Abolish or Fulfill? Ephesians 2:11-22

Ephesians 2:11-22

2:11 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–
2:12 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.
2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
2:14 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.
2:15 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,
2:16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.
2:17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near;
2:18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.
2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,
2:20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.
2:21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
2:22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.

A reflection:

In this passage from the Book of Ephesians, the author makes a statement that Jesus himself had contradicted. In verse 15: “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.” This is some good news for the majority of Ephesian believers, because they were not Jewish by birth but instead Gentiles from many backgrounds. It meant that they would not need to keep kosher or be circumcised, for example.

While this verse says they can forget about the commandments and ordinances, the author still wants the Ephesians to know that Jesus’s coming to earth was the pinnacle of God’s centuries-long relationship with Israel, God’s chosen people. Jesus came from generations of faithful Jewish people as the ultimate answer to God’s promises to Israel. The faith was important, historic, and the basis of Jesus’s work, but the author says Jesus is abolishing some of the faith practices that have resulted in attitudes that separate people from one another and create animosity and even hatred, some of which was alive and well in Ephesus.

Jesus, however, said, “I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.” Jesus was a person who lived out or embodied the law just about perfectly, something most people then and now have found impossible. Jesus’s life gives us an example of a life fully filled out: he fulfilled the law by his complete love and of God and complete love of his neighbor. Since the rest of us seem incapable of living in that complete and constant love, I guess the writer of Ephesians is saying it was time to make the law and all its ordinances less important and the Christ-like way of loving God and the neighbor our new standard. If we do that well, we can eliminate the walls that separate us.

The author of Ephesians is saying that, no matter what, Jesus has brought you into God’s family, like everyone else in the world. Nothing should separate us from God or one another. It’s a good thought. We seem to like to separate ourselves, though. Can we be unified in Jesus, because of our dependence on his love? I wonder. I hope. In the sweet by and by it will be so. I want to practice that now, by living in unity with people I disagree with. There couldn’t be a better time to practice.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for sending Jesus to show us how to perfectly love you and love our neighbor. Help us to remember to do that, forming unity across boundaries.  Amen.