For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (Ephesians 2:14-18)
In Herod’s Temple, there was a wall which separated the court of the Gentiles from the rest of the Temple, and on that were inscriptions in Greek and Latin forbidding the Gentiles to enter.
“Trespassers will be executed,” they said. Paul uses the imagery of a “dividing wall” because they had that in their lives; a wall that kept Jews and Gentiles separate.
But that hostility, that alienation – was removed by Christ. As Paul writes about Jesus being our peace, he tells the Ephesians that Jesus made the two groups one, setting aside the laws and regulations. He was creating one new humanity, where all could be near to God, have access to him.
Jesus tore all of this down. And what was to be built in its place? A new creation. What Paul writes next in Ephesians 2:
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Here Paul proclaims a new identity. No longer foreigners and strangers, Gentiles and Jews were fellow citizens who would inherit the kingdom of God.
Dividing walls still exist today. We pull away from others because they look different from us, act different from us, believe different from us. And I think that’s why the language Paul uses in verse 22 really stood out to me this week. He writes, “in him you too are being built together.” He’s acknowledging that though Jesus had come to bring two things together, it was still in process. This grand vision for a new humanity that was unified in Christ wasn’t finished being built. It was ongoing. It was still being built.
In his book The Color of Compromise, Jemar Tisby writes “If peace has been achieved between God and human beings, surely we can have greater peace between people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.” I would add – peace can also be achieved between people who vote differently, too.
We must die to self. In this dying, God promises to build us. Together. It’s in our dying to self that God’s power is proclaimed. It’s in death that he brings life. He brings forgiveness. He brings reconciliation. He brings us together.
• Those who were strangers become his children, and brothers and sisters in Christ.
• What was lost becomes found.
• The law becomes grace.
• Hostility turns to peace.
• Two people groups become one.
• What was far away is brought near.
• What was separate is now brought together.
He tore down man-made structures, and is building something new in its place. Will we choose to be part of this with him?
In Christ, Pastor Stephanie
