Eph 2:14-18
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Thoughts from John MacArthurs Commentary – Compiled by Tim Gowens
Peace comes only when self dies, and the only place self truly dies is at the foot of Calvary. During World War II a group of American soldiers was exchanging fire with some Germans who occupied a farm house. The family who lived in the house had run to the barn for protection. Suddenly their little three–year–old daughter became frightened and ran out into the field between the two groups of soldiers. When they saw the little girl, both sides immediately ceased firing until she was safe. A little child brought peace, brief as it was, as almost nothing else could have done.
The barrier of the dividing wall alludes to the separation of the Court of the Gentiles from the rest of the Temple. Between that court and the Court of the Israelites was a sign that read, “No Gentile may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.” This physical barrier illustrated the barrier of hostility and hate that also separated the two groups. As we learn from the book of Acts, even a Jew who brought a Gentile into the restricted part of the Temple risked being put to death. Although Paul had not done so, certain Jews from Asia accused him of taking Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, into the Temple. They would have stoned Paul to death had he not been rescued by Roman soldiers (Acts 21:27–32).
Another story from World War II is that of a group of American soldiers who lost their buddy in battle. They carried his body to the only cemetery in the area, which happened to be Catholic. When the priest was told that the dead man was not Catholic he said, “I am sorry, but he cannot be buried here.” The disheartened and discouraged soldiers decided to do what they thought was next best, and during the night they buried their comrade just outside the cemetery fence. They returned the next morning to pay their last respects, but they could not find a grave outside the fence. When they told the priest of their quandary, he said, “The first part of the night I stayed awake sorry for what I told you. And the second part of the night I spent moving the fence.”
When Jesus Christ broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, He moved the fence, in order that in Himself He might make the two into one new man. No person who comes to Him will be excluded, and no person who is included will be spiritually distinct from any other. In His flesh points specifically to Jesus’ death on the cross, through which He nullified, annulled, made of no effect, and invalidated (abolished, katargeō) the feud, discord, and alienation (enmity, echthra), thus establishing peace, as already indicated in verse 14.
The Scottish commentator John Eadie wrote, “The cross which slew Jesus slew also the hostility between man and God. His death was the death of that animosity.” The cross is God’s answer to Judaizing, racial discrimination, segregation, apartheid, anti–Semitism, bigotry, war, and every other cause and result of human strife. This is the great mystery of Ephesians 3:6, “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (2:18)
When we have Jesus Christ (Him) we also have access by the Spirit to the Father. The resources of the entire Trinity are ours the moment we receive Christ. It is not just a judicial reconciliation but an actual intimate relationship with practical value as we bring our needs to the Father.
Although in John 10 Jesus spoke of Himself both as the Good Shepherd and as the door to the sheepfold (vv. 1–14), He was not mixing metaphors. A Palestinian shepherd brought his sheep into the pen at night or erected a temporary fence of stones, wood, or mud if he was away from home. After he put the sheep inside, counted them carefully, and put oil on their wounds from briars or sharp rocks, he lay across the narrow opening that served as a door. The shepherd himself was the door.
The only access into God’s presence, the only door into the sheepfold of His kingdom, is through His Son. But it is a wonderful and glorious access that can never be taken from us. We can always “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). Through God’s divine Son we, too, become His sons. Consequently we “have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but … a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ ” (Rom. 8:15).