Saturday 22 February 2014

Background

Paul is thinking through possible consequences that could bedrawn from his argument to this point, and he rejects very sharplythe conclusion that God has turned away from Israel to the Gentiles(non Jews). This is simply unthinkable (the Greek words heretranslated "by no means" are a very strong denial), and Paul takesthis further by asserting his own identity and roots as anIsraelite (verse 1). He himself is living proof that God's grace inChrist reaches people of Israel.

Paul uses the prophetic tradition of the faithful remnant toexplain God's actions in Christ. Since the days of Elijah, therehave been groups of Israelites who have maintained their commitmentto God in the face of terrible odds. These remnant groups arechosen by God through grace - they are no more virtuous than otherpeople (verse 6), and therefore Paul and his fellow-believers, thepresent-day 'remnant', have nothing to boast about (cf verse 18).There is nothing that makes Paul better than other Jews; it issimply that God has called him through grace.

This is God's choice; why does God choose to "harden" some (v.7)? Paul suggests that the reason is that in this way, the need hasbecome clear to take the gospel (good news of Jesus) to theGentiles as well. He imagines a situation in which the Jewsaccepted the good news of Jesus immediately, and sees how easy itwould then have been simply to ignore a mission to the Gentiles (cfverse 15). But he also envisages a circular process, where God'smessage comes back from the Gentiles to the Jews, encouraging theJews to look once again at the wonderful consequences of life withChrist.

Paul concludes this section by looking forward in hope to thecompletion which God holds in store for all things. One day, Godwill act finally in justice and mercy; and Paul does not venture anopinion on what shape God's royal reign will take or in what waythe people of Israel will be part of it.

To Ponder

• Christians in the West today can easily identify with Paul'swords about the 'remnant'. Do you find this a helpful picture forunderstanding what God is doing with the church at the moment?Why?

• Have you ever experienced a situation where failure in one areaof outreach has led you to try something else that wouldn'totherwise have occurred to you? What happened? To what extent doesthis possibility help you make sense of Paul's argument here?