Our New Testament reading from this week’s Lectionary brings us back to Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. In this passage we see Paul contrasting the calling of the Gentiles to the calling of the Jews. Any brief or casual reading of the Old Testament shows that God called the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be His chosen people. Theirs was the bloodline through which the promised Messiah and Savior was to come.
In God’s original plan the Jewish people were to be the source of God’s blessings to the Gentiles, or non-Jewish people. The Jews neglected this mission of theirs. They greatly disliked and looked down on the Gentiles, feeling that they alone were the only ones who did, or even could, have any relationship with God.
It is here that we pick up our passage. The Apostle Paul, when coming to a town or city to spread the Gospel, would first seek out the local Jewish synagogue, where he would show through Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. Though some believed, the majority of the Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah and Paul’s message. Paul had much more success with Gentiles, and became known as the “apostle of the Gentiles” (vs. 13). This was frequently the case with the other apostles and early Christian missionaries wherever they went - a few Jews would believe and accept Jesus as their Messiah and Savior, but most would reject Him, though many, many more Gentiles would believe.
As mentioned earlier in the Epistle, this broke Paul’s heart (Romans 9:1-3). He was hoping that when the Jews, who hated Gentiles, saw that they were receiving the Gospel and being accepted by God, that they would become jealous and turn to Him for salvation in Jesus as well (vs. 14). For the most part that was not the case. Instead, the fact that Gentiles were being accepted into God’s fold just enraged them.
Paul warns the Gentiles, though, not to get all proud and puffed up about this. The Jews had been followers of the one true God prior to the rejection of their Messiah, and were still loved by God. It was because they had rejected Jesus wherever Paul preached that the message was then given to the Gentiles. Their rejection of the Messiah had opened the door for salvation to be preached to the Gentiles. When the spiritual blindness is removed from their eyes and hearts, it will be like their coming back from the dead (vs. 15).
It may have looked like, to a casual observer, that God had turned His back on the Jewish people because of their rejection of Jesus, but that was not the case. It was true that when they refused to believe the Messiah that He then turned to the Gentiles, who were to be receiving God’s message via the Jews anyway. The door of salvation for the Jewish people has always remained open, and in every age there have been those of Jewish heritage, though not in great numbers, who have turned to Jesus and accepted Him as their Savior. There is coming a day when the Jewish people will turn to Jesus in massive numbers. When Christ returns they will see that He was truly their Messiah, and will accept Him (Zechariah 12:10).
As we reflect on these verses, we, as believers, need to rejoice that the door of salvation has remained open, and that we were blessed to accept His free gift of eternal life, which is offered to all. Now we have an obligation to pass that message on to all we come in contact with. We need to make sure that we are not letting our prejudices keep us from spreading the Gospel. Salvation is available to all, regardless of their background. Millions still need to hear!
They will know we are Christians by our love!
ReplyDeleteMarsha, Bangs TX