Tuesday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time, October 20, 2020

Ephesians 2:12-22

Brothers and sisters: You were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the Blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his Flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile both with God, in one Body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

The city of Ephesus was a major population and cultural center in the Ancient Near East, founded by the Greeks.  St. Paul spent some time there preaching first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles.  The church there consisted mainly of Gentile converts although there were some Jewish converts too.  His Letter to the church at Ephesus helps the new Christians there to understand their relationship with the Jews, and also to appreciate what it meant to be a member of the Church, the Body of Christ.  

“You were at that time without Christ, being alienated from the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.”  St. Paul reminds the Ephesians of their “hopeless” situation before Christ was preached to them.  At least the Chosen People could hope for Christ's coming, in the long centuries before he came.  The Ephesians were “without God” and could live only for the passing things of this world, very often enduring painful existences simply because death was worse.  For virtually all people in the ancient world, there was no hope to make one's lot better.  The slave would always be a slave.  A family struggling to get a living out of the soil would always struggle.  The Book of Ecclesiastes provides a good picture of man's state before Christ’s Redemption.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the Blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his Flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile both with God, in one Body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it.”  Paul here sets before the Ephesians a view of God's providence so that they might understand their relationship with the Chosen People.  This helps answer the question of how could they be saved if Jesus was a Jew, and the ones who preached Christ to them were Jewish  in origin and race.  Would the Ephesians not need to become Jews as well, so as also to be chosen?  Paul answers that it is a fact that the Ephesians were Gentiles, and a people distinct from the Jews -- “far off” from them.  But the Death of Christ redeems all men, both Jews and Gentiles.  It is in his Blood that the Ephesians become “chosen”, not through exterior works such as undergoing circumcision.  Paul also may have been conscious, in writing in this way, of the pagan understanding that the gods were localized.  A god worshipped in Edom would not necessarily have power in Moab.  In this case the Ephesians may have wondered how the God of the Jews in Judea could save Gentiles living in Asia Minor.

“He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.”  He came and “preached peace to you”.  That is, Christ came through his Church, or, in the person of his Church.  Paul had been deeply impressed when the Lord identified himself with the Church which he was at that time persecuting: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9, 4).  It is essential to keep this in mind when studying his teachings on the nature of the Church.  “Peace”, that is, a harmony between the Gentiles and the Jews, who tended to live a very segregated life, which caused tension.  “Far off”: the Gloss points out that they were distant not in terms of geography, but in terms of morality.

“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”  Not only is there peace between Gentiles and Jews, but they now exist in unity through the baptism they have received.  While two persons or two peoples may live near each other peacefully in the natural world, only the Spirit may create the unity that affects inner realities.

“So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God,”  Roman citizenship was much prized in the ancient world.  A person could have it through birth, through purchase, or through military service.  Paul himself could boast of his citizenship, which allowed him to appeal his legal case to Caesar.  Citizenship conferred a number of privileges on the holder, making him very different before the law from non-citizens.  To be a fellow citizen “with the holy ones” meant to have the same “access” to the Father as the holy prophets, apostles, and martyrs.

“Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord.”  Walafrid of Strabo comments in his Gloss: “There is no one so perfect that he is not able to grow”, meaning that our growth into the temple of God ought to be continuous.

“In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”  Paul seems to contrast this temple with the great temple to Artemis in the city's center.  Magnificent, rich, and renowned though it was, it remained a dead building. The Church, on the other hand, was constructed of living stones, the cornerstone of which was the Christ who had redeemed mankind and pleaded for it before the Father.  The very foundations consisted of the prophets and apostles, more solid and dependable than any cement or stone.  This reminds of the saying of Jesus that: “He who hears my words and does them is like a wise man who builds his house upon a rock” (Matthew 7, 24).  Nor is it an empty structure, with these foundations and walls, for God himself dwells in it: “For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb” (Revelation 22, 21).