Previously, in Romans: In his instructions on community life, Paul is advocating for radical inclusion, radical mutual respect, and radical trust in God’s judgment, not ours.

Romans 14:13-23

¹³ Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another. ¹⁴ I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵ If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. ¹⁹ Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. ²⁰ Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to make others fall by what you eat; ²¹ it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble. ²² The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve. ²³ But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Points of Interest:

• ‘resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another’ – The language of “stumbling block” recalls comments from 11:9-12 about the hurdles that get between people and their inclusion in God’s story of love and grace. The judgment of others can function as one kind of stumbling block, but so can insensitivity to the cultural scruples of others. Paul doesn’t want the so-called strong – the majority Gentile believers – to offend the Jews among them by serving them non-kosher foods at their worship feasts. This reminds me of how our educated, empowered women defer to some of very traditional gender norms when gathering for interfaith events with our Muslim neighbors. Are those gender norms “right”? Personally, I don’t think so, but that’s not the question we’re asking. We’re looking to remove stumbling blocks from people’s experience of God’s love.
• ‘I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself’ – Though Jewish, Paul’s own conclusion is that the more libertine practices of the Gentile believers are on to something. Nothing created by God, certainly no food, is inherently unclean, he says. This is not what the Mosaic law taught him and not how he lived prior to his own encounter with Jesus. If anyone could insist on this as a new law, it would be Bible-writer Paul. Yet when it comes to ethical practices in the community of faith, Paul advocates for a limited relativism. Receiving the welcome of Jesus, and doing so in united community, is more important than agreement on moral practice.
• ‘if your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love’ – Love for neighbor, not purity of principle, is the highest value in the Jesus community.
• ‘the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ – Here’s another theological grounds for Paul’s reasoning. The nature and aims of Jesus’ kingdom are joy, peace, and right living (which is primarily right relationship.) Controversial matters of ethical practice are secondary.
• ‘the one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval’ – Follow Jesus as Lord as Paul is describing in this chapter, and you’ll make God and the people around you happy, and both of those are worthwhile aims, conducive to “righteousness and peace and joy.”
• ‘what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding’ – This is another barometer for healthy living in community – defaulting to the behavior and attitude and lifestyle that will promote peace and one’s own and others’ betterment and encouragement.
• ‘do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God’ – I love the simplicity of this line. The work of God is clearly about people – inclusion of people in the family of God, uniting of Jew and Gentile in the “olive tree” God is growing (11:17-24), and the development of a community of love and joy and peace. Why would we ever risk destroying that over relatively petty controversies?
• ‘the faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God’ – Peace, inclusion, and mutual welcome don’t mean that our lives and our choices aren’t important. Just as we’re off if we do what causes our neighbor to stumble, we’re off if we do what we don’t approve of or even have doubts about. Our own consciences and convictions and lives of faith matter, and we’re encouraged to pursue them earnestly, while also holding the greater peace and encouragement of the community in mind.

Taking It Home:

For you – Is there anything in how you speak or act that makes it harder for other people to follow Jesus or to be part of your church or community group? How can you pursue peace and mutual upbuilding in your church, without betraying your own conscience?

For your six – Pray that each of your six would experience acceptance and welcome by community today, and specifically that God would remove any stumbling blocks they might have that would prevent them from having faith in God.

Previously, in Romans: Paul’s been writing about healthy civic and community life amongst followers of Jesus, saying it’s marked by devotion to Jesus and by love of neighbor.

Romans 14:1-12

14 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. ² Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³ Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶ Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

⁷ We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

¹² So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Points of Interest:

• ‘Welcome those who are weak in faith’ – “Weak in faith” is clearly a pejorative term coined by the so-called “strong,” but Paul accepts it for the sake of addressing the divisions in Rome. “Weak” could refer to those with more scruples regarding religion and food, primarily Jewish followers of Jesus who still follow the full Old Testament kosher law. It also reflects minority status in this largely Gentile community.
• ‘but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions’ – Paul began by telling the majority to welcome those in the minority into their worship. Receive them, include them, commune with them. But this welcome moves beyond tolerance toward acceptance. He specifically points out that welcome when you’re trying to argue with and change someone isn’t really welcome.
• ‘must not despise… must not pass judgment’ – Paul names the universal tendency in diverse communities, for groups to find their own position and views superior and to judge those who think and act differently. Paul tells both sides to knock it off, and in doing so, elucidates the meaning of judgment pretty well. To “pass judgment” on another is at some level to despise them. Why is this off the table from one follower of Jesus to another? Because anyone God welcomes should be welcomed by us as well.
• ‘some judge one day to be better than another’ – Paul moves from kosher laws to Sabbath laws and other questions of holy days. This may sound like an obscure conflict to be worked up about to you and me. But Sabbath observance was a first-order moral issue for Jews, going straight to the 10 commandments. This passage is talking about important religious or moral issues that not everyone in the community agrees on.
• ‘let all be fully convinced in their own minds’ – The way forward for the individual amidst controversy is to make up your mind. Paul speaks to the significance of developing and paying attention to our own conscience. Morals and issues matter, but our responsibility is to find our own way forward, not to persuade, criticize, censor, or judge our neighbor.
• ‘we do not live to ourselves…’ – I find that vs. 7-9 break the flow of the argument a little, and it’s hard for me to fully grasp their contribution. I think they’re extending the point of the previous paragraph, that we live before an audience of one. If we embrace Jesus as Lord, as Paul’s repeatedly called him, then we’ll want him to guide and direct our lives. And so in disputable matters of ethics and religious practice, we’re encouraged to practice faith and aim for increasing connection to a living God.
• ‘why do you despise your brother or sister’ – Paul reminds Jewish and Gentile believers, perhaps in different house churches, that they are family first, different in culture and conviction second. What a powerful way to see your church or broader community of faith – race and class and sexual orientation and politics and style and moral convictions are all important, but they are all secondary to a shared family identity that disallows judgment, disdain, or rejection.
• ‘each of us will be accountable to God’ – Paul’s back to his favorite Old Testament source, Isaiah (here 49:18 and 45:23) to remind the community that all will be accountable to God. This means we can refrain from judgment of others and leave it in the hands of a fairer and more accurate judge. It also means that rejection of others just because you disagree with them is harm that we’ll have to account for to God when we meet God face to face.

Taking It Home:

For you – What behavior or convictions in others most evoke arguing and judgment in you? Ask God for faith to trust these people to God’s judgment, and try to practice love and welcome for someone like this today, or at the next available opportunity.

For your church – In a polarized age, being a Romans 14 community of love and unity in difference can be a tremendous witness to the good news power of Jesus. Pray that our church will be just such a community.

Previously, in Romans: Paul just illustrated part of what the love and life of Jesus will look like in the context of community.

Romans 13:1-14

13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; ⁴ for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. ⁶ For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. ⁷ Pay to all what is due them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

⁸ Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

¹¹ Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; ¹² the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; ¹³ let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴ Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Points of Interest:

• ‘be subject to the governing authorities ‘ – Given Paul’s not so subtle anti-imperial message, this is a little surprising. We can speculate on a few motivations, though. Paul’s been thinking a lot about his fellow Jews, and at the time he wrote this letter, Jerusalem was a hotbed of political foment against Rome. In less than a decade, this would become a full-on revolution that led to Jerusalem’s destruction, along with massive suffering. Jesus had famously urged Jerusalem toward peace rather than armed revolt, and Paul affirms the same basic perspective – that Jesus isn’t interested in an alternative political kingdom, with its own armies and borders, but a growing worldwide community of love that lives within, but transcends the power, of nation-states.Paul might also have a more practical line of thinking in mind: that the house churches and other new faith communities spread about the Roman Empire can thrive and grow more easily while at peace with, or even with the support of the state.
• ‘those authorities that exist have been instituted by God’ – Yet even in this bit on law abiding, Paul is subversive. Roman emperors were now worshipped themselves, and Rome claimed that its gods – such as the god of Mars – had established its authority. Paul says the god he’s been talking about – the god who looks like Jesus, the faithful god of sacrificial love, the god who has beaten death, the god of reconciliation and peace – is the only ultimate source of authority. So even while he urges cooperation with civic authorities, Paul says their power is limited, not ultimate.
• ‘pay to all what is due them – taxes… revenue… respect… honor..’ – The default for good news community living is to follow civic law scrupulously, both to avoid state punishment and to have a clear conscience. But there are limits to the obedience a state can exact. After all, Paul has encouraged these communities to give their loyalty to Jesus, not Rome, as Lord. (10:9) So here Paul says to pay all of what’s due, but only what’s due. Pay your taxes and revenue, to the extent they are due. And pay respect and honor, but (only) to the extent they are due as well.
• ‘owe no one anything, except to love one another’ – Debt, then as now, was a common but dangerous problem, and to avoid it was common advice. But the verse before still echoes. Don’t owe taxes, revenue, respect, or honor either – give them to the extent they’re required the first time around.By contrast, Paul encourages a constant attention to the love these house church members give to one another, as if they are in each other’s debt. Paul’s take on love for neighbor as the summary of God’s law is consistent with the teaching of Jesus as well. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus made it clear that “neighbor” could include one you’d see as an outsider or enemy as well. But here, the emphasis of “one another” has these small Jesus communities, meeting in people’s homes and apartments, in mind.
• ‘you know what time it is’ – But do we? What time is Paul referring to? Some scholars read this reference and its paragraphs as referring to Paul’s urgency considering the age he lived in. Paul and other first century believers seemed to expect that Jesus would return again within a generation or two and complete the institution of his kingdom. Turns out the details of that expectation were mistaken. Other scholars read Paul’s urgency as referring to all time. By this logic, all generations following the resurrection of Jesus have urgency to them – urgency to be right with God and live well, in expectation of Jesus’ you-never-know-when imminent return.Most persuasive to me has been new scholarship that sees the house church worship gathering and communion here. All the references to love (actually “the love” in the Greek) and living as if it’s daytime even though it’s night evoke the nighttime house gatherings early churches had, where they celebrated what they called “love feasts”: the Lord’s Supper (the wine and bread representing Jesus’ body and blood) over a meal in which members of the community were fed and cared for. By this logic, Paul affirms these gatherings and urges them to continue mutual love, but also exhorts them to steer away from the drunkenness, casual sex, and conflicts that characterized other late night gatherings.
• ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ’ – Behavior that supports healthy communities and is fitting for followers of Jesus isn’t merely the avoidance of the worst parts of late night partying. It is this mystical unity of Jesus, embracing the identity and life of the most compassionate, authentic, beautiful, safe, and elevated human who ever lived, our exemplar of the humanity we were made to embody.

Taking It Home:

For you – Do you owe things to the state or to corporations other than love – debt, lies, or loyalty, for instance? If this feels constraining, ask for God’s help in reducing these kinds of obligations. And ask God where it is you find community where you can celebrate and love and make visible the life of Jesus. Ask God to give you this kind of community, or give you a greater devotion to and experience of love within your community.

For your city/church – Pray for our church’s small groups, that they would facilitate and empower community of extravagant love and safe, trusting relationships. Pray too that they would make visible the love and presence of Jesus in our society.

Previously, in Romans: Paul has begun the fourth major section of the letter, focused on the practical expression of the life of Jesus in the Roman house churches and in other faith communities.

Romans 12:9-21

⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Points of Interest:

• ‘let love be genuine’ – Fellow members give each other love. But rather than leave the expression of love up for grabs, Paul practices some discernment himself here and fleshes out a picture.
• ‘hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good’ – Paul will flesh out the good to embrace (vs. 10-16) and the evil to resist (vs. 17-21) below.
• ‘outdo one another in showing honor’ – I love this example of not being conformed to this world (12:2). In a society obsessed with amassing personal honor, Paul directs the Romans to compete in giving honor to others. I’m picturing speech recognition apps that catch how many times you compliment and praise another person each day. Developers, where are you?
• ‘do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit’ – Like the renewing of the mind needed for discernment (12:2), Paul recognizes that love needs to flow from an energized heart and spirit. On these terms, the fueling of one’s own fire is an act of love towards your community.
• ‘hope… suffering… prayer… contribute… hospitality’ – The expression of love in verses 12-13 sounds like what a community needs in hard times. Certainly hard times were abundant for the Roman house churches. People have always experienced economic insecurity, influxes of strangers and refugees, and innumerable personal and corporate needs. Communities rise or fall on whether or not they express this kind of love when we face challenging times.
• ‘bless those who persecute you’ – This begins a list of four commands about non-retaliation and two regarding reconciliation. Peacemaking is at the heart of connection with Jesus, living in community, and choosing love.
• ‘If it as possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.’ – Paul is clear that one side can’t make peace. It takes two parties’ good will and trust to reconcile. It takes a whole society to forge patterns of peace. But it’s part of our worship to actively do our part.
• ‘never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God’ – Peacemaking isn’t weaknesses or denial of injustice. It’s putting retribution in the hands of the only person who can do it fairly and effectively – God, not us. And it’s recognizing the uniquely effective potency of love to change others and break hostilities.
• ‘by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads’ – Over the years, my wife and I have taken the end of this section very practically. After all, it’s a line from Proverbs (25:21-22), which is a book of pragmatic advice for good living. Unexpected kindness and mercy have proven far more effective in changing the hearts and actions of our adversaries than any arguments, anger, or payback ever have.

Taking It Home:

For you – What in this expression of love seems particularly winsome or challenging or timely to you? Can you make plans for a fresh expression of love in your life? And how do you need more zeal or ardency of spirit to have the power to regularly love this way? Ask Jesus for discernment in the cultivation of a fully-alive spirit.

For your six – Let’s have some fun this week. Using these verses as guidance, make plans to love one of your six practically, beyond your prayers for them. Pray that the receiving of your love would have power in their lives.

Previously, in Romans: Paul’s writing to two cultures and religions in these house churches –Jewish followers of Jesus, and Gentile newcomers to God’s goodness in Jesus. And Paul’s taking a stab at the big story God’s writing for both groups, one that he hopes will eventually include a shared connection to God.

Romans 11:13-24

¹³ Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry ¹⁴ in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead! ¹⁶ If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy.

¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. ¹⁹ You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” ²⁰ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. ²² Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. ²³ And even those of Israel, if they do not persist in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.

Points of Interest:

• ‘I glorify my ministry in order to make my own people jealous…’ – In turning his attention to the Gentile members of the house churches, Paul plays the Greco-Roman boasting game for a minute. The amazing things God is doing through Paul around the Roman Empire are inspiring some of his fellow Jews to turn to Jesus.
• ‘the reconciliation of the world’ – These Roman house churches might total 50, 100, or a few more people in total. Yet Paul says small at this seems, God is doing something big – reconciling the whole world! Maybe we’ve taken this historical arc for granted, but think about it. After over 1,000 years, whatever story God was doing with the Jews impacted only a few thousand people in a relatively small area around Palestine. As a result of Jewish resistance toward Jesus’ good news, Paul and others are inspired to take the news elsewhere. And it goes viral! God’s original vision of light to the whole world is coming true. And when Jews accept what God is doing too, it will be yet another great story of life out death.
• ‘dough… root…’ – Paul offers two images to explain what’s happening with this sudden growth. The bit of starter dough given to God as a temple offering is still special even when it’s expanded to feed a family. And the small root of a tree contains the same goodness you see in all its branches. So with God’s story – first to the Jews, then to the Greeks. God has always been good, and all of the people who connect with God – original members of the family as well as the latest additions – get access to that same goodness.
• ‘a wild olive shoot’ – Though they’re more numerous than the Jews, from Paul’s perspective (and perhaps God’s?), the Gentiles are the new kids on the block. Or now that Paul is working his horticultural metaphor, they are the wild shoot grafted into God’s tree.
• ‘do not boast over the branches’ – As a fellow Jew, Paul has told Jews again that they can’t claim superior privilege to the Gentiles. Neither genealogical connection to Abraham nor access to God’s law they held dear makes them superior to the rest of humanity. Now Paul addresses the much more numerous Gentiles, who were part of a Roman anti-Semitic culture. Just because they’re following Jesus and they see some Jews who are not doesn’t make them better either. Core to Paul’s message, and core to Jesus’ story, is that we’re all in this together. Culture, faith, and religion aren’t meant to be separators.
• ‘otherwise you also will be cut off’ – Paul’s warnings about pride get pretty severe. At least in the olive tree image he’s developing, he threatens that these new followers of Jesus can get cut off as well. When I was younger, I think I heard these lines about being connected or cut off from God as speaking to eternal destiny. I don’t think that any more. After all, the cut-off branches here are Jews who’ve rejected Jesus, and Paul’s whole point in this passage is that God’s going to connect them again someday. I think it’s almost more literal. It’s about connection to God, from which we can draw life. Live humbly, and don’t judge your neighbor, and you can stay in God’s kindness. Be proud and judge your neighbor, and you’ll be disconnected and experience God as severe.Jesus himself said that if we forgive others, we’ll be forgiven, but that if we don’t offer others grace, we can’t receive grace ourselves. There’s something deep in human nature and relationships and God’s law at play here. How we relate to others is integral to how we end up experiencing relationship with God.
• ‘how much more will these natural branches be grafted back’ – If God can gather all these non-Jews into the family of faith, he certainly can reconnect the Jewish people to his good news and life again. Paul began Chapter 9 anxiously asking about the fate of his Jewish people. He’s moving toward a hopeful answer.

Taking It Home:

For you – Are you living in strain in any relationship? Perhaps stuck in resentment or bitterness or superiority? As justified as you may be, ask God for help in letting go of this to free you to give and receive grace and kindness with all of your heart.

For your six – If any of your six are Jewish, pray that they will find treasure in their heritage and an ever-increasing living connection to God. Pray that all of your six would know that God is eager to include them in his life.

Previously, in Romans: Paul’s been discussing the irony of what looks like growing Gentile connection to God and growing Jewish disconnection from God.

Romans 11:1-12

11 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? ³ “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” ⁴ But what is the divine reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” ⁵ So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶ But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

⁷ What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, ⁸ as it is written,

“God gave them a sluggish spirit,
eyes that would not see
and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”

⁹ And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
¹⁰ let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and keep their backs forever bent.”

¹¹ So I ask, have they stumbled so as to fall? By no means! But through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. ¹² Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

Points of Interest:

• ‘Has God rejected his people’ – You’ll remember that in Chapter 9, Paul suggested this was God’s prerogative, that he’s free to have mercy on whomever he’ll have mercy. But what does this mean for the faithfulness and righteousness of God that’s central to the message of Romans?
• ‘I myself am an Israelite’ – Exhibit A is Paul, a Jew himself. So that’s at least one person in Abraham’s Jewish family who’s still turning toward God as revealed in Jesus.
• ‘seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal’ – Exhibit B is a recasting of an old Jewish story from I Kings 19. Elijah is very depressed and feels entirely alone. God has him rest and eat and gives him an experience of feeling God close to him. Then one of the ways God reassures him is by telling him there are 7,000 other people who, like Elijah, have been faithful to God. He is not alone. Paul himself has felt angst and pressure over the rejection of Jesus by so many of his fellow Jews. Similarly, though, he is not alone. There are many other Jewish followers of Jesus.
• ‘it is by grace’ – What explains this minority response to Jesus? Why do some find Jesus to be good and true, and others don’t? Does it speak to something superior in their intellect or morality? Nope, it’s just kindness, just grace.
• ‘the rest were hardened’ – If grace explains those that have responded to God, what about those that haven’t? I find Paul’s implications troubling. Recalling language from Chapter 9 again, he says they were closed off to God and implies that God caused this to happen. The quotations are a mash-up of Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:10, and then an excerpt from Psalm 69. In its original context, the Psalm speaks of David’s enemies as the enemies of God. Here Paul makes the surprising interpretive move of applying that line to people who saw themselves as God’s chosen.
• ‘have they stumbled so as to fall?’ – So I confess to not fully following Paul’s logic here. But it’s something like this. Many, but not all, of Paul’s fellow Jews were resistant to the good news of Jesus. They were looking for God, but didn’t think God would look like Jesus, so they missed it. Maybe this is even partly God’s fault. Why? Because he wanted to evict them from the neighborhood and give their spot to the Gentiles? Well, not exactly. Somehow, their fall left room for the Gentiles’ rise. Now that they see Gentiles enjoying the full favor of God, they will be jealous and come back and that will be even better!We’ll break here before reaching the end of Paul’s logic, but for now, it feels like he’s devising an explanation for this part of God’s story that troubles him. It’s like he’s excited for the growing number of new in-laws and adoptees at God’s family reunion but sad over the long-time family members that don’t come around anymore. So he finds a way of explaining their temporary absence, even while he looks forward to a day when they’ll return.

Taking It Home:

For you – Let’s take the logic of this passage in a different direction. Has any part of you been hardened toward God? Disinterested in or even resistant to God’s guidance? Without worrying about why this is so, ask God to bring something good even out of this hardening. And pray that in this area, God will give you hope and receptivity to him again.

For your church/city – Pray for people in your city, or perhaps former members of your church, who have maybe stumbled in faith and lost it. Pray that Jesus would give life to many former churchgoers and going-through-the-motions current churchgoers as well.

Previously, in Romans: After grieving over so many of his fellow Jews’ rejection of Jesus, Paul has reiterated just how close and good and alive Jesus is, encouraging the Romans that all people who “call on Jesus” will be saved.

Romans 10:14-10:21

¹⁴ But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? ¹⁵ And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” ¹⁶ But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

¹⁸ But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for

“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.”

¹⁹ Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;
with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

²⁰ Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

²¹ But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

Points of Interest:

• ‘but how are they to call…?’ – Paul asks a series of leading questions that move from the power of connecting with Jesus to the importance of the people that make that connection possible. Rome has its ambassadors and armies, and Jesus has his messengers. For the Romans, this might call to mind the people that first started their house church communities or perhaps Paul himself.
• ‘how beautiful are the feet…’ – This sounds like a funny idiom, but it’s another Old Testament reference, again from Isaiah (52:7). Paul edits the quotation pretty significantly to suit his context, applying the passage to the good news of Jesus shared by human messengers throughout the earth. But the whole second half of Isaiah shares the narrative arc of the book of Romans – that God, in the person of a servant, will bring renewal not only to Jews but to all the earth. Paul says it’s happened, and the people helping make it happen are beautiful, or at least their feet are.
• ‘for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed…”’ – The disappointment Paul feels that so many people have rejected God’s good news is also predicted in Isaiah. Perhaps Paul takes at least comfort in knowing that it’s always been this way.
• ‘their voice has gone out…’ – The quotation in verse 18 is from Psalm 19. The psalm is about the wonders of nature that show everyone the power and beauty of God. Here Paul applies it to the message of Jesus, which is filling his known world as he writes this.
• ‘I will make you jealous…’ – Now we’re back to Deuteronomy again. (32:21) In its original context, Moses is saying that when Israel loses interest in God, God will prosper surrounding nations as a wake-up call for them to come back to him. Here Paul applies the “make your ex jealous” image to his first century context. The good news of Jesus is going out to all the earth, with at least some non-Jews joyfully benefitting from the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel.
• ‘Then Isaiah is so bold as to say’ – Paul completes another one of his Old Testament mash-ups. I actually get a big kick out of Paul’s confidence that in the story of Jesus, he’s unlocked the key to understanding such a wide range of Hebrew scripture, often employing it differently than how it was originally understood. Paul ends this section with the powerful image of God extending welcoming hands. People who weren’t even looking for God’s welcome are receiving it, while those that were originally welcomed are stubbornly turning their backs.Paul is so glad that the Greco-Roman world is connecting with God through the welcoming hands of Jesus. But he can’t get over his frustration and grief that his own people have been too busy interpreting the law and fighting the Romans to receive the welcome God has for them.

Taking It Home:

For you – How did you first hear about Jesus? What was your initial response? Thank God for his past and present welcome of you. Consider saying thanks, or sending a thank you note today, to someone who was a beautiful messenger of the good news of Jesus to you.

For your church/city – Pray that more people from your church would become beautiful-footed messengers of the good news of Jesus. Pray this would happen in ways your city can joyfully respond to and see as God’s welcome to them.