Jesus' Peace Destroys Hatred's Barriers
Daily Scripture
Ephesians 2:11-14
Bishop Will Willimon’s most recent book, The Church We Carry, is a plea for Christian unity. The church Willimon grew up in and always thought of as “home” disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church. Yet, despite the pain and ugliness of that process, he still finds hope. Each day, we’ll share a short excerpt from his book.
11 So remember that once you were Gentiles by physical descent, who were called “uncircumcised” by Jews who are physically circumcised. 12 At that time you were without Christ. You were aliens rather than citizens of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of God’s promise. In this world you had no hope and no God. 13 But now, thanks to Christ Jesus, you who once were so far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
“Though the church messes up and falls short of Christ’s expectations, he keeps showing up and taking matters in hand, so determined is Jesus to have us in his ‘mystic sweet communion.’ Together.
Therein is hope.” *
One huge dividing line in Paul’s world was between Jews and Gentiles. Paul had lived out that bias (cf. Galatians 1:13-14). There was a real wall in the Temple in Jerusalem. “Interpretations of purity laws resulted in Gentiles being excluded from the court of Israel (for Jewish men) and even the less pure court of women (for Jewish women). Christians in and around Ephesus would know that Paul was in Roman custody because he had been accused of bringing an Ephesian Gentile beyond the temple’s outer court (Acts 21:27–29).” * Tribalism, nationalism, religious division, ethnic bigotry, fear and violence are not new—they’ve been part of the human condition in nearly all ages. But Paul wrote in verse 14 that Christ had rendered that Temple barrier pointless. Christ, he testified out of his own life experience, tore down the wall(s) dividing people, walls like economic disparities, educational snobbery, or hurtful generational misunderstandings and labels.
- Ephesians said on the cross Christ broke down the barriers that separate people. In a global society, we all see differences between people that trigger hostility or fear in us. Who do you find it hard to like or to trust? How does it affect your feelings when you remember that Jesus died for them, too? How can Jesus’ grace to you make you more willing to tackle the hard work of breaking down long-standing biases and actions? How can you discern those (in any nation or faith) who wish to build higher walls from those who seek to tear down walls and create more goodwill and peace? “Christ is our peace.” Do you see any difference between peace as a solely human effort to “split differences” and balance interests, and peace based on who Jesus is and who you are in him? Is one more lasting than the other? Why or why not?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you lived in an empire that saw crushing force as the only way to deal with enemies. Yet you reached out to people who snubbed you, and asked God to forgive the soldiers who crucified you. Tear down any barriers in my heart that keep me from caring about all of your beloved children. Amen.
GPS Insights
Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory, who serves on the Resurrection staff as Human Resources Lead Director, first wrote this Insights blog about Ephesians 2 some 18 months ago. Janelle finds that her heart is constantly wrestling with the truth that she needs a Savior, and the times when she's at her very best are when she's just too tired to put up a fight.
Let’s play a game. I’ll show you pictures, and you tell me what these two things have in common.
First up:
You would likely say that the commonality here is that they are both labradors. How about these next two?
My guess is that you’d say that they are both dogs, and you’d be correct! It’s a pretty easy connection. How about the next one?
Okay, we’ve got a cat and a dog. Obviously, these are not both dogs, but you’d likely identify these as both being pets. Well done, you! But what about this one?
Okay, now it’s getting a little more interesting. We see a bear and a dog. One you’d welcome to your house, the other might claw your face off. Let’s see… if you think back to biology, you might say that they are both mammals. But what about now?
Huh. It’s not so easy to identify what these two have in common. You’ve got a labrador and a jellyfish. One greets you when you come home, wants to be your best friend, and begs you to play fetch. The other swims in the ocean and stings you if you get too close. What could they possibly have in common? I suppose you could identify them as both being animals.
Our little game got harder with each picture. While each of the pairs did indeed share a commonality, the more we went along, the more likely we were to first spot differences. If someone asked, “What is something that is like a golden lab?” I’d likely not give “jellyfish” as my answer. That being said, they are both animals. They actually do have something in common.
As a United Methodist Christian, I find that when talking about a different denomination, my mind immediately goes towards how we’re not alike. They baptize one way, we baptize another. They take communion one way, we do it differently. I see differences in theology and even the way they pray and worship. For whatever reason, my first tendency is to spot the differences rather than consider how we might be alike.
While I recognize that there are differences, I don’t think that God’s desire was for us to highlight them. I think we’re meant to first see how much we have in common. We’re one Church through Christ, and that’s nowhere more evident than when it comes to the cross. Jesus didn’t die for Methodists or Presbyterians or Catholics or Lutherans. Jesus didn’t even die for Christians, he died for sinners, meaning that he died for all of us. The sacrificial love on the cross is not poured out for some but poured out for all. Let’s live into the hope this Easter that while there are differences among us, we’re brought together through death and resurrection.
© 2025 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Willimon, William H., The Church We Carry: Loss, Leadership, and the Future of Our Church (pp. 178-179). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.
** HarperCollins Christian Publishing. NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, eBook: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Kindle Locations 268594-268597). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
