Romans 11:11-12

Passage

Therefore, I say, did they not stumble in order that they should experience destruction?  Let it not be so!  But by their trespass salvation is to the Gentiles in order to provoke jealousy in them.  If their trespass is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more is their complete fullness?

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul now desires to turn the conversation back to the Hebrew people.  As we follow him through this logic, it is important for us to keep a few things straight.  First, Paul does not believe every Hebrew person in the world throughout the ages will be saved because of their genealogy.  As we’ve talked about throughout Romans, Paul does not believe people are saved because of their lineage!  On the other hand, neither does Paul believe all the Jews are cast off, either.  Certainly there are Jews who receive faith in Christ within their Jewishness.  We must be careful that when we read Paul’s words here that we do not lose the importance of Christ and revert back to thinking upon genealogical lines.

Why is it easy to lose our focus on Christ when we start taking about who is saved and who is not?  Why is it easy to speak of the Hebrew people as “all in” or “all excluded” rather than speaking about them as we speak about Gentiles – that is, with respect to faith?

Second Thought:

Keeping this thought in mind, we move ahead.  Paul tells us that the Hebrew people stumbled in their faith in order that salvation might come to the Gentiles.  That process began when Jesus’ own disciples were persecuted in Jerusalem and the Gospel spread into the Diaspora and then all throughout the Roman Empire and then eventually all throughout the world.  God used the ultimate stumbling of the Hebrew people as a moment of grace for everyone else in the world!  That is how great God is.  He can use what appears to be the darkest moment and turn it into the greatest moment of hope for the world!

Do you see your salvation in these terms?  Do you consider the weight of the persecution of earlier saints and the rejection of the Gospel by the Hebrew people when you think of your faith?

Third Thought:

However, Paul does not believe that this Hebrew rejection is a permanent condition.  Nor does Paul believe this is a thorough condition.  There will come a day when faith in Jesus spreads throughout the Hebrew people.  There will come a day and a place when God’s Messiah as seen by the Hebrew people and Jesus as seen by Christians will be reconciled into one unified position of faith.  At that time, we will have what Paul speaks of as complete fullness.  Paul isn’t speaking about complete fullness in terms of “all the Hebrew people who have ever lived.”  Rather, Paul is speaking about complete fullness as the merging of the Christian belief is Jesus and the Jewish understanding of Messiah into one united submission to God.  That will be a greater day than we currently have for sure!

Why will it be inherently better when Christians and Jews unite in their belief that Jesus is the Messiah?  Why do you think that we are still waiting for that time even after almost 2,000 years since Christ lived and died and was resurrected?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 11:13-16