I work at a hospital in a diverse neighborhood, and before COVID I barely noticed the borders people lived within. After George Floyd, I couldn't unsee it. One of my closest friends is Black, and I heard for the first time how her experience of being followed in stores, of her kids' fear of police, was just her Tuesday.
This verse about Christ destroying the wall between Jew and Gentile suddenly hit differently. In the first century, this wasn't metaphorical. There was an actual partition in the temple - the 'Gentile court' with a sign warning non-Jews not to go further. Paul is saying Christ abolished that entire system of sacred separation.
I'm reading through my faith history and seeing how we've rebuilt that wall a thousand different ways - racial, economic, gender, sexual orientation. And Christ's work apparently includes breaking those down too. That's not comfortable theology for someone whose comfort depends on certain walls staying up. But it's the gospel, and I'm trying to let it actually do what it claims.
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