在1971年，菲利普．珀蒂（Philippe Petit）在巴黎聖母院大教堂的塔頂之間走鋼索，這位高空走鋼索藝人因而一舉成名。三年後，他在曾標誌紐約天際線的雙子塔之間走鋼索，可是因未經許可而被逮捕。但在1987年，菲利普有了不同的表演方式。他接受當時耶路撒冷市長泰迪．科勒克（Teddy Kollek）的邀請，在欣嫩子谷上方走鋼索，作為當年以色列節慶的一個節目。菲利普走到一半的時候，釋放了一隻灰色鴿子（他本來希望是一隻白鴿）以象徵和平之美。這看似奇特而危險的表演，其實是要傳達和平的信念。後來菲利普說：「在那一刻，群眾忘記彼此之間的分歧。」

菲利普走鋼索的壯舉令我聯想到另一個震撼人心的時刻──耶穌被懸掛在十架上，豎立在天地之間的那一刻。使徒保羅說：「上帝喜歡……使萬有與自己和好，無論是地上的、天上的，都藉著[基督]在十字架上所流的血促成了和平」（歌羅西書1章19-20節，和合本修訂版）。他還說，我們「從前與上帝隔絕」（21節），但現在已不再是如此。彌賽亞耶穌不是用特技表演來促進和平，祂在十字架上流血捨命，為我們促成了和平。耶穌為世人所做的犧牲絕對無可超越，也無需比擬。祂已帶來永遠的和平。

High-wire artist Philippe Petit became famous in 1971 when he walked a tightrope between the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Three years later, he got arrested for an unauthorized walk between the Twin Towers that once distinguished New York’s skyline. But in 1987, Petit’s walk looked different. At the invitation of Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek, Petit walked across the Hinnom Valley on a high wire as a part of that year’s Israel Festival. At the midway point, Petit released a pigeon (he’d hoped for a dove) to symbolize the beauty of peace. A strange and dangerous stunt, but all for the cause of peace. Petit later said, “For a moment, the entire crowd had forgotten their differences.”

Petit’s high-wire walk reminds me of another breathtaking moment—the one that occurred when Jesus’ body hung between heaven and earth. The apostle Paul tells us, “God was pleased . . . to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through [Christ’s] blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20). Paul writes that “once [we] were alienated from God” (v. 21), but no longer. Far from a spectacle to promote peace, Jesus the Messiah actually made peace by shedding His blood on the cross. His was a feat never to be surpassed, as there is no need. His peace is everlasting.