Romans Chapter 11 cont'd
This is an unchangeable spiritual principle: If the representative token of something is holy, so is the whole. And if the root of something is holy, so are its branches. So if some of the Jewish branches have been broken off from God's spiritually rich and succulent olive tree and its holy root system, and this has made a way for some branches from the wild and uncultivated olive tree of the Gentiles to be grafted into it, then you Gentiles had better not be arrogant toward the Jews. Just remember, you're not supporting the root, it's supporting you! But you might be tempted to think, "Hey, they've been broken off to make room for us." Yes, they were broken off for their unbelief and you are secured by your faith. So don't become proud, but fear the Lord. If God didn't spare the natural branches that fell into unbelief, do you think he will do less to the unnatural branches that fall into it?
Comments:
Paul is here painting a word picture that captures the essence of God's Big God-Story. In God's economy of his historical callings and dealings with humanity...there is essentially one dominant and everlasting covenant (the rich, ancient and well-planted "olive tree") that he has made with us...though there are nuances and admittedly surprising and progressive features to its outworking over the centuries. This belief is grounded in the way that Jesus and his apostles authoritatively rehearsed, interpreted and utilized Old Testament scripture. The covenant that God cut with Abraham...a non-Jew and the father of true faith...is central to this paradigm. Certainly the Law that God gave through Moses can be viewed as another "covenant", but our understanding of its purposes must be nested into the larger "Abrahamic" meta-narrative of redemption. (Galatians 3 and 4 deal with this head on...as does Romans 4.) This also holds true for our understanding of "covenants" that God made with Adam (in the original creation mandate), Noah (in the aftermath of the flood and reaffirmation of the creation mandate) and David (in God's promise to have one of his "sons" sit on his throne forever).
The fact that the Jews of the first century (and for many centuries since) have generally rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah and have thereby been "cut off" from the historic divine covenant does not negate God's faithfulness to his word or halt his relentless forward march to spread the fame of his name and accomplish his will in the nations of the earth.
The apostle then goes on to make two main points. First, the gentile believers must be mindful to not become proud about their new status in Christ and come down wrongly on the Jews as a people. This, sadly, seems to have happened all to often throughout the history of "Christendom"...and has left an understandably bitter taste in the mouths of Jewish people regarding the gospel of Jesus. We who follow Jesus should repent for this spiritual arrogance and lament that we have not well-represented the beauty of our Lord to them. Gentiles owe the Jews a debt of gratitude and respect because we, the "unnatural branches", have been grafted by God into the covenant that they historically enjoyed with God and worked and suffered to preserve. Our faith has rich and powerful "Hebrew roots".
Second...just as Paul laments that the "natural branches" (the ethnic Jews) have been lopped off from their own olive tree because of their active unbelief in Christ...he gives a sober warning that seems to apply in our day to people groups and "gentile" nations that have enjoyed the personal, family and cultural blessings that flow down from a wide historic reception of the gospel of Jesus. If an extended family of peoples reject their faith in Jesus, they will likewise be cut off from the the divine covenant and its attending blessings that once ruled over their lives and society. To me, this appears to be happening in a wide-spread way here in western culture.
And remember...its not the end of the story for the Jews...and their ongoing part to play in God's Big God-Story. Divine jealousy yet hovers over this people for the sake of their spiritual fathers and mothers and, of course, the glory of his Son!
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