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Part 7 of a special eight part series, A New Look at the Beatitudes, using The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, by Kenneth Wuest.

“Spiritually prosperous are those who make peace, because they themselves shall be called sons of God.”
–Matthew 5:9

This beatitude has nothing to do with people who plead for peace, demonstrate or peace, protest for peace, or in some other way bully for peace. It is about making peace, actually creating peace rather than making a cause out of it. This requires a level of spiritual development that must first be obtained by each individual. So the first step in peacemaking is personal spiritual development.

The Greek word is eirenopoios, which is made up of two words: eirene and poieo.

Poieo means both making and doing, and also means to abide. Peacemakers, then, create, act out, and live in peace. A peacemaker “commits peace” just as others “make war.” Peace can be actively practiced. Poieo not only means to cause something, it means to perpetuate (preserve) it. Only in the spiritual realm can there be real “peacekeepers.” So peacemaking is a continual process. It also means to provide something, implying that peacemakers know how to share peace. In my experience this is an essential mark of a saint.

Eirene, the word translated “peace,” means peace, quietness (tranquility), and rest. It occurs ninety-two times in the New Testament, so it is an important subject indeed. It comes from the root word eiro, “to join,” and so has the same connotations as yoga. It also means oneness–unity–and the restoration of unity.

An example

From all this it has to be evident that peacemaking is an exclusively spiritual matter, even though it naturally will have external manifestations in the world around us. I had a bit of experience of this when I returned from my first trip to India. For quite some time I lived in a small room in a slightly rundown part of Los Angeles. This was no problem for me as a monk, but what was not so positive was the nature of the people in the house my room faced. Although a minister’s family, throughout the day they argued with one another and yelled at their little brother whose constant running around could somehow be heard in “my” house as though he was romping in there. On occasion they engaged in what they thought was singing–usually “pop” songs of the most annoying type.

Late one afternoon after some hours of meditation, I was sitting by the open window looking at a small statue of the Virgin Mary in my room. The “dynamic duo” were washing dishes across the way and burst into raucous strains of something awful. Ignoring the din, I mentally began reciting the Hail Mary. Instantly the caterwauling stopped and the two began sweetly singing Ave Maria. This was no coincidence, I was sure. This was confirmed by the fact that after I had been there a little less than a month the arguing and yelling stopped completely. Whenever I heard the little boy spoken to it was always with kindness, and he stopping bouncing off the walls. At least five people were sharers in my peace. Later I had the same kind of experience when working with a few dozen of the nastiest, most hostile people I ever dealt with. It only took a few weeks before peace reigned and the people were quiet and gentle to one another in place of the shouting, cursing, and name-calling that had prevailed when I first came there.

Sons of God

Peace is born in Silence, born in the hearts of those who enter and abide in the peace of meditation. They, too, are “born” and “shall be called sons of God.”

The word kaleo does not mean “called” in the sense of being declared or named something. Rather, it means to be bidden, to hear themselves being called for. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” (John 1:12) So the peacemakers shall be called to become the sons of God. Kaleo also means to be called in the sense of being urged on or incited to something. Peacemakers do not sit around feeling tranquil; they are stirred to move ever onward toward the divine Goal. It also means to hail someone with their name or title. So the peacemakers shall, like Jesus, hear the words: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5)

Sons are of the same species as their father and mother. Even more, physically they are of the very substance of their parents. To be sons of God is to be essentially the same as God our Father, to have that status revealed to us and manifested by us to the world.

Next: Part 8 and the last post of A New Look at the Beatitudes – Blessed Persecution: A Cause for Rejoicing.

Previous posts in this series:
• What Did Jesus Really Say in the Sermon on the Mount?
• The Kingdom of Heaven According to Jesus
• What Jesus Really Means by Meekness
• When Craving is a Good Thing
• Mercy and the Law of Karma
• Clean to the Core of Our Being

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