For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.
—Ephesians 2:14

Reflection

A major turn of events interrupted the beautiful educational process that had been taking place between Gentile believers and the Jewish community. Gentiles who had come to faith in Jesus were going to the synagogue to learn more about their newfound Jewish-rooted faith. There they heard the Tanakh, learned about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and grew in their understanding of the Law and the Prophets that Jesus came to fulfill.

But in AD 66, the First Jewish Revolt began with uprisings scattered throughout Palestine. Many local synagogues became places of discourse for nationalist groups seeking to build support against Roman oppression. When the Revolt ultimately failed and the Temple was leveled in AD 70, a harsh punishment followed. This punishment became instrumental in dividing Christianity, including both Jewish and Gentile believers, from Judaism.

Rome had previously allowed the Jewish people to retain their culture and live as a separated people while still under Roman authority. But with the Roman government enraged by the uprisings and the temple in ruins, the Jewish people were punished another way.

The fiscus Judaicus was a tax placed upon Jews simply for being Jewish. Every Jewish man, woman, child, even slave, throughout the empire had to pay a half-shekel to Rome. To add insult to injury, whereas Jews had previously paid this amount toward their own temple, Rome now forced them to pay it toward the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, the center of Roman polytheistic religion. This flew in the face of everything Judaism represented, and Rome knew it.

Under Emperor Domitian, beginning around AD 85, the tax was enforced rigorously and cruelly. It was expanded to include not only Jews and converted Jews but also those who lived like Jews and those who hid their Jewishness. In short, Gentile and Jewish believers were being targeted. Any Roman who drifted into Jewish ways, namely those who became Gentile believers in the Jewish God, could face execution.

These punishments drastically changed things. Roman officials went to the synagogue, even on Shabbat, to enforce the taxation. Many Gentile believers in Jesus stopped attending synagogue to avoid being taxed. Because the Council of Jerusalem had permitted them to follow Jesus without becoming Jewish, many succeeded in escaping Domitian’s targeted persecution.

Their Jewish believing brothers and sisters, however, could not escape. This caused further separation between Gentile and Jewish believers.

Yet Messiah remains our peace. The pressures of history erected walls, but in Jesus, Jewish and Gentile believers are not called to remain divided. He made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.

Application

• Ask the Lord to reveal any distance in your heart from the Jewish roots of your faith and from Jewish believers in Jesus.
• Pray for the divisions formed through persecution and history to be healed through Messiah, who is our peace.

Prayer

Father, thank You that Jesus Himself is our peace. Forgive us for the divisions that have separated Jewish and Gentile believers throughout history. Help us understand the suffering that drove them apart and the wounds that still remain. Break down every dividing wall and restore honor, love, and unity in Messiah. Draw us together as one people who worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Amen.