October 2008 - Vol. 23

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.
'Peacemaker' here probably means either those who try to make peace with those around them, that is, who try to live in such a way that they will be in a good relationship with other people, or those who try to make peace between people who are fighting. In this case it is more likely the former. As it says in Romans, "So far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all" (12:18). Peace means more than just not fighting; it means good relationships. Jesus is saying, blessed are those who live in such a way that they are at peace with all men.

They shall be called sons of God. When scripture calls someone a 'son' of something or someone, frequently it means the two have the same character or nature. So be at peace with all men, with everything. He is a God who establishes peace; if you are a peacemaker, you are like your heavenly Father.

We can see the parallel with the third beatitude, blessed are the meek. If you are someone who does not insist on his own way, who does not use his own strength to get things to go the way he wants, you are in a good position to be a peacemaker, who establishes good relationships with those around you, and you share in God's nature.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Righteousness is what Jesus teaches about. If you are really committed to live a life of righteousness, you are going to be persecuted. And that, he says, is a good sign that you will deserve to be in the future kingdom of God.

It is common to hear Christians say, "I'm a nice guy. Why would people persecute me for being a Christian? Why would they talk against me?" Jesus is saying that that is exactly what we should expect. It's normal. He is also saying, don't complain about it. It's a sign that you are fortunate, because your reward is great for suffering for the kingdom of heaven.

Note the comparison with the fourth beatitude. If you hunger and thirst for righteousness in your life. That will lead to your being persecuted, which in turn will qualify you for the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is greatin heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
None of the beatitudes before this have mentioned Jesus himself. They refer to God the Father or to righteousness. But as Jesus expands on the last beatitude, it becomes clear that the issue is he himself, as the one who is bringing the kingdom of heaven, the one who is representing God the Father.

Verses 13 to 16 are about the effects of living the life of the disciple. They form a conclusion to the beatitudes.

You are the salt of the earth.
There are a couple of possible meanings here. Salt does give taste to things, so Jesus could be saying, the earth doesn't taste very good to God without Christians in it. A somewhat more likely possibility is that salt is seen as a preservative. Meat, for example, is salted to keep it from spoiling. The passage might then mean that Christians are the ones who keep the earth from spoiling.

An even better possibility derives from Leviticus, chapter 2: "You shall season all your cereal offerings with salt; you shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be lacking from your cereal offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt" (verse 13). Salt there is seen as an indication of the covenant with God.

Any of these three could be a reasonable interpretation of the passage. But what Jesus is basically saying is that if you don't live the kind of life that you're supposed to live, you'll be like salt that has lost its flavor and can no longer do what salt does. Should that be the case, you would be totally worthless. It is very important for us to live the kind of life that Jesus has called us to.

You are the light of the world.
We are to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven. If we live the life of a disciple, the kind of life Jesus has portrayed, we will be a beacon, a revelation of the reality of God and his coming kingdom, and we will lead men to give glory to God the Father in heaven. That is what we are supposed to be.

Steve Clark is President of the Sword of the Spirit. This article was originally published in New Covenant Magazine, June Issue, 1991.

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