and reconciling you to God. Pray for his guidance in the steps you should take to become a peacemaker or to continue a peacemaking process. Ask for wisdom so that you will neither shrink from the risks nor go the easy route of appeasement.