“On Violence, War, Hostility, and the Radical Call to be Peacemakers”

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”
—Matthew 5:9

In the biblical tradition, the word peace is intimately associated with the character of Yahweh/God. Peace is a divine attribute of Yahweh. God is called the God of peace, and peace is what he does and who he is. Peace is a natural expression of Yahweh’s power, dominion, and sovereignty. It also communicates how Yahweh rules the world, works with people, and facilitates the affairs of the nations.

In this verse, peace is related to the Hebraic idea of shalom. The latter means harmony, flourishing, wholeness, and to cultivate a right relationship with God and others.

A peacemaker is one who serves as an active agent of reconciliation. In this verse, the term does not simply refer to a peacekeeper or a lover of peace; rather, it describes someone intentionally engaged in the hard work of (1) resolving conflict and tension, (2) restoring broken and fragmented relationships among individuals, nations, ethnic groups, and races, (3) promoting justice, unity, and reconciliation, and (4) resisting evil, violence, alienation, and division. At the same time, a peacemaker possesses a deep disposition toward peace—valuing and cultivating it both within local communities and on a broader national and global scale.

For Jesus Christ to call his disciples to be “peacemakers” in the Sermon on the Mount is to issue a clear and compelling summons for his followers to become active agents of peace, reflecting God’s commitment to all peoples and all nations. In this sense, the peacemaker is called a child of God because he or she both belongs to God and embodies God’s character. As the King of peace, God is continually initiating and sustaining peace in his governance of the nations; therefore, those who are called children of God participate in this redemptive work of peacemaking: restoring, promoting, and maintaining peace for the flourishing of humanity in the world.

Thus, in practice, those who claim to know God, belong to Him, and live in communion with Him are called to reject war, violence, and any political—whether legal or illegal—actions that do not contribute to shalom and the flourishing of humanity among the nations. This radical humility is also an intentional effort to prevent human suffering, degradation, and destruction; it’s a deliberate commitment to human dignity and sanctity of life.

To be called a peacemaker by Jesus Christ is to live as one. It is a radical calling and identity: one that seeks to transform culture, politics, law, public policy, and all forms of human relationship. By identifying the children of God as peacemakers, Jesus makes clear that they are not to be passive observers or neutral agents in the face of what is broken in society and the world. Rather, this is a call to action: to lead, to persuade, and to unify in a world often marked by intimidation, threats, injustice, aggression, retaliation, power struggles, and violence—where tensions persist between powerful and marginalized nations, and between the Global North and the Global South. Those whom Jesus calls peacemakers are charged with interrupting cycles of violence and working to end conflict, mediating disputes rather than fueling them, and pursuing unity and reconciliation even when it is unpopular. They labor intentionally toward true justice and harmony, seeking both communal and global healing even when such work is costly and sacrificial.