Jesus Christ, God's only Son, is a clear testimony to this truth. For while we were yet sinners, God came to us in his only Son, loved us and offered to forgive us, thus making peace by the blood of the cross. I know that today's beatitude most often has been most often heard as a call to be about the work of making peace in our world. But I want us to see that this beatitude also carries the deeper thrust of a peace with God that comes only by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus entered the Holy City for the last great work of his life, the work of making peace.
Grace comes first, then comes command.
We first learn of God's unmerited favor that brings us the deepest peace we could ever know as a gift. Then we are called to express that gift and share that gift in the world around us. The peace Christ offers is the answer we all need to the deepest riddle of human existence. And the peace Christ offers is the peace only Christ could offer. Jesus' work was to make peace with God for us all.