The underlying truth for Jesus' beatitude on 'peacemaking' seems to be the Psalmist's imperative, "Seek peace and pursue it" (Psalm 34:14) - that is, citizens in the kingdom of God are not to be fence-builders but bridge-builders. Eugene Peterson puts it this way, "You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight" (The Message). It seems to me that the church needs to hear this message with a degree of urgency as there is a lot of 'fence-building' going on (rather than constructing bridges) in the name of Jesus.
