In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, we read a passage this week that explains how Jesus has brought the Gentiles salvation by creating a new hybrid entity of both Jew and Gentile, reconciling both groups to God through his sacrifice for their sins.
As Christians we miss the importance of his statement here, instead focusing on a statement in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in order to reinforce our desire to hold on to certain rules we like, while declaring others as obsolete (ceremonial).
Let’s look at Paul’s statement in Ephesians (directed to a Gentile audience) first:
Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. — Eph 2:11–16 (ESV)
The Hebrews were set apart from the rest of the world by God, so that the rest of the world would see that he alone was the supernatural being who controls all things. Their special diet, clothing, grooming, and behavior all contrasted with the rest of the world’s. No other group had the sort of relationship with God that the Hebrews had.
But they began to misinterpret that relationship. God didn’t choose the Hebrews because they were special; they were special because God chose them. Their purpose was to draw the rest of the world to God, as a lighthouse draws a ship away from destruction and toward safe harbor.
God brought salvation to the Gentiles through Jesus. He brought it to the Hebrews through Jesus as well, since the Law was meant to display what humanity was doing wrong, not to show how they could earn their way into Heaven.
According to Paul, Jesus abolished the law of the commandments expressed in ordinances (the Greek word for ordinance is dogma). But in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus seems to say the opposite.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. — Matt 5:17–18
Jewish teachers in biblical times taught that one “abolished” the law by disobeying it in a highhanded manner, rejecting its authority. Jesus came to fulfill the law by being the only person ever to obey it fully. The law became, through Jesus’ fulfillment by obedience, a foundation upon which his new covenant would grow. In a sense, when Jesus finished all that he planned to accomplish, the law was then destroyed.
The Bible Exposition Commentary provides an image that should help. Suppose you have an acorn. You can “destroy” it in two ways: You can put it on a rock and crush it with a hammer or you can plant it in the ground and “let it fulfill itself” by growing into an oak tree.
As Paul describes in his next phrase, Jesus abolished the law that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace (with God). Jesus through his righteous life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection made something new. Not just a mixture of a second group with the first, which is really only combining two separate things(like oil and vinegar, which becomes salad dressing when shaken, but returns to its separate substances when settled), but rather a permanent change for each.
Think about hydrogen and oxygen. Both are gases that can be combined under pressure and used as fuel when ignited. When the pressure is removed, the gases will separate again. However, if the hydrogen and oxygen are properly combined, their atomic structure changes in the explosion and water is formed (the Hindenburg explosion made a big fire and a lot of water). It is no longer individual atoms of hydrogen and water but has become inseparable molecules of water (H2O).
The Old Covenant, and laws therein, provided the basis by which Jesus could fulfill his mission on earth. Like that acorn mentioned earlier, it was necessary for the mighty oak tree to form but does not still exist.
We know that Jesus accomplished everything he intended because he said so. In John’s description of Jesus’ last moments on the cross, we witness it.
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. — John 19:30
Something is finished only when it has been fully accomplished. Jesus didn’t say, “I’m almost done” or “just a little more to left to do.” He said, “It is finished.”
So why do we still reach back into the Old Testament (Covenant) for certain rules, while seeming to arbitrarily ignore others? Perhaps it’s because we like backing up our own authority with an admonition from God.
It’s a more powerful incentive for childhood obedience if parents can say, “See? It’s not just my rule. God says you have to obey me.” And a lot of those Leviticus and Deuteronomy rules work well for creating orderly communities (do not murder, steal, or lie, etc.).
But in creating this new entity, Jesus has given us an internal guidance system, a moral compass that tells us if a behavior is sinful without us even knowing what the law was. And it’s a more sensitive guide than the old law was.
Lust and anger register with our conscience, yet they were not written in the commandments.
So, Paul’s statement to the church in Ephesus and Jesus’ statement at the start of his ministry on the Mount of Olives don’t contradict each other after all. They align perfectly once we understand how Jesus fulfilled the law, once and for all.
He has indeed made all things new.
Your Brother in Christ,
Fr. Austin