Matthew 5:9. The peacemakers. Not simply the peaceful, but those who reconcile others. However understood by Christ's hearers, we must refer it to those who proclaim and further the Gospel of peace, which alone makes men truly at peace with one another by making them at peace with God. In most kingdoms those who make war stand highest, but in the Messiah's kingdom, the crowning beatitude respects those who make peace.

They shall be called sons of God; recognized as sons, i.e., children of full age. This acknowledgment is the reward freely given of God to those doing His work of peacemaking.

Matthew 5:10 speaks of the blessedness of the citizens of the kingdom of heaven, as opposed by the world, and the same idea is repeated in Matthew 5:11-12, addressed to the disciples directly. Then follows a declaration of their office in blessing the world. This variation in the thought leads most to reckon the beatitudes as seven in number, closing with Matthew 5:9.

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Old Testament