Ephesians 2:14-18
The key words in this passage are: peace, barrier/wall, hostility and one (one new humanity, one body, one Spirit). I think Paul is using the temple as an illustration - there was the Gentile court which was a walled off section that the Gentile converts could enter but they weren't allowed in as far as the common Jew was. I think Paul is saying that the dividing wall has been torn down and both Jew and Gentile have equal access to the presence of God. This does not seem like such a huge deal in our day (that access has been granted for about 2000 years now) but in the time when Paul was writing, this would have rocked a few worlds.
Paul's point is that the work of the cross was not just individual salvation but to bring two people groups together - specifically, through Christ, to grant the Gentiles and the Jews the same access to God. It is significant that this access is no longer dependent on the Jewish ceremonial religion - including circumcision and the temple rituals - but dependent on the work of Jesus.
This passage raises some questions for me: which people group am I excluding from having access to God through Christ? am I building a ceremonial religious system in place of the system that Christ came to abolish and does that system see people as "outside"? Am I helping people come to God or am I putting up walls and barriers to prevent them? Is there a particular people group (economic, ethnic, etc.) that I am sub-conciously excluding?
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2 comments:
Those are some very good questions Jer, questions that I am asking myself as well. Who am I putting walls up against. You know the difficult kid who just seems to annoy you every week and you wish that they would almost go away. May God grant us grace and may we not put up walls against anyone.
This is great info to know.
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