Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount 

June 4, 2024

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

“God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.”

Matthew 5:9

Peace is a vitally important subject in the New Testament. Jesus spoke of peace over twenty times in the Gospels, and peace was discussed over sixty times in the rest of the NT. The Apostle Paul was inspired us to become a peacemaker because, “. . . since (I) have been made right in God’s sight by faith, (I) have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for (me)” (Romans 5:1).  This truth inspired Paul to live out the peace he had with God, and the short epistle of Philemon reveals Paul’s work as a peacemaker.

Paul wrote from his prison cell in Rome to a man named Philemon who lived in Colossae. According to Colossians 4:9, the letter was sent to Philemon together with Paul’s epistle to the church at Colossae. Philemon was a wealthy businessman who probably came to faith in Jesus when he heard Paul preach in Ephesus. Philemon opened his home in Colossae for a new community of faith to be established.

Onesimus was a slave owned by Philemon. He had deserted Philemon and had at some point encountered Paul, and like Philemon, had come to faith in Christ. Onesimus had grown in faith and had become an important contributor to Paul’s ministry. Even so, Paul knew that true growth in Christ comes through accountability. Paul was seeking to be a peacemaker so that Philemon and Onesimus could be reconciled. Paul knew that for Philemon and Onesimus to live out the life in Christ in this manner would be a huge testimony to the community of Colossae about the authenticity of the church, and the power of Christ to change lives.

Paul does not share his counsel to Onesimus, but I think it is safe to assume his encouragement for Onesimus would have been substantially the same as we see for Philemon. Paul built his case by reminding Philemon of whom he was in Christ, and that the cause of Christ has priority over everything in our life. Paul appeals to Philemon to do the right thing because that’s what followers of Christ do. What a powerful affirmation of the power of Christ that Onesimus returned to Colossae, and that Paul entrusted his friend Onesimus to Philemon.

My Takeaway: While we do not know for certain what became of this reunion, we do know that in the years following this reunion, the church around Colossae elected a Bishop named Onesimus. Onesimus was quite an unusual name, and though we cannot be certain, it is quite possible that the slave Onesimus became the Christian Onesimus who then became Bishop Onesimus. And the Apostle Paul was a peacemaker and a child of God. 

Sē’lah

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.