Romans 15:8–13 (ESV)✞: Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles
In the last passage Paul reminded us that loving our brothers and sisters in Christ is following Christ’s own example of love for us.
But one of the main themes of Paul’s letter to the Romans is that of the fact that God has saved both Jews and Gentiles, and that that should have profound impacts on the Church. In order to modernise things I sometimes relate Paul’s examples to modern ones, but the specific examples he was giving were focused on the problems the churches in Rome were facing, specifically between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians (e.g. whether Christians needed to adhere to the Jewish dietary laws, or whether Christians needed to adhere to the special Jewish days and holidays). Paul returns to that theme here, reminding us that the Gospel applies equally to the Jew and to the Gentile.
He starts by reminding his readers that Christianity is rooted in Judaism:
For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,
God gave certain promises to the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel), which were ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Jesus was born a Jew, lived among his Jewish people, and fulfilled the promises God had made to the Jews. (Not in a way anyone had anticipated, but that’s just God being God!)
However, God had made it clear, throughout the Scriptures, that these promises were going to go beyond the Jewish people:
… 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name.”
10 And again it is said,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples extol him.”
12 And again Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”
The way I’ve broken this up makes part of Paul’s point unclear, so let’s see parts of verses 8–9✞ together: “For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.”
As had always been the plan, God sent Jesus to fulfil the prophecies delivered to the Jews through the Scriptures, and, as had always been the plan, the fulfilment of those prophecies now enable the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy.
So… what should the result of all this be?
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
The result of all of this is hope. It’s joy and peace, it’s the power of the Holy Spirit working in my life, and the result of all of that is hope.
Speaking as a Gentile myself, this of course is specifically personal in the sense that I, personally, have hope that otherwise wouldn’t have seemed apparent if I’d only read the Old Testament Scriptures. But it’s wider than that: it’s a message about God Himself, who, throughout all of history, has been working this all out; through His people in the Old Testament, through His Son, and now—the biggest miracle of all—through ordinary people like me.
Confronted with a God like that, how can I do anything other than hope? (Meanwhile experiencing all of the joy and peace that He has bestowed upon me…)
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