Essay #6: Jew and Gentile

Paul’s intention in bringing his ministry to Rome, a major centre with diverse populations, is both to build a solid foundation for faith in Christ for the gentiles, and to encourage Jewish communities to reconsider the Son of God as a solution for the redemption of Israel. To do this, he sets up a reaction wherein his ministry to the gentiles, who respond in faith and submission to God, causes jealousy for the Jews not because the Jews don’t wish to see the gentiles successfully achieving faith, but because they have refused to be a part of the process of welcoming non-Jews into communities meant for worship of the God of Israel. Jealousy then acts as a catalyst to reveal the responsibility of those who are in the free process of accepting Christ to be the beloved for those who stumble over their own practices and imposition of human assumptions on God. The point? Community divisions may exist, but are overridden in the eyes of God, as we are all one body through faith in Christ, without exception.

Paul brings the gospel of Christ to the gentiles. However, he is clear that he does so not only to save them, but also to act as a catalyst for the salvation and redemption of Israel. The “stumbling brethren” Paul refers to in Chapter 9 are given the opportunity through Paul’s ministry to see how the message of God’s renewed promise to creation is an active, present, and dynamic process. He notes in Chapter 11:12, 15 that if the Jews who struggle with the acceptance of Christ commit transgression that signals the beginning of salvation for the gentiles, then their returning to God and finding him present within their community and relationships will have unfathomably glorious results. Paul uses the example of an olive tree (11:13-24), where the root is the remnants of Israel’s promised union with a loving God. The branches that bear fruit do not support the tree, and they are also not to reject the branches that fall from the tree. All branches are from the root, and so each of them is holy, that they might all come to form a cohesive, productive whole.

Then if we are to return to God like the children of Israel, and be like branches grafted back to the source of our growth, where do we find him? Paul goes on to show that the word that is so near to us for hearing, examining, and proclaiming (10:8, Deuteronomy 30:12-14) is not subject to tribalism, but instead is “in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.” To attempt to exert the power of a believing community to shut out those who don’t fit into prescribed practices and customs is to undermine the will of God that all who turn to him will receive salvation. Both those who do obey and those who do not obey the Jewish law are capable of receiving and living out the word of God through Christ. Moreover, the new Christ-believers are granted the grace and mercy to accept Christ because their God is the God of Israel, the One Lord of all creation. Jewish belief historically gives rise to the entering of gentile communities into an intimate relationship with God,"for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him." (10:12).

So then if Paul is correct in the use of Hosea’s claim that "those who were not my people I shall call 'my people'"; (Romans 9.25), then the issue of stumbling is especially crucial. True righteousness, Paul explains, is achieved by faith, and not by works. While Luther and the reformers took this up many centuries later, it is used by Paul to demonstrate the necessity for inter-communal understanding. Israel’s assumption that they are saved by works causes them to stumble when presented with a new way of entering into relationship with God through Christ. The stone (9:32-33, Isaiah 8.14-15), a rock over which we stumble and fall, and the rock of our salvation through which we are redeemed indicates God's promise at work. The same stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes (Matthew 21:42, Psalm 118:22-23). So, the cornerstone of our faith, our salvation, and our connection with God, is also the stone over which we stumble, both Jew and gentile. When one stumbles, it is often because the physical obstacle is unexpected. The interruption in our journey forces us to reframe our environment, as well as our relationship to the direction in which we’re walking.

[Ayla Lepine]