エフェソの信徒への手紙2:19-22 Ephesians 2:19-22,
そのかなめ石はキリスト・イエス御自身であり、キリストにおいて、この建物全体は組み合わされて成長し、主における聖なる神殿となります。（エフェソ2:20-21）
考えてみますと、建物が成長するというのは不思議な表現です。キリスト教会という共同体にはイエス・キリストの永遠の命が宿っていますから、それを建物にたとえれば、その建物が成長するということになるのでしょう。しかし、「成長する」という表現は、本来はキリスト教会という共同体を「体」にたとえるときに最もよくあてはまる表現です。パウロはこのエフェソの信徒への手紙4章12節から15節で教会を「キリストの体」と呼んで、次のように記しています。「こうして、聖なる者たちは奉仕の業に適した者とされ、キリストの体を造り上げてゆき、ついには、わたしたちは皆、神の子に対する信仰と知識において一つのものとなり、成熟した人間になり、キリストの満ちあふれる豊かさになるまで成長するのです。こうして、わたしたちは、もはや未熟な者ではなくなり、人々を誤りに導こうとする悪賢い人間の、風のように変わりやすい教えに、もてあそばれたり、引き回されたりすることなく、むしろ、愛に根ざして真理を語り、あらゆる面で、頭であるキリストに向かって成長していきます。」
13節の終わりには「キリストの満ちあふれる豊かさになるまで成長するのです」とあります。その前には「キリストの体を造り上げてゆき」とか「わたしたちは皆、神の子に対する信仰と知識において一つのものとなり」とありますので、パウロは教会という共同体が「成長する」ことを考えているのでしょう。そして、15節の終わりには「頭であるキリストに向かって成長していきます」とあります。その前の14節には「わたしたちは、もはや未熟な者ではなくなり」とありますので、パウロは教会という共同体が「成長する」ことだけでなく、共同体を形成する信仰者個人の人格が「成長する」ことをも考えているのでしょう。つまり、教会という共同体の成長と信仰者個人の人格の成長は切り離しがたく結びついているということです。言い換えれば、教会という共同体を形成するための奉仕は、共同体のメンバーである信仰者個人の人格をも形成するということです。教会という共同体を形成するためには並外れた忍耐が求められます。ですから、教会という共同体を形成するための奉仕をすることによって、並外れた忍耐力が養われるのです。そして、その忍耐力の源はイエス・キリストが十字架の苦しみにおいて私たちの救いのために示してくださった愛と忍耐なのです。
（3月16日の説教より）
Our characters are formed within communities. In many cases, the first community to which a person belongs when one born into this world is the family. A person who has grown up in a family with a lot of love is likely to become a person who is also full of love. The next communities that a person experiences after the family are communities such as kindergartens, nursery schools and elementary schools. A person who has received an education in a kindergarten or school that respects individuality is likely to become a person who can also respect the individuality of others. Furthermore, as an adult, a person will belong to a community called a workplace, where one will earn money one needs for one’s life. If a person receives guidance at work that helps one develop one’s character as a member of society, one will also be able to acquire a mature character that helps one develop other people. However, it is said that families, kindergartens and schools are all facing various problems today. And, in particular, it seems that in workplaces, in order to pursue profit and efficiency, there are many cases where people say and do things that deny people’s characters. This is the so-called problem of power harassment.
If there is no interaction or guidance in the community of the family, kindergarten, school or workplace that encourages the formation of a healthy character, interaction with close friends can help to develop a character. Interaction with close friends has good points such as being able to talk to someone who will listen to you and being able to say what you want to say. Also, if a group of close friends get together and form a close-knit group, you could say that this is also a community. And many of us have experienced being supported in times of difficulty, comforted in times of sadness, or guided when we were lost in life through our interactions with close friends.
However, it is only when your close friends have stable characters and remain the same that their companionship can be a source of support, comfort and guidance. Sadly, people can change through the experiences they have. Sometimes people become estranged because they no longer have a common goal, or kind people may become cold because their interests conflict with each other. We want to have friends who will never change. We also want to be part of a community united by love that never changes. So, if we have a friend, Jesus Christ who never changes, and if we are firm members of a community called the Christian church, united by the love of Christ that never changes, then we will be supported, comforted and guided until the end of our lives in this world. And our character will be continually renewed and formed even in the midst of the various sufferings of this world.
In the verses 19 and first half of 20 of today’s Bible passage, Paul says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” The word “you” refers, of course, to the believers of the Ephesian church. And it is likely that the majority of the Ephesian church congregation were non-Jews. Jews are people who believe in the God of the Old Testament and observe the laws of the Old Testament. Jews believed that they were the “saints” chosen by the true God, and they called other ethnic groups “Gentiles” to distinguish them. In the days of the Old Testament, “Gentiles” who lived in the land of Israel were called “sojourners” or “aliens.” The “aliens” were protected by the commandment, “Do not oppress the alien” (Exodus 23:9), but they were not considered to be part of the “saints” chosen by the true God.
In verses 14-16, which come just before today’s passage, Paul says as follows.
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
The words “us both” and “two” in this passage refer to Jews and non-Jews, or Gentiles. In the New Testament era, Jews and Gentiles often held “hostility” towards each other. The Jews thought that Gentiles were unclean people who worshipped idols. The Gentiles, especially the Romans, tried to impose Roman customs on the Jews and rule over them. Thus, hostility increased, and in 66 AD, a war broke out between the Jews and the Roman Empire. This war continued until 70 AD, when the city of Jerusalem was destroyed, and until 74 AD, when the rebels who had barricaded themselves in the fortress of Masada committed suicide and perished. While it is true that this “hostility” was “the dividing wall” between the Jews and the Gentiles, there was also a visible “dividing wall” in the temple of Jerusalem during the time of the New Testament. This was a wall that separated the outer court, where Gentiles were allowed to enter, from the inner court, which was only open to Jews. The wall was inscribed with a warning that read “any Gentile entering the inner court will be put to death.” This was a symbolic indication that Gentiles could not approach the true God as closely as the Jews.
Paul says that Jesus Christ “has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances” by dying on the cross. Christ’s death on the cross was a sacrificial death that atoned for the sins of human beings. Therefore, if we believe that Christ died in our place, then whether we are Jews or Gentiles, we can be forgiven of our sins and approach the true God, who is the source of life. Whether we are Jews or Gentiles, we can connect with the true God in the same way and become God’s people. Therefore, the dividing wall that separated Jews and Gentiles became unnecessary due to Christ’s death on the cross. And the ceremonial laws that caused the difference between Jews and Gentiles were abolished.
Furthermore, Paul says that Christ “create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross.” What does it mean to “create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace” and to “reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross”? This means that Jews and Gentiles become “one new man” by believing in Jesus Christ together, and become members of the church, which is the body of Christ, and belong to “one body.” And in this way, “peace” between the two sides and “reconciliation” with God are established.
Therefore, people who were once considered unclean Gentiles by the Jews became “the saints and members of the household of God” by believing in Christ, as written in verse 19 of today’s passage. In other words, they became members of a community that Christ centred. However, some people may feel confused or uncomfortable with the term “saints.” Even among Christians, there may be those who would say, “I’m a worldly person, not a “saint.” And among non-Christians, there may be those who would criticise Christians for calling themselves “saints,” saying that it is arrogant. However, the term “saints” refers to those who have been chosen and saved by the holy and true God. Being chosen and saved by the holy and true God means that they have been separated from other people and become the holy people, i.e., saints. It does not mean that they were originally holy people with pure hearts and good behaviour.
The phrase “members of the household of God” refers to those who have become brothers and sisters of Christ and sons and daughters of God the Father through their faith in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. As sons and daughters of God the Father, they will inherit the heavenly inheritance of eternal life. They will also share in the blessings of the forgiveness of sins, as those whose sins have been forgiven through Christ’s cross. Some people may think that, even as “members of the household of God” through faith, they cannot become as close as parents and children or brothers and sisters who are related by blood. It is true that there are limits to what Christians can share in this world. However, by sharing in the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, we can become even closer than parents and children or brothers and sisters who are related by blood. Parents and children or brothers and sisters who are related by blood can sometimes dominate or be dominated because of the closeness of their relationship. In addition, because of the similarities between them, they may not be able to recognise each other’s differences and may clash. However, the “members of the household of God” that is based on faith is united by the fact that they believe in Christ and follow him, even though they originally came from completely different backgrounds. They are united not by natural closeness, but by the love of Christ alone. If we are aware of this, the “members of the household of God” that are based on faith will be able to have strong bonds that are not swayed by mutual interests or emotions.
Paul compares the Christian church as a community to a building, and in the first half of verse 20 he says that it is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” The word “apostles” refers to people like Peter and Paul, who testified to the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. The word “prophets” here does not refer to the prophets of the Old Testament, but to those who proclaimed Christ in the New Testament era, led by the Holy Spirit in their respective churches. In 1 Corinthians 14:1, Paul says, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” In this case, prophecy refers to proclaiming Christ in an understandable way, guided by the Holy Spirit, and is the equivalent of today’s sermon. Although they were not people who had met the resurrected Christ in person, as the apostles had, Paul probably refers to those who proclaimed Christ in their respective churches as “prophets.”
In verses 20-22 of today’s passage, Paul writes as follows.
Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
This is not the only passage in which Paul compares the Christian community to a building or temple. For example, in 1 Corinthians 3:9, Paul says, “You are God’s field, God’s building,” and a little further on in verse 16 of the same chapter, Paul says, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” The apostle Peter also compares the Christian church to “a spiritual house,” in 1 Peter 2:4-5 as follows.
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The phrase “a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious” refers to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was rejected by people and crucified and killed, but was resurrected by God the Father and is now alive and seated on the heavenly throne. The phrase “a spiritual house” probably refers to the temple, which is the house where God is present through the Holy Spirit. That is, the church is like a temple made up of the stones of the believers, which are combined with the stone of Jesus Christ, who has eternal life. In that case, we can see that what is written in 1 Peter 2:4-5 is similar to what Paul writes in verses 20-22 in today’s passage. However, the distinctive feature of what Paul writes in today’s passage is that it describes the growth of the community, as we can see in the phrase “the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
When you think about it, it’s a strange expression to say that a building “grows.” The community of the Christian church is inhabited by the eternal life of Jesus Christ, so if we compare it to a building, it would be like the growing building by the eternal life of Jesus Christ. However, the expression “growing” is originally the most appropriate expression when comparing the Christian church to a “body.” In Ephesians 4:11-15, Paul calls the church “the body of Christ” and writes as follows.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.
I will explain this passage in more detail at a later date, but today I would like to focus on the words “mature” and “grow” in this passage. At the end of verse 13, we read, “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Before that, we read, “for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” So, Paul is probably thinking about the communities’ “mature.” Then, at the end of verse 15, Paul says, “We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” In verse 14 before that, Paul says, “We may no longer be children,” so Paul is probably thinking not only about the growth of the community of the church, but also about the growth of the characters of the individual believers who make up that community. In other words, the growth of the community of the church and the growth of the characters of the individual believers are inseparably linked. Therefore, the service we do to build up the community of the church also builds up the characters of the individual believers who are members of that community. Extraordinary patience is required to build up the community of the church. Therefore, the service we do to build up the community of the church also cultivates extraordinary patience. And the source of that patience is the love and patience that Jesus Christ showed for our salvation in his sufferings on the cross.