Good Evening Yamon Ki Yesepar;
Luke 10:5-6: “and into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house, and if the son of peace be there your peace shall rest upon it; if not, it shall turn to you again.”
I don’t avoid the New Testament, I just don’t have a good understanding of the New Testament and thus, I stand as a student anxious to learn as much as I can from others who are well versed in the New Testament.
However, every so often I run across a Hebrew idiom which sets off a number of bells. The expression “son of peace” is one such idiom which I do not find addressed in Christian literature.
The phrase “son of peace” is an idiom which does not exist in English. To translate it literally, as do most of our translations, leaves us scratching our heads saying: “Huh?”
Your paraphrases often render this phrase as “lover of peace.” That helps but it misses something very important. If we are indeed living in last days, then it misses something of great importance.
As I have taught in my classes, there are very few adjectives in Hebrew. One adjective is the word “ben” or son. There is a wide range of meanings for the word son. It is basically a relationship word. You have a “son of death” meaning one who deserves to die. “Son of eating” means something that is fit to eat. “Son of a house” is one who is a close member of the family, but not blood related. “Son of a gun” is the gunpowder (I just made that one up).
Son of peace does not mean a peace loving person, although that person is obviously that. Yet the idiomatic expression means something much more supernatural.
The word peace “shalom” has shades of meaning that are not found in the English word “peace,” but peace is the best we have so we use it. However, shalom has the idea of safety and security. It also means “good health.”
To understand the context of this verse you must realize that the Jews put a very heavy weight upon a blessing. If you remember from yesterday’s study, a blessing is to impart a gift from God. We are God’s Santa Claus. Note Jesus instructed the seventy who were to go out as his messengers that when they entered a home their first duty was to offer a blessing. “Whatsoever house you enter, first say. Peace be to this house.” Jesus is not just talking about a friendly greeting. To a Jew hearing this he understand that this blessing they were to give were not empty words, but are in fact real and tangible. He is actually saying that your presence in that house will bring safety, security and good health. The presence of a yamon ki yesepar will bring safety, protection and health into a household. Earthquakes, natural disasters, bird flu, etc. We carry the very presence of Jesus in our bodies II Corinthians 7. We are protected against the bird flu, natural disaster as Israel was protected when they walked under the cloud. But once someone steps out from under that cloud, they were no longer protected. For Christians whose mind is set upon this world and the things of this world, who are conformed to this world, they are still Christians, but they have stepped out from under that cloud and thus from that protection.
Hence the yamon ki yesepar who have the peace of Jesus Christ manifested are that peace. If there is one in that house who will be a “son of peace” or join with you in that peace, join you under that cloud, they and their house will return to “shalom” (protection, security, health). If you walk into a house praising God, filled with His glory and the host thinks: “What a fruitcake.” The “peace” or cloud of glory will not reside over that household. But if he “Amens” and joins in your “praise alleluia” he will join you under that peace or cloud of protection. Giving a blessing is much more than a “how do you do.” It is a real and tangible imparting of a gift from God.
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