In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul addressed divisions between Jewish and gentile followers of Jesus Christ. His words speak to us in this new missionary age. We are called to bring the liberating message of the Gospel to a broken world waiting to be reborn. Yet as Christians, we are divided. This division not only impedes our effectiveness — it breaks the heart of the Lord.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians that Jesus is “… our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility.” (Eph. 2:14, 15) Jesus alone can heal our divisions and create “… in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.” That is because of one indispensable truth: “… Through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

The high-priestly prayer of Jesus cries out to the Father, summoning all who bear the name Christian to action. Jesus prayed:

I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20-21)

There is a connection between our relationship with one another and our ability to bring the world to the foot of the cross to find true peace.

Knowingly or unknowingly, every single man, woman and child on the face of the planet is searching for the healing which only the living God can provide. In the words of the great bishop of Hippo, Augustine: “…You have made us for yourself, Oh Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” The Lord Jesus offers that hope and healing. How? The same way he always has — through the body of His Son, the Church, of which we are all members.

In the fourth chapter of the letter to the Ephesians, Paul issues a plea:

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

He reminded them:

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

He told the Christians in Corinth that “… Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Cor. 12:12) And we are all members of the Body of Christ, even if we are not yet in full communion with one another. It is time to live that truth, so that the world may believe. If we hope to truly become the path to peace we must learn to call one another brother and sister again.

Finding the Path to Peace

The peace that we are promised is not a peace the world can give, but a true peace which the world cannot take away. (John 14:27) It is given to us by the One who alone can reconcile us to the Father, and to one another — and then make us ambassadors of that reconciliation for the whole world. (2 Cor. 5:20) In the Gospel of Luke, it tells us that Jesus wept over Jerusalem, (Luke 19:41) wishing they had somehow discovered what made for real peace.

Every time I read or hear that passage I remember an experience I had in 1999. I was a part of a Project Reconciliation trip to Ireland, led by a peacemaker, Detective Steven McDonald, a paralyzed police officer. The mission team included Catholics, Protestants and members of the Bruederhoff community. It was undertaken to promote peace by helping heal the wounds caused by the religious and economic conflicts in the North of Ireland. As a young officer, Steven was shot at point-blank range by a young man engaged in a robbery and rendered quadriplegic. During his recovery he struggled with rage, anger and profound depression.

The Lord visited him while he was in a coma and spoke to his heart. He told him that forgiveness was the path to peace. The Lord asked Steven to forgive the young man who had shot him. He did so and an enemy became a friend. Since the shooting, Steven has been an instrument of peace, proclaiming Jesus Christ and forgiveness as the path to peace. When Steven speaks, you listen closely. He has a tracheotomy tube for breathing and speaks in a whisper — but he speaks with authority.

We held meetings where forgiveness and repentance took place throughout the nation. As Protestants forgave Catholics and Catholics forgave Protestants, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, rose up in our midst with healing.

But I will never forget the bombed-out buildings still visible in Belfast. When I returned home, I realized they had become to me a symbol of the brokenness of the Body of Christ.

Weeping over the New Jerusalem

In the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Luke Jesus enters Jerusalem. There He voluntarily offers Himself on the second tree of the Cross. He deals a fatal blow to death and crushes the evil one whose lies had brought forth our separation from God. The Cross, the instrument of torture that day, becomes the sign of peace. It becomes a lamppost which illuminates the path to peace for those who find their refuge under its shadow and embrace the One who stretches out His arms to embrace the world.

He looks out from the Mount of Olives and sees the Holy City of Jerusalem. He knows the City will be overtaken and destroyed by the armies of Titus. He weeps tears of Love:

If this day you only knew what makes for peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. (Luke 19:41-44)

Jesus had spent three years walking her dusty streets and encountering her inhabitants, inviting them on the path to peace. He had taught in the temples and engaged the learned with the wisdom of heaven. He had healed the sick, multiplied bread — and raised the dead. However, many who witnessed these miracles failed to recognize the time of their visitation. Their eyes were closed to the One who reveals the path to peace.

At the Last Supper Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid”. (John 14:27)

Jesus removed the impediments to peace. He broke down the dividing walls of hostility between us.

Now He invites us to lead others along the path of peace by living the message of forgiveness together. He weeps over the brokenness and division among us. The Church is the seed of the New Jerusalem to come. (Revelation 21) Our unity and our effectiveness in mission are connected. They call us to walk the path to peace together.

May we be one.