Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands --- remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (Ephesians 2:11-18)
For people as technologically advanced as we are, we certainly haven't learned much morally. While we can put men on the moon, we can't seem to cause them to get along together. Heart transplants are common place, but hearts of compassion are growing increasingly rare. Instead of tearing down the walls of hostility between us, we have been erecting them with care.
Do we think these walls help us? We must, for we certainly spend a great deal of effort building and mending them. Robert Frost wrote a poem entitled “Mending Walls.” The poem is about the spring ritual of mending stone fences in New England. He describes how two neighboring farmers meet to gather the stones that have fallen off the walls during the winter and put them back in their place. They have done this for years. It has no meaning, since there are pine trees on one farmer's land and apple trees on the other's. But, it's a tradition. In this poem we see two forces at work. One is the force to break down walls.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.
Something has knocked the stones off the wall. There is something that wants the wall down. This is the first force.
But there is another attitude which opposes it. The poem continues with one farmer addressing the other.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, “Good fences make good neighbors.”
“Good fences make good neighbors.” That is his reasoning. But is it true? We must believe it, because we have certainly spent a great deal of effort to build and repair these fences.
The history of humankind is filled with the hostility of one person against another. Our text today deals with the hostility between Jew and Gentile. But one doesn't need to read a document written 2,000 years ago to be aware of racial and cultural hostility. All one has to do is pick up the daily newspaper. Recent events have underscored the stark realities that walls are still standing strong and high. It seems we have grown very adept at building walls of prejudice and hostility between ourselves and those we deem to be not like us. Wherever and whenever there is the “us and them” mentality, we see the walls start to go up.
What are the walls you have erected between you and “them?” What are the walls of prejudice which separate you from others? Do you want those walls torn down? If so, how can they be torn down?
Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands --- remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (2:11-12)
The hostility between Jew and Gentile is a well documented fact. To the Jews, there were only two classes of people --- Jews and Gentiles. To be a Jew was to be one of God's chosen people. To be a Gentile was to be a heathen dog --- worth nothing. In fact, the Jews said that the Gentiles were created by God to be fuel for the fires of hell. The Jews looked with disdain and contempt at all Gentiles. And, it might be added, that the Gentiles didn't have the warm fuzzies for the Jews either. Both hated the other.
Paul calls this to mind when he says that the Gentiles in the flesh were called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision.” Actually, this was a kind of curse thrown at the Gentiles by the Jews. You will recall that circumcision was the sign and seal of the covenant God made with Israel. Every male would be circumcised when he was eight days old. This was a symbol of the covenant relationship between God and Israel. The Gentiles, of course, were not circumcised. So when the Jews called them “Uncircumcision” (literally foreskin), it was simply another way of saying that they were inferior. After all, the Jews had been accepted by God, and the Gentiles had not. This, in the minds of many, gave them a right to hate the Gentiles.
And they could justify this hatred by pointing out many reasons for it. The Gentiles were truly God rejectors. In fact, Paul reminds them that they were in a hopeless condition. He describes this condition negatively in five ways. He says that you were at that time separate from Christ --- they were without Christ. He goes on to say they were excluded from a commonwealth of Israel --- they were without citizenship in God's kingdom. They were strangers to the covenants of promise ) they were without covenants to assure their future. He concludes by saying that they were in the position of having no hope and without God in the world --- the Gentiles were without hope and without God. This was the Gentile situation. To the Jews they had rejected God, which indeed they had, and the Jews rejected them.
So a dividing wall of hostility had been erected. Paul speaks of this barrier of the dividing wall in verse 14. This wall of hostility found its expression in a physical wall surrounding the Temple. In Herod's Temple there was separating wall between the area in which a Jew was allowed and the area designated for the Gentiles. There were inscriptions placed along the wall which warned the Gentiles to proceed no further. These inscriptions read in part, “Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.” This dividing wall symbolized the hostility between Jew and Gentile.
But just as Frost described in his poem, “Something there is that doesn't love a wall, that wants it down.” Actually, the “something” is “Someone.”
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far way, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (2:13-18)
Only through Christ can the walls of prejudice come down. Christ came to break down the walls that divide us. Through Christ's work those who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. When Christ came He made Himself the basis for peace. No longer are we to relate to God based on the Law of commandments contained in ordinances. He has abolished that by His death on the cross. Now both Jew and Gentile alike can come to Him that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace. Our peace is not based on our heritage, our performance, or the color of our skin. Our text reveals that He Himself is our peace. We are also told that through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
This is what God did for Jew and Gentile alike. He brought them to a place of reconciliation. And it is His desire to bring all of humanity to this same place. He desires to make us into a new humanity. It is a new humanity based upon a new life in Christ.
You see, there seems to be a tendency within us, probably inherited from Adam, not only to hide from God, but to hide from one another as well. There is a tendency to be suspicious of one another. There is a tendency to judge one another. There is a tendency to build walls to separate “us” from “them.” But Christ has come to bring us together in Him. And in Christ there is absolutely no reason why we can't come together. No reason, except our disobedience to Him.
He has done away with arbitrary divisions. There is now no division based on race, nationality, age, education, sex, or culture. In Christ the barriers are down. But let me reiterate, only through Christ can the walls of prejudice come down. But in Him they do, and they must!
Are there things which separate you from other believers in Christ? If there are, then perhaps it is true that you or they have not found a living relationship with Christ who is your peace. We can be sure that the things which separate us as believers have not been placed there by God. Good fences do not make good neighbors. The God of reconciliation has come to break down the walls which separate us.
Frost remarks in his poem,
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out.
You must be careful not to wall out the presence of Christ, and not to wall yourself in and find you have built your own prison of prejudice. Christ has come to set us free. Christ has come to make us one.
There are several things that can get in the way of pulling these walls down. The first is pride. There is no doubt that pride is at the root of so many sins. Pride is certainly at the root of prejudice. Some people are taught that they are intrinsically better than other people. Based on race or national origin, these categories change. This can not only be true of race or nationality, it can also be true of religious denomination. Whatever the category, when one group feels that they are better than another group, you can be sure pride is at the root. Jesus came to break the back of pride. Pride is one fence that needs to be torn down.
Another problem which gets in the way is a feeling of inferiority. Some people have been beat up so much that they feel rejected. They not only feel rejected by other people, they feel rejected by God. It's easy to believe that since others do not like you that God does not like you. When you are victimized by a feeling of inferiority, you feel like a failure and understand, in your thinking, why people and why God would reject you. Other people's pride and prejudice feed these feelings of inferiority. But it is all a blatant lie. Jesus Christ accepts all who come to Him. There is no sin, no failure, no fault which can cause Him to reject you. When Jesus received the woman of Samaria, many were surprised that He would even talk to her. Many are still surprised at those whom Jesus chooses. If He has chosen you, you are not a second class citizen.
A final hangup is the problem of pressure. Sometimes we build the walls because of other people with whom we associate who are prejudice. The apostle Peter found this to be true in his own life. In Acts 10, God prepared him through a vision to go to a Gentile household in order to share Christ. God showed Peter through that vision that there was nothing unclean that God has made clean. Then He sent Peter to the household of Cornelius. There the Holy Spirit was poured out as He had been at Pentecost. Peter got the point, and rejoiced at God's activity in their midst. But later on, Paul had to rebuke Peter because Peter withdrew himself from fellowship with the Gentiles when some of his Jewish buddies came from Jerusalem. Even Peter was a victim of the pressure which can be applied by others' opinions. So can we be.
Jesus has come to make peace. He has come to bring us together in Himself. Are there those with whom you need to make peace today? Are there attitudes you need to surrender today? Christ has come to set us free.
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