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HURDLE # 2 – NON-JEWISH OUTSIDERS & JEWISH INSIDERS!

For the most part, it was a wedding like every other wedding. The groom was up front nervously waiting for his bride. The bride was in the back waiting to be given away by her father and everyone else was simply waiting for the ceremony to finally take place.
Then it all happened like clockwork. The wedding coordinator nudged the father and daughter down the aisle, the father managed to say “her mother and I do” on queue, the pastor gave the Readers’ Digest version of what the Bible has to say about marriage, and then had the nervous couple express their vows to each other. Like I said, it was just like every other wedding.
That is, it was like every other wedding until just before the six o’clock hour. With perfect timing, the pastor said something that caught everyone off guard. In response, a few people laughed politely, but most didn’t know how to respond so they acted like they didn’t hear it. But, in fact, everybody heard what he said and had plenty to say about it, as well as him, in the week that followed the wedding.
For you see, right at twenty seconds before the chapel clock struck six, he said “You may kiss the bride, go to your corner, and at the sound of the bell come out fighting.”
I suppose the food fight that broke out at the reception can be traced back to that last minute bit of instruction. Those same remarks sparked a church-wide controversy that eventually cost the pastor his job. In the end, he simply confessed, “it was just something I always wanted to say but the timing had never been quite right until this particular wedding. So, all I can say is, I went for it! I guess, the devil made be do it.”

Hostility, it’s been around since the very beginning. It can be seen in Satan’s attitude toward God in the Garden of Eden. It can be felt in the tension between Sarah & Hagar, and it can be fully understood in the rivalry between Jacob & Esau.
What began in ages past as animosity between individuals quickly escalated to a lasting bitterness between nations. But when you strip away the borders, it always seems to boil down to hatred between Jews and Gentiles. In one corner of this old world we have the Jews, in the other we have everyone else. And sometimes, the clock doesn’t even have to strike the hour to ignite a fight.
This ancient hostility between Jews and Gentiles is the second hurdle that God needed to overcome in his saving work. In Ephesians 2:11 - 22 we are given an in-depth look at the conflict and we are shown how God cleared this hurdle in Christ. We read:
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

What is interesting to note at this point is that Paul, himself, though a Jew, was a victim of this ancient conflict. What is of equal interest is that he became a victim as a result of his association with Trophimus the Ephesian. For in Acts 21:27 - 32 we read:
When the seven days (of purification) were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28 shouting, "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place." 29 (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.) 30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

In this letter to the Ephesians Paul, who well understood the tension between the two groups, skillfully contrasted Jews and Gentiles by the use of graphic terms. As everyone knew, the Jews were the chosen people. To them belonged;
– the rite of circumcision and consequently
a covenant relationship with God.
– the privilege of citizenship within Israel.
- a nation ruled by God.
- a sense of destiny.
- a secure perimeter.
- a brotherhood.
– the covenants of the promise.
- agreements with God.
- the nearness of God.
- a system to make things right.
- a priesthood to be keepers of the gate.
- teachers of the law.
– the law with it commandments & regulations.
– the prophets.
- a sense of history.
– the hope of a promised Messiah.
- the hope of a future kingdom.
- the hope of a king.
– salvation (John 4:22)
The poor Gentiles:
– were uncircumcised.
- sexually immoral.
- religiously ignorant.
- In not knowing God, they failed
to know and be themselves.
- worshiped a pantheon of gods.
These so called gods were:
- irritable.
- undependable.
- fickle.
– were aliens, foreigners.
This meant:
- they had limited access to the things of God.
- in a time of crisis they were vulnerable.
- they had no sense of belonging.
- they weren’t permitted in the inner court.
– were far from God.
This meant:
- they were socially alienated.
- they had no hope.

It is easy to picture the tangible and not so tangible barriers between these two people groups. And, of course, in our day we don’t have to imagine the hostility between the two factions. We simply need to pick up the morning newspaper and see that the pathway to peace is cluttered with dead bodies on both sides of the road.
Into this war zone God gave his Son to become our peace. For in this remarkable passage we’re shown how God, in stride, cleared this hurdle of hostility; this barrier between the Jew and the Gentile.
Here, in Ephesians, Paul mentions the word peace three times. In v. 14 he tells us that (Christ) himself is our peace. In v. 15 he shows us how Christ made peace. And in v. 17 we’re reminded that Christ came and preached peace to both groups. This is why the prophet Isaiah said that Christ was the Prince of Peace.
First, as to Christ being our peace it needs to be noted that true peace is found in a person. In other words, it is found in oneness. It is not merely the absence of conflict, nor is it the laying down of arms, it is a harmony that comes about as a result of oneness. In the case of Jews and Gentiles that oneness is found in the person of Jesus Christ.
If we go back to our married couple, the couple that began their marriage by going to their respective corners we know there will be no peace as long as they simply look out for themselves. After each round, after they each go back to their corner to lick their wounds, it may appear that peace has been made because there is a lull in the fight. But, in reality they are simply getting ready for the next round. Of course, they may get tired of fighting and choose to step out of the ring. Today, we’d call that getting a divorce in search of a different ring!
But, in a different ring peace will be just as elusive as it was in the first ring. Indeed, peace will never be found until each find personal peace in Christ Jesus. Then, and only then, will there be a oneness within the marriage for at long last they will be on the same page.
Second, the path to peace involves a three-step process. The initial step was to break down the wall of hostility; to destroy the barrier between the two people groups. In other words, the ground of self-righteousness, which was primarily found in the law, had to be removed. So in his flesh, Jesus helped everyone see that the law judged both alike; both Jews and Gentiles through the eyes of the law were guilty before God.
The next step was to create a new man in place of the two. This new man, of course, is the person of Christ. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, there are simply those who belong to Christ. Those who belong to Christ, regardless of background, are at peace with each other because of their oneness in Christ. The new relationship with Christ means a new relationship with others.
The last step in this process is to recognize that God is satisfied with the new arrangement. In the crucified and risen Christ we must realize that we, as sinners, have been forgiven and are fully accepted in the presence of God. For in Christ, through the cross, the righteous demands of God have been fulfilled.
Third, Christ is the Prince of Peace because he came and preached peace to those who were already near to God and those who were far away. He preached to us as equals. He treated us as equals, and so made us equal.
Then too, in Jesus we discover that preaching is never an argument, never a debate, not even a dialogue. It is simply the announcement of a fact. We can either accept it or reject it. And we usually show that we reject it by fighting with anybody who happens to be in the ring with us. But, the good news is – in Christ there is peace!

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