ROMANS 11: 13-15
New International Version (NIV)
13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the
apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the
hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of
them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the
world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
It was Paul’s belief, affirmed by the leaders of the early church, that "the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me" (Gal. 2:7-9). And so, he evangelized, planted churches, and taught and preached in mainly Gentile areas, such as Asia Minor and Greece.
Nevertheless, he
always carried a burden for his own people, the Jews, as he has confessed
freely in Romans (9:1-3;10:1). Was Paul, then, stuck in a ministry he did not
love, called to go to Gentiles but desiring to evangelize among Jews? By no
means. He was an apostle and had received divine revelation as to what God was
doing among Jews and Gentiles. Therefore, he understood, that God had left the
Jews in the hardness of their hearts and sent the Gospel to the Gentiles to
arouse the Jews to envy of the spiritual blessings the Gentiles were receiving.
Thus, Paul saw that he could advance the cause of the Gospel by all he could to
reach Gentiles. He willingly aligned his purposes with God’s, striving to reach
Gentiles in hopes of bringing his countrymen to faith. "I magnify my
ministry," he writes, "if by any means I may provoke to
jealousy those who are my flesh."
Verse 15 seems to
parallel verse 12. It is a rhetorical question that offers tantalizing clues as
to what lies ahead for the Jewish race. In the earlier verse, Paul spoke of the
Jews’ fall," whereas he speaks
here of his people being "cast away." Both references are to
the Jews’ almost universal rejection of the Gospel, but verse 12 has to do with
the Jews’ stumbling over Christ (9:32), while verse 15 reiterates the reason
they stumbled – God had not predestined them to believe. In either case,
however, the result is the same - "riches for the world" and "the
reconciling of the world."
The large-scale refusal of the Jews to
believe had led to the unspeakable blessing of the Gospel coming to the
Gentiles. And if that is so, Paul asks, "what will their acceptance be?"
His answer: It will be "life
from the dead." As in verse 12, where the "riches" of
the Gentiles is contrasted with the blessedness that will come with the Jews’ "fullness,"
it is very difficult to discern Paul’s meaning here, and scholars are deeply
divided. Is he speaking of an actual reversal of the Jews’ rejection of the
Gospel?
In Christ,
Janet
Irene Thomas
Playwright/Screen
Writer/Director
Published
Author/Gospel Lyricist &Producer
FOUNDER/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
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