Breaking Down the Walls

"For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation." - Ephesians 2:14 (NKJV)

When Paul writes about breaking down the "middle wall of separation," he's not speaking in metaphors. He's talking about a real wall - a stone barrier about four and a half feet high that surrounded the inner courts of the Jerusalem temple. This wall was serious business. In 1871, archaeologists actually found one of the warning signs that was posted on this wall. The inscription, written in Greek and Latin, read: "No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death."

Think about that. Death for crossing the wrong line. This wasn't just social exclusion - this was a death sentence. Can you imagine being a Gentile in that day, standing at that wall, looking in at the temple and wondering, "What are they doing in there? I wonder what it would be like to worship their God?" But you couldn't go any further. The penalty was death, and it would be your own fault.

The temple had these layers of separation. First, the Court of the Gentiles, then that deadly barrier wall, then the Court of Women, then the Court of Israel for Jewish men only, then the Court of the Priests, and finally the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest could enter once a year. The closer you got to God's presence, the more exclusive it became.

But when Jesus died on that cross and said, "It is finished," something incredible happened. That temple veil in the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51),  - not from bottom to top but from top to bottom, showing that God was the one tearing down those walls of separation. And He didn't just tear down the wall between God and us; He tore down the walls between us and each other.

Reflection Question: What walls exist in your heart that keep you separated from people who are different from you? What would it look like for God to tear down those barriers?

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You that through Jesus' blood, You've torn down every wall that would keep me apart from You and from other believers. Help me to see the walls I've built in my own heart and give me the courage to let You tear them down. Make me a wall-breaker, not a wall-builder, in Your kingdom. In Jesus' Name, amen.

Adapted from "Jesus Brings Us Close" (Ephesians 2:11-18): https://www.joshfranklin.org/media/vzn9mr6/9-jesus-brings-us-close-eph-2-11-18