"Do We Truly Believe?" by Steve Hemphill
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14).
The first time I visited Jerusalem, I did all the touristy things you’re supposed to do. Among them, praying at the ‘Wailing Wall’ ... the last remnants of King Solomon’s Temple (about 2,000 years before Jesus). It feels like you’re standing at the base of a great cliff ... inches away from the wall, you cannot see what’s on top. From a distance, you can see that the ‘Wall’ has been excavated from centuries of construction. The last thing built atop the Mount was the great Al Aqsa Mosque (beginning in the eighth century).
So, here I stood, a young Christian from Missouri, between two of the holiest sites of Judaism and Islam. The tension was palpable. There were lots of armed police and military to keep the peace.
Even though Ephesians was written before the Prophet Mohammad was born, it was still written about conflicts and divisions between Jews and Gentiles and rings just as true today. Many years later, I roamed the ruins of Ephesus and thought about Paul’s letter to the former residents. I could only conclude the recipients of Paul’s letter just didn’t “get it.” If they truly comprehended the key to peace, might their descendants still be around today? Might the ruins of Ephesus not be quite so ruinous?
Do we truly believe Jesus is the Peacemaker between the Jews and Muslims? How about between races or political partisans? How about the Peacemaker between our friends, family, neighbors? If we don’t truly believe Jesus is the Peacemaker, then what exactly is it we are celebrating at Christmas?
Peace.
Steve Hemphill