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b) Would that the Salvation in the Believers of the Gentiles incite Jealousy in the Children of Jacob (Romans 11:11-15)
ROMANS 11:11-15
11 I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. 12 Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? 13 For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them. 15 For if the rejection of them is the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be, but life from the dead?
Paul loved his nation just as he loved his blood brothers and sisters. He did not think that God would punish them only on the basis of their disobedience and their rejection of Jesus, but he recognized that the rejection of the chosen people of the old covenant creates, at the same time, a new selection from the unclean nations. The falling of the Jews offered the unbelievers of the Gentiles a unique opportunity to grasp salvation, which was prepared beforehand, and to obtain this salvation through their faith in Christ.
The spreading of salvation among the Gentiles incited jealousy in the children of Jacob. Paul saw a positive factor in the midst of this flaming jealousy in the hearts of the Jews; that they might recognize that the unclean lives in the presence of Christ, receive reconciliation with God, become filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and love their enemies. Then the pious children of Abraham can understand that the poor and the rejected have inherited something, not from their culture, but directly from God. Paul hoped that those rebellious, self-satisfied Jews would be jealous of the disbelievers who were born again, and recognize that the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt in them. He hoped that his people would change their minds, and decide to share in their own inheritance, which was fulfilled in strangers. In this sense, Christ said to his disciples: “You are the light of the world… Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).
Paul completes his preaching plan for the Jews, saying: If the brokenness of the Jews became a fountain of blessing for the despised, and if their dwindling down to a holy remnant resulted in the salvation of multitudes of the Gentiles, how much then would their return multiply the blessing eruption all around the world! If all the Jews believed in Christ, the power of their faith and the depth of their feelings would create a preaching energy in the world, causing living fountains of water in the deserts of our world would flow, making them living paradises in the midst of the waves of sins.
With his strategic view, Paul embarrasses Christians that they might love and forgive the children of Jacob, and overcome their spiteful, proud hearts with humility and meekness (Matthew 11:28-30).
Paul then turned to the believers of the Gentiles in the church of Rome to sift and shake them. He had faced the Jews with spiritual truth, saying to them first: Jesus did not send me as a preacher among the Jews, but he appointed me as an apostle of the Gentiles, amidst hundreds of gods that are filled with unclean spirits. I joyfully perform this duty, learning their languages, thinking of their traditions, and bringing the culture of Jesus to the worshipers of their unclean gods, and their public prostitution.
Paul found, in his service, an opportunity to preach to the Jews in an indirect manner. He wanted to astonish the children of Abraham by the holy conduct of the Christians and their tangible contributions in Asia and Europe. He did so in order to create spiritual zeal in them, that some of them might return from the error of their way, learn a lesson from the faith of the Gentiles, and follow Christ who has risen from the dead. Paul hoped that the rejected elect of the old covenant would once again receive, through their return, the garment of the covenant, for the promises of God to them are still effective and valid.
If their rejection of their King Jesus caused the reconciliation between God and the world, how much more would the return of those who are spiritually dead cause fullness for the life in God?! The apostle experienced the triumph of the power of God over his spiritual dead, and the faults known in his body, and the Lord saved him, though he was a butcher in his fanaticism. He hoped the same for the people of his nation, and therefore he determined to make them partners in the eternal life that they might spread the life of the grace of Christ into the whole world.
PRAYER: O heavenly Father, we thank you and worship you because you made the hardening of the Jews a blessing for all nations. Help us not to live selfish in spirit, but to serve all with your Holy Spirit, by word, deed, and prayer, and to lead many of the disbelievers and the children of Abraham to the living faith in Jesus Christ.
QUESTIONS:
- What does the hardening of the Jews mean for the unclean Gentiles?
- How can Christians urge disbelievers to the right faith?