Sunday, July 13, 2025  

Today's Scripture
Ephesians 2:11–22

So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” — a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands — remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. (NRSV)

Reflection

Although largely unfamiliar to us today, the historic Jewish-Gentile divide was one of the great debates in the early church as it began to grow beyond the bounds of Judea and out into the wider Roman Empire, including cities like Ephesus. Most, if not all, of the earliest followers of Jesus were close adherents of Jewish Law — practicing circumcision, eating kosher, etc. Yet as Jesus’ message began to spread outside of predominantly Jewish areas, questions about how closely Christians needed to adhere to Jewish Law began to arise — in fact, those questions eventually led to perhaps the church’s first “committee” meeting in the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15)!

The church emerged from that meeting with the same answer that Paul provides in our passage today: Christ has “made both groups into one and had broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one humanity in place of the two” (Ephesians 2:14–15). Much like his famous Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus has asked his followers to expand their definition of neighbor beyond what is familiar or perhaps even comfortable. Our faith in Christ makes us one; those who were formerly strangers are now friends — in fact, they are our siblings in Christ!

While these words are encouraging when we apply them to historic divisions, things can quickly become much more fraught when we expand them into our context, from political divisions to those marginalized in our society today. And yet, over and over, Christ’s answer to the question “Who is my neighbor?” remains the same. How, then, can we learn to live more fully as one?

Prayer

Loving God, in Christ you have broken down anything that might divide us from one another — so help me witness to that truth in my own life. Amen.

Written by Matt Helms, Associate Pastor

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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