I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my
conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and
unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were
accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred
according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong
the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and
the promises; 5 to them belong the patriarchs, and from them,
according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed
forever. Amen.
Romans 9-11 has
puzzled me from the first time I read it in my mid-teens. Over the years, I have
grown in my appreciation for what Paul is doing. Paul explains the result of the
saving act of God in communal life as Christ redefines the people of God. He
has written regularly that the message of the gospel went “to the Jew first,
and then to the Greek.” He has said that God has acted now in Christ to bring
salvation to humanity as a fulfillment of the promise contained in the Old
Testament, especially to Abraham. Yet, the people to whom God made these
promises, the Jewish people, have largely rejected this message. Interestingly,
the puzzle for Paul is not so much where Israel fits into the plan of God, but
how the church fits to the plan of God for the newly envisioned people of God.
He does this by showing the relationship between God and Israel, explaining
that the church is a subset of Israel in the plan of God for saving humanity.
Given the
presence, again, of the state of Israel, this argument likely means more today
in terms of Jewish and Christian relationships than it did prior to that event.
Christians in America and Europe in particular continue to struggle with the
place of Judaism in the on-going plan of salvation. Anti-Semitism, hidden or
overt, is obvious. In addition, another religion, Islam, has arisen that is
quite explicit in its rejection of the covenant God established with Israel and
the church, making it clear that the only hope for Jews or Christians is to
convert to Islam.
Romans 9-11 is not a
denunciation of the Israelites, whom Paul describes as his own people (9:3).
Indeed, it is important to remember that throughout the entirety of the Pauline
letters, it is not Jews or Israelites who receive any of Paul’s condemnation,
but rather Jewish-Christians whenever they try to make Gentile-Christians
follow Jewish religious practices as a condition for becoming Christian (cf.
Galatians 2:1-16). Second, while Paul does not shy away from offering criticism
of his people (10:2-3), he still contends that God has not rejected the
Israelites — they remain God’s people (11:1, 28-29). Third, no matter how
things appear now, eventually “all Israel will be saved” (11:26) because of the
mercy of God (11:31-32).
Paul quotes so
much from the Old Testament that one can call this section a Midrash on Old
Testament texts. Each claim regards the saving purpose of God has revealed in
the word of God as having a two-sided character. The theme of the Midrash is
around the question of 9:6a: Has the word of God failed? The point seems to be
that God has chosen the means of salvation through faith in Christ, and that
Jews have no right to argue with God about that. Yet, he maintains that Israel continues to
have a special place in the plan of God. This statement means that the older
assumption that these chapters deal with the doctrine of predestination does
not hold, a common conclusion among interpreters today. Part of his point is
that the church is a subset of Israel, a branch from that Jewish root.
Romans
9:1-5 has
the theme of the appreciation Paul has for Israel. Given that Paul is applying
the basic themes of Israel to Gentiles, one might justly wonder what Paul feels
toward Israel or toward the Jewish people. This section of Romans
begins with sorrow. We can understand that. After all, most of Paul’s fellow
Jews rejected the gospel. The recipients
of the divine promises in the Old Testament have remained outside the stream of
salvation. If what Paul teaches is
consistent with the Law and the Prophets, then why have the Jews rejected
it? That is what Paul deals with in Chapters
9-11. The failure of the mission to the
Jews raised the question of the faithfulness of God to the promises we find in
the Old Testament; Paul then sees the need to justify the activity of God in
Christ Jesus. Surprisingly, the problem most Jews would have with the preaching
of Paul is that his message was so similar to their message. The message of
free grace and election, of the faithfulness of God to that election, would be
in common to both. However, Paul has had the insight or revelation that the
basic Jewish message has an application to Gentiles through faith in Christ. Paul
offers an apologetic for his message in the sense that he will defend both his
application of the promises God made to Israel to Gentiles and the continuing
role Israel has in the plan of God. Paul maintains that Israel continues to
have a special place in God’s plans. The church is a subset of Israel, a branch
from that root. Clearly, Paul feels the need to explain in more detail the
question of the relationship between Jew and Gentile. He has hit the issue at various points, but
now wants to make himself clear. He has expounded upon the eschatological
tension in the life of the individual believer in Chapters 6-8, and now, he
devotes himself to the eschatological tension between Israel and Church in
relation to the people of God. Thus, the passage explains the plan of God for
the people of God from the standpoint of his eschatology. Paul is able to have
a central place for Christ in the plan of God because of his eschatological
vision.[1] This
section of Paul's letter to the Romans concerns the relation of his central
theological tenet - justification by faith - to the historical fact of Israel's
self-perception as God's chosen people. Paul seems to suggest that the form the
people of God take is provisional, in the sense that it points the world beyond
itself to the God who is active on behalf of the world. The community is a
witness and herald. Israel formed the original and special environment of the
man, Jesus of Nazareth. This community mediates its missional purpose in the
plan of God. The man Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of Israel and therefore
the Messiah of humanity. Christ is witness to the mercy of God toward humanity.
The people of God, the elect of God, are Jew and Gentile. When the church
resists joining itself to Israel, the church is not truly church. The church
can reveal to Israel its participation in sin as it collaborated with Rome to
crucify Jesus. Yet, the church will also take the promises of God to Israel and
apply them to humanity because of what God has done in Christ. If the church is
the church, it will save Israel from annihilation. The Son is incarnate Jewish
flesh, and thus, the church will not forget its special bond with the Jewish
people. The church lives by the covenant made between God and Israel. The
church lives by the existence of Christ according to the flesh, the man Jesus
of Nazareth and thus a descendant of Abraham and David. This reality is
significant. He is this particular man, within this particular community, as
well as the Son of God. He was not a Greek, Roman, or German, but Israelite. As
we find in John 4:22, “Salvation is of the Jews.” The church recognizes itself
in the prophets of Israel that reminded Israel of its disobedience. Yet, in
defiance of all Gentile arrogance, the church asserts and teaches the eternal
election of Israel.[2]
No comments:
Post a Comment