Reconciliation
RECONCILIATION
EPHESIANS 2:13-18
God not only reconciles us to himself, but he also breaks down the separation between groups of people.
In 2:1 Paul says his readers were dead in their trespasses and sins. In 2:12 he says they were separated from Christ. Both statements are followed by a significant “but.” 2:4-5 say, “But God … made us alive.” 2:13 says, “But now … you … have been brought near.”
What follows in 2:14-18 is an account of the radical change of relationship for Gentiles that is achieved through the cross of Christ. The basic cause of hostility and separation from God is sin, but because of Christ’s death the sins of both Jews and Gentiles may be forgiven (1:7). And as both Jews and Gentiles are brought near to God, they are brought near to each other.
In the temple in Jerusalem was a physical example of the hostility between Jews and Gentiles and the exclusion of the Gentiles from the presence of God. Around the temple were various courts, with the outermost one being the Court of the Gentiles. In 1871 a pillar that had been part of the barrier between the Court of the Gentiles and the rest of the courts and the temple was discovered. An inscription in Greek and Latin prohibited the presence of any foreigner beyond the barrier on penalty of death (see also Acts 21:29f.). By his death, Christ in effect tore down that barrier, which separated people from each other (2:14f;), just as at his death the temple veil that symbolized the separation of people from God was torn in two (Mark 15:38).
2:15-18 are based on an exposition of Isaiah 57:19: “‘Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will heal him.’” The terms “far” and “near” designate the Gentiles and Israel respectively (see also Acts 2:38f.). “The Lord” who by his declaration of peace brings about the creation of a third human race—neither Jew nor Gentile but Christian—is Jesus.
Some theologians today say that God through Christ has reconciled all the world to himself, and therefore our primary concern is not to seek to bring about the reconciliation of all people to Christ, but to proclaim that all have been reconciled already. This is a form of universalism that has had a great impact on contemporary thinking about evangelism and missions.
Paul, however, knows nothing of universal reconciliation. He says the one circumstance in which peace exists horizontally among people and vertically between people and God is the circumstance in which we stand before the cross of Christ. The gospel that centers on the death of Christ creates the situation in which people experience God’s peace. The verses in this section provide a graphic description of God’s new act in reconciling Jew and Gentile into one church (see also Colossians 2:13f.).