thinking bible.

You asked

what contemporary social divisions does this passage challenge me to rethink in my context?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Ephesians 2:14-16

For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself one new man of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby.

Paul is writing to believers in Ephesus, a significant city in Asia Minor, likely in the 1st century CE. In this part of his letter, he is explaining how Jewish and non-Jewish people, once distinct and often at odds, have been brought together into a single community through the work of Jesus.

What specific social division in your life or community does this passage invite you to see differently through the lens of shared humanity or a common purpose?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

  • Galatians 3:28

    This verse states that in Christ, traditional social distinctions like Jew/Gentile, slave/free, male/female lose their divisive power.

  • John 17:20-23

    Jesus prays for the unity of his followers, reflecting a desire for cohesion that transcends division.

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