John 12:23 'And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.'
JOHN 12:20-23
Philip and
Andrew had just brought word to Jesus that certain Greeks or Gentiles
were seeking Him at the feast. He had ministered to other Gentiles, but
this is the first time that the Gentiles came specifically to seek Him
instead of what He could do. Apparently, this was an added signal to
Jesus that His time had come and that He could no longer confine His
ministry to only the Jews. Therefore, He made statements about His death
and glorification, that would break down the middle wall of partition
between the Jew and the Gentile.
There was a physical wall of partition that symbolized this division in the Jerusalem temple. The Gentiles could come into a designated area of the temple known as the court of the Gentiles, but a stone wall, about five feet high, stopped them from going further. A sign standing before the wall stated, 'No man of another nation is to enter, and whosoever is caught will have himself to blame for his death!'
Many regulations and rules separated Jews and Gentiles for centuries. Christ's work on the cross abolished that separation by removing the law and thus removing the barrier between these two groups. Instead of changing the Gentiles into Jews or the Jews into Gentiles, God made a brand new creation.
It's like crossing a horse and a donkey. The result is not a horse or a donkey, but a brand new animal called a mule.
In the New Testament church there is no such thing as Jew or Gentile, bond or free, for God has created something absolutely new. It's the 'one new man,' the new creation in Christ Jesus, the church, Christ's body, the fullness of Him, that filles all in all (Eph. 1:23).
Remember who you are 'in Him.'
There was a physical wall of partition that symbolized this division in the Jerusalem temple. The Gentiles could come into a designated area of the temple known as the court of the Gentiles, but a stone wall, about five feet high, stopped them from going further. A sign standing before the wall stated, 'No man of another nation is to enter, and whosoever is caught will have himself to blame for his death!'
Many regulations and rules separated Jews and Gentiles for centuries. Christ's work on the cross abolished that separation by removing the law and thus removing the barrier between these two groups. Instead of changing the Gentiles into Jews or the Jews into Gentiles, God made a brand new creation.
It's like crossing a horse and a donkey. The result is not a horse or a donkey, but a brand new animal called a mule.
In the New Testament church there is no such thing as Jew or Gentile, bond or free, for God has created something absolutely new. It's the 'one new man,' the new creation in Christ Jesus, the church, Christ's body, the fullness of Him, that filles all in all (Eph. 1:23).
Remember who you are 'in Him.'
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