EPHESIANS 2:14-22
NO LONGER JEWS NOR GENTILES BUT TRANSFORMED INTO PRECIOUS JEWELS
Ephesians 2:14 (BSB) For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility . . .
SUSIE: Jesus is our shalom.
SUSAN: We would translate shalom as peace. However, shalom is much more than that: it means oneness, completeness, wholeness, nothing missing and nothing broken, fit together.
SUSIE: Jesus not only restores wholeness to our individual broken lives but brings together Jews and Gentiles who trust in Him into a distinctly new category of people called the church which He also calls His bride.
2:14 “He…has broken down the m’chitzah which divided us.” This dividing wall in the Temple posted the inscription; ‘No man of another nation to enter within the fence and enclosure around the Temple. And whoever is caught will have himself to blame that his death ensues!” (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 15:11-5). The m’chitzah separated Gentiles from Jews and prevented equal access to the sacrifices. Yet, just as the veil of the Temple was torn in two when Messiah died (Matt. 27:52), so too both Jew and Gentile are united with the Messiah and may enter into God’s presence together (Heb. 9:6-14; 10:19-22).
The Complete Jewish Study Bible
SUSIE: Jew or Gentile must both come to the Father through faith in Jesus. That middle wall—the barrier that said one had access and one did not—is obliterated by the cross of Christ. Jesus is the only way to the Father for any person.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6 (KJV)
Ephesians 2:15-16 . . . by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility.
SUSAN: The King James Version uses the word “enmity” to describe the situation between Jew and Gentile:
EN’MITY, noun – The quality of being an enemy; the opposite of friendship; ill will; hatred; unfriendly dispositions; malevolence. It expresses more than aversion and less than malice, and differs from displeasure in denoting a fixed or rooted hatred, whereas displeasure is more transient.
Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language
SUSAN: By the sacrifice of His life, Jesus destroyed the divisions that kept the Gentiles apart from worshipping the one, true God, the only one worthy of humankind’s worship.
SUSIE: This was not only the physical wall in the Temple but all it represented. Gentiles could not be a part of the feasts, the sacrifices, the rituals of Judaism. They were outsiders—those “far off.”
SUSAN: By unifying His body, the church, Jesus brought peace between the Jewish and Gentile believers, who were formerly enemies.
SUSIE: Once they became members of God’s forever family, Gentile believers and Jewish believers became brothers and sisters in Christ.
Ephesians 2:17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, bringing praise to their lips. Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD, “and I will heal them.”.
Isaiah 57:18-19 (BSB)
SUSIE: The peace prophesied by Isaiah was that the Jews, those near to God, and the Gentiles, those who were formerly far away from the Lord, would be unified in one completely new family, the church.
SUSAN: The coming together of the Jew and the Gentile— the healing of centuries of enmity and strife—was made possible through the Son’s sacrifice in obedience to the Father.
A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”
Matthew 26:42 (BSB)
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:8 (BSB)
Ephesians 2:18 For through Him we both have accessG4318 to the Father by one Spirit.
SUSIE: Paul was Jew who enjoyed Roman citizenship because he was born in a Roman city. Since he had been a Pharisee, he fully understood the adversarial relationship the Jews had with the Gentiles. He wrote to the Ephesians (Gentiles) that through Jesus, they had the same access to God the Father that He had as Jew.
G4318 προσαγωγή prosagōgḗ, pros-ag-ogue-ay’; from G4317 (compare G72); admission:—access.
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
G4318 . . . “The term was commonly used for the audience or right of approach granted to someone by high officials and monarchs.”
The Complete Word Study Dictionary, Spiros Zodhiates, Ed.
SUSAN: Jesus’s death on the cross gave those who trust in Him complete access to the throne of God. There are no “step-children” in God’s kingdom. There are only beloved children who can approach Him boldly as their Father. It is possible to have the reverence and respect the Lord deserves but still have confidence in being accepted and loved by your Father.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:15-16 (BSB)
Ephesians 2:19 Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
SUSAN: Once we are in Christ, our identity changes. Paul was saying these people were no longer primarily identified as Jews or Gentiles, but instead were foremost saints, believers. The new category of “Christian” meant being members of God’s forever family with no distinction made regarding one’s former national alliance.
SUSIE: Even more than that, all barriers between people are removed when we become brothers and sisters united by God’s grace.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28 (ESV)
SUSIE: The unity found in the family of faith is like no other. All who have been chosen by God, who have received the free gift of salvation purchased by Jesus, are completely equal members of God’s family. Unity does not mean uniformity. We can love our brothers and sisters even when we do not share the same race, socio-economic level, political preferences, etc.
Ephesians 2:20-22 . . . built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit.
SUSIE: Jesus is the cornerstone, the stone by which all other stones are lined up. The prophets and the Apostles—the human authors of much of scripture—help to form the foundation that holds up the building. Jesus provides that firm foundation. The members of the church—those who have trusted Jesus—are living stones being perfectly placed together to build a dwelling place for God even as each of us is indwelt by His Holy Spirit.
. . . you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5 (ESV)
For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, And the one who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”
1 Peter 2:6
SUSAN: God does not use sub-par building materials. Take a look at how He is building the New Jerusalem:
The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
Revelation 21:18-21 (ESV)
SUSIE: In my natural state, I was an ordinary old rock, but Jesus has transformed me.
SUSAN: God calls those who trust in Him and obey Him “precious jewels.” With these precious jewels, Jesus builds His kingdom.
And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare them to be My jewels (My special possession, My peculiar treasure).
Malachi 3:17a (AMPC)
SUSAN: Each man or woman who trusts Jesus as Savior is being molded into His likeness and becoming a precious jewel fitted together with the other jewels to form the church. I really like the song “Diamonds” by Hawk Nelson because it describes the transformation we undergo in Christ. You can listen to it here:
PONDER THIS: Jew, Gentile, Man, Woman, Rich, Poor, Black, White, Pink, or Purple, we become ONE family when we surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus. Not only that; we are changed from lifeless, ugly rocks into living, radiant, sparkling jewels by His grace through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit living in us to bring glory to His Name. PRAISE THE LORD for His grace and power to build us together into His church, a place He desires to inhabit!
ASSIGNMENT: Spend some time reflecting on how God has been changing you from a rock to a precious jewel. Write down a simple testimony of your life before knowing Jesus and the process He has used to smooth your rough edges to become a multifaceted jewel proclaiming His grace and glory.