March 19: Jew & Gentile: United in Christ Through the Cross
♫ Music:
Day 35- Tuesday, March 19
Title: JEW & GENTILE: UNITED IN CHRIST THROUGH THE CROSS
Scripture #1: 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 (NKJV)
Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Scripture #2: Ephesians 2:13-22 (NKJV)
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Poetry & Poet:
“Behind the Veil”
by John Henry Newman
BANISH'D the House of sacred rest,
Amid a thoughtless throng,
At length I heard its creed confess'd,
And knelt the saints among.
Artless his strain and unadorn'd,
Who spoke Christ's message there;
But what at home I might have scorn'd,
Now charm'd my famish'd ear.
Lord, grant me this abiding grace,
Thy Word and sons to know;
To pierce the veil on Moses' face,
Although his speech be slow.
JEW & GENTILE: UNITED IN CHRIST THROUGH THE CROSS
Newman, Baldwin, and Paul – all three speak of peace. But there are many kinds of peace. There is the peace offered in Dostoevsky’s “Grand Inquisitor,” the peace of those who trade their freedom for innocence. There is the peace that comes with mindlessness. The content of those who have learned not to care. There is the peace of exhaustion, where evil and malice have simply lost their energy (for the time being). There are as many kinds of peace as there are of love. Or, as every parent knows, of “fair.”
So what kind of peace are we talking about? To be sure, this is an abundant and many-layered peace—a peace to rival Joseph’s coat of many colors. Surely it will involve rest from work, or, more to my liking at least, perfectly restful work. The kind of work one can’t wait to do with one’s precious time. And it will include a rest from different kinds of strife–and to end war, vicious competition and restless, soul-draining intrigue and corruption.
But there is more to it than that. A lot more to it. There is great danger in being overly generic, in skewing in a merely ethical direction when it comes to the Christian faith. We don’t merely follow ethical guidelines—we worship and serve the living God, who acts, who chooses. And the content of his choice? To bring about his saving purposes through the line of Abraham, his chosen people Israel.
The peace that Paul has in mind in his letter to the Ephesians is the peace of Jew and Gentile. Between his chosen people and the nations. Between Israel on the one hand, and Egypt, Assyria, Germany, and Russia on the other, to name a few.
Does this matter? Is it important that we think of this longing for the union of Jew and Gentile at the heart of so much of the New Testament? (Can we even read Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, etc., without this driving concern shaping our understanding of the text?) Surely the answer is yes. The whole Bible has the shape of Jew/Gentile dynamics.
So why, as we prepare for celebrating Christ’s Passion (and even more, his resurrection), should we keep this in mind? Because this is a unique veil. While it can and does obscure the face of Christ for some (as in Ackland’s painting), it is, at the same time, a God-given guide or revelation to that same face of Christ. What is the peace we long for? That of the sabbath?
What will we do in our rest? Worship. What will we delight in? The law, written upon our
hearts. The salvation we long for is from the Jews. The heaven (new earth) we await is one shaped by the blessing of Israel. The Christian life now bears the shape, following the pattern of the Messiah. We do well to attend to the ways that the calling and history of Israel, of God with his people, shape the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection, and therefore the whole shape of the Christian life. It is not a generic peace we are offered, but the peace of God’s fulfilled promises in Christ.
Prayer
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Give us your peace.
The peace of a land flowing with milk and honey.
The peace of days spent in worship.
The peace of reconciliation between Jew and Gentile.
The peace of having the law written on our hearts.
The peace of your fulfilled plan for creation.
Give us your peace.
Dr. Adam Johnson
Associate Professor of Theology
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Art #1:
Obscure
Margaret Ackland
2002
Oil on canvas
37.5 x 37.5 cm.
Australian artist Margaret Ackland has appropriated the 1940 painting of Christ by American artist Warner Sallman for the background of her work entitled Obscure. Sallman's portrait of Christ is one of the most reproduced images of Christ in the world—having been printed over half a billion times and distributed widely—and has served to reinforce the image of Christ as a Savior of European origin with blue eyes and long blond hair. In her painting, Ackland partially covered Sallman’s image by painting a realistic translucent crumpled sheet of paper over it, but she did not diminish one's recognition of the highly reproduced and iconic face of Christ. By obscuring Sallman's famous painting, Ackland asks the viewer to consider seeing more deeply, to see beyond the popular and recognizable devotional image, and to engage with a deeper understanding and connection with Christ.
https://artway.eu/content.php?id=2714&lang=en&action=show
About the Artist #1:
Margaret Ackland (b. 1954) is an Australian artist and teacher living in Sydney, Australia. Her work encompasses expressive landscapes, intimate still life works, and detailed oil paintings of wedding dresses and other rich fabric surfaces. In recent years, she’s painted small watercolors that explore the irony, sadness, and confusion of the images that make up our daily news feeds. Ackland is renowned for her expressive and vibrant use of color. She has held over thirty solo exhibitions since 1985 and is represented in a range of national and private collections including Artbank, the Mitchell Library, the Holmes à Court Collection, and Deakin University. Her work was on the front cover of the 2023 July edition of Art Almanac and she has been featured in Italian Vogue, and on ABC TV’s Compass series.
https://theartiststory.com.au/margaret-ackland
About the Art #2:
Head of Christ (Sallman Head)
Warner Sallman
1940
Oil on canvas
The Head of Christ, also called the Sallman Head, is a 1940 portrait painting of Jesus of Nazareth by American artist Warner Sallman. An extraordinarily successful work of Christian popular devotional art, it had been reproduced over half a billion times worldwide by the end of the twentieth century. There have been enlarged copies of the work made for churches and small pocket or wallet-sized prayer cards for private devotional use.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_Christ#/media/File:The_Head_of_Christ_by_Warner_Sallman_1941.jpg
About the Artist #2
Warner Elias Sallman (1892–1968) was an American painter from Chicago best known for his works of Christian religious imagery. He also worked both in commercial advertising as well as in freelance illustration. He is most associated with his portrait of Jesus entitled Head of Christ, of which more than five hundred million copies have been sold. In 1994, The New York Times wrote that he was likely to be voted the "best-known artist of the century.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Sallman
About the Music:
“There is Freedom” from the album Narrow Roads—Acoustic Sessions
Lyrics:
When I'm walkin' through the valley,
Your presence is around me.
'Cause nothin' stands between me and my God.
And the fear that was my prison is no longer,
Where I'm livin,'
'Cause nothin' stands between me and my God.
There's no place I go that He is not.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
We'll be dancin' through the darkness 'cause we believe it.
Every stronghold has to break at the name of Jesus.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
When the ground below is shakin', my joy cannot be taken.
'Cause nothin' stands between me and my God.
So I'm lookin' to Jesus through a veil,
That's torn to pieces.
'Cause nothin' stands between me and my God, no.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
We'll be dancin' through the darkness 'cause we believe it.
Every stronghold has to break at the name of Jesus.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Watch the lies break off.
Watch the enemy flee.
Watch the walls come crumbling down.
When the people of God sing.
Hear the heavenly roar.
Of every heart set free.
Hear the chains of shame hit the ground.
When the people of God sing.
Watch the lies break off.
Watch the enemy flee.
Watch the walls come crumbling down.
When the people of God sing.
And hear the heavenly roar.
Of every heart set free.
Hear the chains of shame hit the ground.
When the people of God sing.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
We'll be dancin' through the darkness 'cause we believe it.
And every stronghold has to break at the name of Jesus.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, oh.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
So we'll be dancin' through the darkness.
'Cause we believe it.
And every stronghold has to break at the name of Jesus.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
There is freedom, oh there is freedom.
There is freedom.
About the Composer/Performer:
Josh Baldwin is a songwriter and worship leader who joined the Bethel Music Collective in 2014. He began his faith journey in North Carolina, where he was a worship pastor for ten years before joining the Collective, and is now a resident of Thompson’s Station, Tennessee.
https://bethelmusic.com/roster/josh-baldwin
About the Poetry and Poet:
St. John Henry Newman (1801–1890) was a British English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar, and poet—first as an Anglican priest and later as a Catholic priest and cardinal. He was an important and controversial figure in the religious history of England in the nineteenth century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Newman
About the Devotion Writer:
Dr. Adam Johnson
Associate Professor of Theology
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
Adam Johnson is a theologian and a professor for the Torrey Honors College who focuses on the doctrine of the atonement, exploring the many ways in which the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ affect the reconciliation of all things to God. His most recent book is The Reconciling Wisdom of God: Reframing the Doctrine of the Atonement. He and his wife, Katrina, have been married nineteen years and have three sons. They love camping and exploring America’s national parks.