As I survey Christendom in my generation, I see walls. Dividing walls of hostility. Not just one wall, but many. 30,000 in fact by someone’s estimate. What happened? Did not Jesus come to destroy the one wall of hostility? Why then did we Christians build up thousands of new walls of hostility?
My answer is Judaism 2.0. I am preparing a full article that will explain this further. To prepare for this, I will post some reflections that continue to speak to this problem.
Our Problem: A Dividing Wall of Hostility
The world into which Jesus came was divided by a wall of hostility. What was it? In Ephesians 2 we find that Jews and the rest of the world (Gentiles) were separated by a wall of hostility.
11 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. Ephesians 2:11-12 (NIV84)
In chapter 2:14-15 we find a statement that says Jesus “has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.”
The wall of hostility that divided Jews and Gentiles was the law (the 613 Scripture-based regulations known as the Mitzvot). God knew the partial expression of His Law could become a barrier (Genesis 16:12; Genesis 25:18). To Israel God gave His commandments, a partial expression of His Law. It was not the commandments that failed however (Psalm 119), but human pride and arrogance. God knew this also, yet still He gave the commandments, as a foreshadow of the things to come.
God’s Solution: The Written Code Nailed to the Cross
What was God’s solution? God sent His Son to die on the cross and nailed the written code to the cross with Him.
“13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. 16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Colossians 2:13-17 (NIV84)
For those who will take the time to read and reflect:
11 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. Ephesians 2:11-16 (NIV84)