Tag Archives: reconciliation

Let’s consider the gospel of peace

Bible commentary, Ephesians, Ephesians 2, Gospel of Jesus, , , , , , , ,

NOTE: This post is available in article form in 18 other languages; scroll down to the bottom to see the list of languages.
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An excerpt adapted from One New Humanity: Glory, Violence, and the Gospel of Peace.1

The letter to the Ephesians draws significantly from Isaiah’s poetry and vision. Isaiah offers a vision of God’s Servant, Prince of Peace, reconciling those far and near (“the far” is the world of non-Jewish peoples; “the near” is God’s people, the Jews). It is a vision of One who proclaims good news of peace. Shouldn’t the gospel of peace in Ephesians therefore be understood as a vital part of the biblical narrative, indeed, core to the gospel?

Quoting Stuhlmacher:

On the basis of the catchword eirene [in Eph 2:13–17] it combines three passages of Scripture, Isa 57:19 (vv. 13 and 17), Isa 9:5–6 (v. 14) and Isa 52:7 (v. 17). The way the passages are connected is thoroughly Jewish in form. The “peace” announced to the far and the near in Isa 57:19 is brought about by the Messiah who is called the “prince of peace” (Isa 9:5–6) and that in such a way that the Messiah, in accord with Isa 52:7, appears as the proclaimer of peace for the far and near.2

IsaiahEphesians
57:19to the far and to the near 2:13you who once were far off have been brought near
9:5–6 v. 6: unto us a son is given … Prince of Peacev. 5: every boot of the trampling warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire 2:14For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
52:7How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news [gospel], who publishes peace 2:17And he came and preached [the gospel of] peace
57:19Peace, peace, to the far and to the near 2:17preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near

Isaiah’s vision of peace echoed in Ephesians 23

In writing to the Ephesians, Paul draws heavily on Isaiah to describe Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah-King, the reconciler, peace-maker, and Savior. The Isaiah connections in Ephesians 2:13–18 also link to other NT passages. In Romans 10:15, Paul famously quotes Isaiah 52:7, “As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” In the Greek, “preach the good news” is one word—the verb form of gospel (euangelizō). It appears in Ephesians 2:17 and in Isaiah 52:7 in the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament).

Consider also Peter’s visit in Joppa to the Roman centurion Cornelius, a visit orchestrated by visions given by God to both men (Acts 10:1–16). Jennings imagines the drama of Peter in the home of Cornelius:

Peter enters the home of Cornelius. Cornelius falls at his feet in worship of him. Peter picks him up and says, “Stand up; I am only a mortal.” (v. 26). Together they talked and moved toward a room where Cornelius’s family and close friends were waiting. The stage is set. How do you change the world? How do you turn it right side up if not by turning it upside down? Now God will transgress border and boundary in the best place for such transgression. It will be done in the intimate spaces of family and close friends and in a clandestine illicit meeting of those who should not be together.4

As Peter begins preaching, he immediately references Isaiah 52:7: “As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all)” (Acts 10:36). Here, too, the verb form of gospel is used. The Greek phrase is euangelizomenos eirenen; it means “gospeling peace,” or “preaching the gospel of peace.”

In the home of Cornelius, Peter embodies and preaches the good news of peace—bringing together with God those near and far. This peace is so much more than an individual private reality. Peter is gospeling a peace that is personal with God and simultaneously social with “others.” He embodies shalom.

Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) is the Hebrew word for peace in Isaiah. This word, shalom, appears in Isaiah 9:6, 52:7, and 57:19. In Ephesians 2:13–17, Paul quotes and interprets Isaiah.

  • The Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6) is Jesus the Christ who proclaimed good news (euangelizō) of peace (Eph 2:17; Isa 52:7).
  • Christ has “broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph 2:14); this breaking of hostility is pictured in Isaiah 9:5—“every boot of the trampling warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.” Through the cross, Christ is “killing the hostility” (Eph 2:16).
  • Christ has proclaimed good news of peace to those far away, the Gentiles—and peace to those who are near, the Jews (Eph 2:17; Isa 57:19).

These links in Acts 10 and Ephesians 2 to Isaiah’s shalom have big implications. In American Christian tradition, biblical peace normally refers to an individual’s private spiritual peace with God. Consider Billy Graham’s famous book Peace With God, first published in 1953. It rightly emphasizes the necessity of individual reconciliation with God. The book “points the way, the only way, to authentic personal peace in a world in crisis.”5 The phrase “authentic personal peace” is noteworthy. Graham makes no mention of the robust theology of Ephesians 2, which presents a peace with God that also includes peace and reconciliation with distant or hostile “others” through Christ.

In Peace With God, Graham does mention Ephesians 2:12–13, along with a comment about God drawing us near to him in individual reconciliation.6 But he excludes the verses about Christ making peace socially—verses like these: “For he [Christ] himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility . . . 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. And he [Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to you who were near” (2:14–17).

Discussion

  1. Consider the word in Eph 2:17, euangelizō. It means ‘gospeled peace’ or ‘preached the gospel of peace.’ It is the verb form of “gospel”. The word “gospel” is excluded from most English translations. Thoughts?
  2. “… through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Eph 2:16). What are the implications for the theology and practice of reconciliation, that is, for embodying a gospel that reconciles both vertically (Eph 2:8–9, 13) and horizontally?
  3. Christ is our peace; Christ makes peace; Christ preaches peace (Eph. 2:14, 15, 17). What challenges do we face in incorporating this into our teaching of the gospel?

Download as a Word file in 19 languages (so you can edit them)

I used Claude AI to make the translations. I instructed Claude to draw from the Bible translations most commonly used by Protestant churches in the represented language groups. The translations are likely imperfect, so edit as you see fit.

1. Kristin Caynor and Werner Mischke, One New Humanity: Glory, Violence, and the Gospel of Peace (William Carey Publishing, 2025), 149–53. ↩

2. Stuhlmacher, Peter, Reconciliation, Law & Righteousness: Essays in Biblical Theology (Translated by John Vriend, Fortress, 1986), 234–35. As quoted in Willard M. Swartley, Covenant of Peace: The Missing Peace in New Testament Theology and Ethics (Eerdmans, 2006), 200-01. ↩

3. Adapted from Caynor and Mischke, One New Humanity, 151. ↩

4. Jennings, Willie James, Acts: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox Press, 2017), 108. Kindle. ↩

5. Graham, Billy, Peace with God: The Secret of Happiness (W Publishing Group, a division of Thomas Nelson, 1984), x; emphasis in original. ↩

6. Graham, 120. ↩