Tearing Down the Walls

Read Ephesians 1:1–3:21

11. Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
12. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.
13. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
14. For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. Ephesians 2:11-14

In November 1989, one of the most significant walls ever erected in history was torn to the ground. This barrier—the Berlin Wall—was built to keep the citizens of East Berlin from fleeing to the West. But with the collapse of Communism, the wall was no longer necessary. This once-divided people was now free to reunite. They did so in October 1990, becoming the Federal Republic of Germany.

Almost two millennia before the Berlin Wall fell, Jesus broke down the greatest barrier that ever existed through his death on the cross. Sin stood between humans and God. This, however, was not the only barrier to fall on the day of Christ’s crucifixion.

Paul wrote that Christ broke down “the wall of hostility” between Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14). The wall refers in one sense to the barrier that separated the Court of the Gentiles from the Court of Israel in the Temple. In another sense, this physical wall represents the societal barrier that existed between Jews and Gentiles. Jesus did not come to affirm these barriers but to offer salvation to anyone who would believe and trust in him, including Gentiles. Thus through his death, Jew and Gentile were saved and became part of one body (2:15).

Although Christ’s death should unite all believers, many Christians have erected barriers that divide God’s family. Differences in doctrine, worship practices, and beliefs about acceptable behavior have severed parts of the body from one another. In addition, Christians have not been immune to prejudices, such as racism.

As followers of Christ, we should not build walls between ourselves. Rather, we should remember that Christ’s death served not only to redeem us from our sin but to end discord between believers.