no Gentiles

One of the most dramatic things about the cross is how it changed the signs in the temple. During Jesus’ time, the temple was posted with “No Gentiles” signs. In fact, these signs warned that any Gentile who tried to enter the temple would be put to death. Paul was arrested one time in Jerusalem because people thought he had taken a Gentile into the temple.

Gentile, of course, is the word Jews use to refer to non-Jews. I would be a Gentile, and so would most of you. So that part of the law was really bad news for us.

But Jesus came, he died, he rose. Eventually he sent Peter to Cornelius as the first welcome of the Gentiles into the new Christian faith. And he sent Paul as a missionary to the Gentiles.

And then we get to this, explained so well in Galatians 3:26-29: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

The “No Gentiles” signs were changed into “there is neither Gentile or Jew.” Literally, “No Gentiles” now means there aren’t any. What a great sign for the temple – there are no longer any people who are excluded! There’s no longer a reason for Jews to have a word for non Jews. In God’s eyes we’re all the same. And slaves and freemen are equal, and so are men and women. We all are brothers and sisters in Christ, with a new descriptor: Christian.

It's good for me to be reminded that there was a time when my kind were not welcome in God’s house. It should help me be more sympathetic to those I might want to exclude. And it should motivate me to make sure that all people everywhere get the invitation.