DAY #285: Ephesians 2:14-3:13

Christ Jesus, through his death, destroyed the barriers that had separated Jews and Gentiles, making peace between both groups. Even more than making peace, Christ reconciled them both to God. Those who believed in him would be made into one people, Christians.


Paul described the peace that Christ had made between Jews and Gentiles as breaking down the wall of hostility that used to separate them. It was no secret that hostility existed between the two groups, a cultural and religious hostility that no one could bridge—no one but God.


This “dividing wall” alludes to the wall in the Jewish Temple that separated the court of the Gentiles from the Temple proper, which only Jews could enter. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that on this wall was an inscription in Greek and Latin: “No foreigner may enter within the barricade that surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death”. This “breaking down” refers symbolically to Christ’s reconciliation.


When Paul described himself as the least deserving Christian there is, he meant that God’s favor alone had saved him, the one who had hated and persecuted all who followed Jesus. Nothing in Paul merited such favor; Paul knew this and was utterly amazed at what God had done. God had chosen him and had saved him for the special joy of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. Paul considered telling others about Christ to be like sharing “treasures.”


SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

As I read today's passage, I think about the barriers that separate people from God. I think about the barriers I constructed to keep God out of my life. I think about these things and my heart is broken. I want to be a person who builds bridges for people to meet Christ and find God's plans and purpose for their lives.

I want to build a church where the people of the church want to do the same thing.

Lord, open my eyes to the needs around me. Give me a heart to meet those needs. Lord, raise up a church full of people who want to do the same.

"Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Matthew 9:35-38 (NIV)