A man in my congregation, rather than waving or saying “Hi,” makes the peace sign with his fingers. When we drive by each other in the community, out comes his peace sign. Why? Because we English-speakers sometimes use the word peace as a greeting. It was common in the 1960s when people would say, “Peace, brother” or “Peace, sister,” as a greeting. People might leave a gathering, and instead of saying, “Goodbye,” they say “Peace out.”
Peace is so much more than a greeting.
We’ve been studying Ephesians 2:11–22 in this second week of Advent, and we’ve talked about how Jesus has gone to great lengths to welcome everyone to be part of his group. That’s what Paul writes about in Ephesians 2, verses 14 through 18:
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
Paul is talking about two groups, the Jews and non-Jews. But now, there are no longer two groups. No more IN Group and OUT group. There is one new group. Jesus, through his birth, life, death and resurrection, has torn down the wall between the groups, and he has made us one.
Paul uses a word over and over in this passage to describe what Jesus did: peace. Notice how peace is so much more than a greeting.
In verse 14, Jesus himself is our peace.
In verse 15, he made peace between the two groups, making one new humanity.
In verse 17, he preached peace to both the Out group (“you who were far away”, the Gentiles, the non-Jews), and he preached peace to the IN group (“those who were near” the Jews).
We all, Jews and Gentiles, can now have peace with God through the Spirit.
Do you see how thorough is the peace that God desires for us? Because of Jesus, we can have peace with God and peace with each other.
For Paul, a Jew, and for all Jews, peace is a very important concept. In the Hebrew peace is word shalom. Like we use the word peace, Jews use the word shalom as a greeting, and given what Paul writes in Ephesians 2, shalom is more than a greeting.
Shalom is expansive, describing wholeness between people and God, between people and each other, between people and the world around us. Shalom is when things are right. Shalom is when people love one another like God loves. Shalom sees everyone as God sees them, as made in God’s image, as people who are loved, valuable, worthwhile. Shalom reminds us that in God’s view, there is no IN group and OUT group.
For now, think about how Jesus is our peace, and tomorrow we’ll talk further about how we can follow his example.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 