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Since the Asian Holocaust, enmity toward the Japanese remains integral to Korean identity. An estimated 30 million Koreans and other Asians were victims of Japanese aggression between 1910 and 1945. In 2009, a Korean missionary to Japan, Michael Oh, testified to the gospel’s power to end hostility: “Because God reconciled us to Himself while we were still His enemies, my enemy has become my family. I am loved by God, so I can love my enemies.” Michael humbly asked the Japanese people to forgive his past self-righteousness and anger. Nothing but the cross can transform the human hatred and distinctions we maintain between “us” and “them.” This is the message of today’s passage.
Reconciliation and inclusion were the most pressing concerns of the Gentile Christians. Did Jesus’ death and resurrection change the “us v. them”? Could Gentiles and Jews fellowship together as God’s new community? Paul vividly recalled the ethnic tensions between these two groups, mentioning the derogatory expression, “uncircumcised,” and reminding the Gentiles of their historical status, excluded from the promises and presence of God (vv. 11-12). Verse 13 interjects powerfully: that was then, “but now,” through Christ, your status has changed. You have been brought near to God and to one another (vv. 13-14).
Paul clarified what Christ accomplished through His death (vv. 15-18). Jesus brought peace by dissolving the laws that prevented fellowship between Jews and Gentiles. There is no more “clean” and “unclean” because all are made clean through Christ’s shed blood. Both Jew and Gentile receive salvation and reconciliation as a gift from God.
Paul announced the Gentiles’ new identity with two metaphors (vv. 19-22). Gentiles are no longer “outsiders.” They are “fellow citizens,” reconciled to Jews with equal access to God. They are also God’s children, reconciled to Him and “members of [His] household.”
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
We have erected dividing walls of hostility between “us” and “them,” whether based on ethnicity, religious, political, or economic views, class, citizenship status, gender, culture, job position, or something else. We marginalize others, and we are marginalized based on these barriers. Jesus establishes a new community of people reconciled to God and to one another; He tears down these walls. With what groups is God calling you to be reconciled? How can you embrace this truth and testify to the power of the cross?
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