Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
13But I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am [the] apostle of [the] Gentiles, I am making much of my ministry, 14if somehow I might provoke to jealousy the flesh of mine and save some out of them. 15For if their rejection [means] reconciliation of the world, what [will be] [their] acceptance, except life out of dead ones?
It seems to me there is an enormous amount of truth packed into these three short verses. I’ll try to record at least the high points of what I think I’m seeing.
First of all, we should stop and think about Paul’s words, “But I am speaking to you Gentiles…” Of course, no one knows today the makeup of the church at Rome, whether it was mainly Gentiles or if it included a significant Jewish membership. There certainly were Jewish Christians there (16:7,11; Acts 18:2,3) and the book of Romans was written “to all in Rome who are loved by God and called saints…” (1:7). Regardless of how many Gentiles were there, what he has to say, he is telling us it is specifically for them (us).
Then, when he says, “I am speaking
to you Gentiles…,” we can ask to how much of the book of Romans is he
referring? I would suggest he’s referring to this specific section – chapters
9-11, answering the question, “What about the Jews?” As for the Jewish
believers, they had their Scriptures to explain to them what was going on. From
their childhood they would have known well all the prophecies relating to their
future as a people. It seems natural to me the Gentiles would be the ones
asking, “What about the Jews?” and, as we’ve observed earlier, for them that
question needed to be answered, especially after chapter 8 and the great
promises of eternal security in Christ.
Finally, we should note Paul is being emphatic here, to suddenly pause and say, “I’m speaking to you Gentiles…” What if, right in the middle of a sermon, the minister was to suddenly say, “I’m speaking to you Bixbys…” That would sure make us sit up in our chair and listen! No doubt that is how us Gentile believers should respond to these very words here in the book of Romans – sit up and listen! Somehow, as we would read and study the rest of this chapter, we need to assume that posture – one of especial attention to whatever Paul is saying. It is for us.
Then, one thing I’ve never thought about before. Paul says, “Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry…” I wonder what Paul thought back in the beginning. On the road to Damascus, Jesus told him, “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:6). Surely, being a Pharisee of Pharisees, he would totally assume any ministry he was given would be to his fellow Jews. Then, as he relates in Acts 22:18,21, later on, Jesus told him, “Quick! Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about Me…Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”
“To the Gentiles?” Would that have been a shock to this Pharisee of Pharisees? Peter had quite a struggle being sent to the house of Cornelius. The Lord had to give him the vision of clean and unclean animals to get him to go (Acts 10)! Jonah had quite a problem with being sent to Nineveh. Jews were basically raised to despise Gentiles. Why should Paul be any different? One can almost hear him saying, “Now, wait a minute, Lord. I don’t want to do that. I don’t like Gentiles. Why can’t I go to some Jewish community?”
I’ve never thought about this, but I wonder if he had to go through a period of mental struggle to accept that this is what the Lord had for him? I rather suspect, especially for young people, there is a serious need for them to realize they must accept whatever ministry, whatever life, the Lord chooses to give them. No doubt, any born-again believer would love to be a Billy Graham and be given a world-wide ministry of reaching people. However, we can’t all be Billy Grahams. As someone once remarked, no matter what you’re doing, what you need is not a lot of chiefs, but a lot of Indians! Most of us need to accept that God’s place for us in this world is to be the Indians! Not great, famous leaders, but just everyday people.
It would be good to get it clearly in our young heads what Daniel observed, “The Most High rules in the nations of men.” We all need to accept whatever work, whatever life the Lord gives us, whether that is what we wanted to be and do, or not. He rules. Of course, for us older folks, that is still a daily issue. He says “All things work together for good,” then we find ourselves constantly struggling to accept “this is for good!”
The hope is, just like in Paul and Peter and Jonah’s cases, as we accept what the Lord gives us, over the years, we invariably begin to realize it turns out to be far better and far beyond anything we could have ever imagined. When Joan and I were young, we loved the verse, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4). What I see now, on this end of life, is that I didn’t even know what were “the desires of my heart.” The Lord knew and I’m very glad today He didn’t give me what I thought I wanted! His plans are always far better – but, just like I’m assuming with Paul – sometimes we have to struggle to accept His plans.
I’ve never considered what Paul
must have thought at first of being sent to the Gentiles
Then he says he “makes much” of his ministry in the hope that some from his Jewish people might be moved to jealousy and be saved. This is something else I don’t suppose I’ve ever thought about. Hmmmm. What would it be like to have been Jewish, to be Abraham’s descendants, to be the keepers of the very Scriptures themselves, and to basically see Yahweh worship as your exclusive possession – then to suddenly see this movement of despised Gentiles who take your Scriptures, who form their own synagogues (churches), and then seem to gain all the blessings of love and joy and peace – blessings you feel have eluded you?
Apparently, most Jewish people’s response was only to hate Gentiles all the more. That is the usual outcome of jealousy – hate. Yet, it does make sense that there could be a few who would say, “Now, wait a minute. My neighbor was nothing but an idol worshiping pagan. Now all of a sudden he’s this happy guy – and it isn’t just him. His wife is happy. His kids seem happy. “Whatta they got that I ain’t got???” I can see where this “jealousy” could lead that Jewish person to wonder if maybe this Jesus thing isn’t real after all. Perhaps he’d walk over to his neighbor one day and “ask a reason for the hope that is in him?”
I believe that is a ministry that everyone one of us has but one we rarely realize is happening. We go out to our jobs, we mow our grass, go to our kids’ track meets, and just generally live our lives. For us, we’re just trying to be like Jesus. We’re trying to trust God whatever happens. We try to be gracious to people. However, we probably all generally feel pretty useless. We’re definitely not Billy Graham. Yet, what we don’t realize is just how much others are watching. There was once a big layoff at a friend’s factory. As he was walking out, even struggling himself to see God above it all, a man said to him, “This doesn’t bother you like it bothers us, does it?” People are watching.
Paul’s big “ministry” was to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. Yet he was keenly aware that the seeds of his faith fell in all directions, even as he tried to live the life God gave him. We all need to be encouraged realizing we may never know some of our greatest impacts in this world – we may never know that we did “save some,” that someone did see the difference and that was the tiny spark of light which eventually opened their heart to Jesus. That was one of Paul’s hopes and should be ours as well! So, live on, my Christian friends! Let’s all just let the Gardener decide which of those seeds will sprout.
Then, finally, there is verse 15. Paul says, “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” There is a lot that could be said from this verse, but remember Paul is speaking very specifically to us Gentiles. And what is really the main thrust of what he’s saying? That you and I should never lose our respect for the Jewish people. Though they may seem temporarily rejected by God, yet still it is through Abraham’s descendants that the Lord said. “…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” The Jewish people gave us Jesus and, in spite of how things may look today, they still are and always will be the unique people of God. They still hold a special place in the heart of God…and always should in our hearts too!
So just from these three little verses, may we all learn to be content to live the lives God gives us, to remember we may never know the greatest impacts we have had in others’ lives, and to always respect and appreciate Abraham’s descendants – the people of Israel.
