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You asked

what were the historical tensions between jews and gentiles that paul was addressing directly?

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 wrote this letter to Christian communities in Ephesus, likely in the mid-1st century CE. He's explaining how, through Jesus, God has brought together people from different backgrounds who historically had reasons for separation, specifically Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews), into a single community.

What divisions in our current world feel like a 'dividing wall' that needs to be broken down?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

  • Galatians 3:28

    Paul states that in Christ 'there is neither Jew nor Greek,' emphasizing unity beyond previous distinctions.

  • Romans 10:12

    This verse reinforces that there is no distinction between Jew and Greek in God's eyes, as the same Lord is over all.

  • Isaiah 2:2-4

    This Old Testament prophecy envisions a future time when all nations will come to the Lord, foreshadowing universal peace.

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