Admittedly, the news cycle loves walls—border walls, paywalls, and also social-media echo chambers. Two thousand years ago, Paul wrote about one of history’s most infamous walls: a five-foot stone balustrade in Herod’s temple. It warned Gentiles, “Enter and die.” In Ephesians (2:14-18), he stunned his readers with the headline: “Christ has destroyed the dividing wall of hostility.” In fact, the claim still shatters our walls today.
Recently, I taught on Ephesians 2:1-18; I encourage you to listen to the message. Here are a few things we can glean from Paul’s writings.
1. The Walls We Build
Humanity keeps stacking bricks of race, class, and politics. Whether it’s in Lima’s “Wall of Shame,” redlined neighborhoods, or Sunday-morning segregation. Those walls are undeniably surface symptoms of a deeper fracture — our alienation from God.
2. The Peace Christ Brings
Peace isn’t a vibe or a cease-fire; it’s a Person. The risen Jesus walked through locked doors in John (Chapter 20). He greeted His terrified disciples with the words, “Peace be with you.” The Lord didn’t mail us instructions on how to live. Instead, He moved in with us and took on flesh. Then, on the Cross, He absorbed every hostile charge the Law could hurl.
The Greek verb Paul uses—katargeō—means “to cut the power.” Jesus didn’t tweak the rules that once separated Jews and Gentiles. More importantly, He yanked the breaker. Undoubtedly, the wires remain in Israel’s story. However, no current flows to divide people anymore.
3. One New Humanity
Paul says the result is “one new humanity.” Not Gentile turned Jew or Jew turned Gentile, but something unprecedented. For example, look at copper and tin. In fusion, they become bronze. Bronze is stronger than either metal alone. The Church didn’t invent unity. It simply displays what Calvary has already forged. When Believers of different cultures worship side-by-side, they are surely a preview to the multi-ethnic choir found in Revelation (Chapter 7).
4. Open Access To The Father
Finally, Paul’s Trinitarian flourish—“through the Son, by the Spirit, to the Father”—means the temple’s velvet ropes are forever gone. Every Believer carries the same backstage pass. The Lord can definitely use all of us. Your response to His love naturally blesses others. Simple things like a late-night text to a hurting friend or even a casserole left on their porch. It’s all an echo of His love and peace.
This week, ask yourself, “Am I rebuilding walls Christ demolished? Or am I setting tables where former outsiders can taste the peace He freely gave me?”
Posted in A Word from the Pastor